Summary
Savannah Guthrie made a direct plea to the kidnapper of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, asking for “proof of life” as federal investigators continued to pursue leads in the Tucson-area disappearance. The push for confirmation has become harder in an era when, as officials warned, people can create convincing altered images and videos with artificial intelligence.
At a news conference in Phoenix, FBI chief in Phoenix Heith Janke said the FBI cannot treat a video message as definitive proof simply because it appears authentic. “With AI these days you can make videos that appear to be very real. So we can’t just take a video and trust that that’s proof of life because of advancements in AI,” Janke said, describing how manipulation tools can complicate evidence in kidnapping cases.
Federal officials said hoaxes have long challenged law enforcement, particularly when kidnappings involve high-profile victims. In this case, the FBI had previously warned that people posing as kidnappers can send demands for money paired with material that looks like a genuine photo or video of a loved one.
Police have said they are taking purported ransom notes seriously, but investigators have not said they received deepfake images of Nancy Guthrie. Investigators also said they believe she is “still out there” and they have not identified any suspects.
Janke said investigators may also need to consider how the family communicates in public and how that can intersect with the risk of manipulation. He suggested to reporters that the FBI may have had some influence in Savannah Guthrie’s decision to release a video message, while also stressing that family members retain control. “We have an expertise when it comes to kidnappings, and when families want advice, consultation, expertise, we will provide that,” Janke said. “But the ultimate decisions — on what they say and how they put that out — rests with the family itself.”
Former FBI agent Katherine Schweit said publicly shared images of Nancy Guthrie could be used to create deepfakes. Schweit also described how investigators’ workloads evolve as technology advances, warning that nothing should be dismissed as investigations continue. “Investigative techniques accumulate over time,” Schweit said. “There’s never less to do as years go by; there’s more to do. Digital and forensic work is a perfect example. It just adds to the other shoe-leather work we would have done in years past. … Nothing can be dismissed. Everything has to be run to ground.”
Schweit also said that addressing a kidnapper directly, as Savannah Guthrie did in a video, can be a tactical move. “The goal is to have the family or law enforcement speak directly to the victim and the perpetrator, and ask the perpetrator: What do you need? How can we solve this? Let’s move this forward,” she said.
While investigators work the case, the cluster also reported that a California man was charged with sending text messages to the Guthrie family seeking bitcoin after he followed the case on television, and that there was no indication he was suspected in the disappearance, according to a court filing. Savannah Guthrie posted an emotional video on Instagram, sitting between her sister and brother, and Camron Guthrie posted a similar message on social media, with both videos aimed at ensuring their mother was alive and responding to the kidnapper’s demands.