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Law enforcement and federal agents are continuing their search for Nancy Guthrie, 84, after authorities said her blood was found on the front porch of her home in the Tucson area and her family reported her missing on Feb. 1. On Feb. 7, investigators said they were relying in part on new video footage involving a masked person at Guthrie’s front door, while they also sought tips from the public as ransom deadlines passed.
As part of the investigation, a man who had been detained by police for questioning was released after several hours, according to multiple media outlets that reported his account. The man told reporters that he had nothing to do with the disappearance of Guthrie, saying he was a delivery man who works in the Tucson area.
Authorities did not say what led them to stop the man, but the Pima County sheriff’s department said deputies and FBI agents also searched a location in Rio Rico, about an hour south of Tucson, where the man lives, on Tuesday night. Investigators’ focus remained on identifying who was involved in what authorities described as Guthrie’s apparent abduction.
In the days since Guthrie was reported missing, the sheriff’s department said it received thousands of tips during the 24 hours after the FBI released videos Tuesday. The FBI’s footage showed a person wearing a backpack and what appeared to be a gun holster at Nancy Guthrie’s door, and investigators said the person’s gloved hand appeared to use plants to block the camera’s view.
The sheriff’s department had earlier said there was no video available because Guthrie did not have an active subscription to the doorbell camera company, a point that left the sheriff frustrated. Digital forensics experts, however, continued working to try to recover images in back-end software that might have been lost, corrupted or inaccessible, leading to the later release of the images the FBI said they could obtain.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the images show “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance.” Shortly after the FBI announced the videos, Savannah Guthrie posted several images with the caption “We believe she is still alive. Bring her home,” along with FBI and sheriff phone numbers, and the post drew thousands of comments within minutes.
Federal and national attention also followed the video release. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump watched the footage and was in “pure disgust,” adding that anyone with information should call the FBI. The FBI later posted digital billboards about the case in major cities from Texas to California.
Earlier in the search, the family’s public messaging appeared to shift in tone as investigators continued to act on new information and as time passed without a confirmed response. According to the report, the Guthrie family released multiple videos over the course of the week, and investigators said purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets with deadlines for payment that later passed.
Savannah Guthrie said in a video released Feb. 4, “We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” adding that she wanted to know without a doubt that her mother was alive and that the people holding her had Nancy Guthrie. Camron Guthrie, her brother, reiterated the plea in another video the next day.
By Monday, Savannah Guthrie’s public appeal changed again, the report said, as she appeared speaking directly to the public rather than to the suspected abductors. She said, “We are at an hour of desperation,” and urged the public to help.
FBI spokesperson Connor Hagan said on that same day that the agency was not aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and the suspected kidnappers. Investigators also continued working the crime-scene details, including the circumstances surrounding Guthrie’s home and the discovery of blood on the front porch.
Nancy Guthrie lived alone in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood, where homes are spaced far apart and set back from the street by long driveways, gates and dense desert vegetation. Savannah Guthrie grew up in Tucson, graduated from the University of Arizona and had worked at a television station in the city before joining “Today” in 2011, her family said in earlier materials. In a video released last week, she described her mother as a “loving woman of goodness and light.”