Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Friday that a lack of recoverable video from Nancy Guthrie’s home has been a disappointing setback as investigators pursue what authorities describe as an apparent abduction of the “Today” show host’s mother. Nanos said he was frustrated that a camera at Nancy Guthrie’s home did not capture images of anyone the day she went missing, even as investigators found other signals around the time she disappeared.
Nanos said investigators have found the doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday, while software data recorded movement at the home minutes later. He said Nancy Guthrie did not have an active subscription, meaning investigators could not recover footage. In an interview at the department’s headquarters, Nanos described the outcome as falling short of what video evidence typically promises: “It is concerning, it’s actually almost disappointing because you’ve got your hopes up,” he told The Associated Press, adding, “OK, they got an image. ‘Well, we do, but we don’t.’”
The search for Nancy Guthrie, 84, has entered a sixth day, Nanos said. He said authorities have not identified any suspects or ruled anyone out, and authorities believe she was taken against her will from her home just outside Tucson over the weekend. Nanos said DNA tests showed blood on Guthrie’s front porch was a match to her.
Investigators returned to the neighborhood on Friday, according to the sheriff’s department. The department posted on social media that it was restricting access to the road in front of the home to give investigators room to work, and it asked media organizations staked out nearby to move. A neighborhood group, the Catalina Foothills Association, told residents in a letter that authorities were resuming searches in the area immediately, and it thanked residents for speaking with law enforcement and for sharing camera images and allowing searches of properties.
Nanos said earlier that investigators have not given up on attempts to retrieve video from the home, telling the AP, “I wish technology was as easy as we believe it is, that here’s a picture, here’s your bad guy. But it’s not.” He also said investigators still receive information from technology companies, but that some data cannot be obtained further, adding, “There are pieces of information that come to us from these tech groups that say ‘this is what we have and we can’t get anymore.’”
On the communications side of the case, Nanos said he had no new information about purported ransom letters sent to some media outlets. He said the FBI is handling that portion of the investigation. Tucson TV station KOLD said Friday it received a new message tied to the Guthrie case via email, and it said it could not disclose the contents. The FBI said it was aware of a new message and was reviewing its authenticity, KOLD said; KOLD was among the outlets that had received a ransom message earlier in the week. It was unclear whether all of the ransom notes were identical, according to FBI chief in Phoenix Heith Janke, who said at least one note included a demand for money with a deadline that passed Thursday evening and a second deadline for Monday if the first one was not met.
Health concerns have also mounted for Nancy Guthrie, as authorities said she needs daily medication vital to her health. The AP reported that sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com said she had a pacemaker and dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues. Nanos said in the interview that “Her conditions, I would imagine, are worsening day by day,” and that she requires medication. He said investigators have “no way of knowing whether they’re getting that medication to her,” and he acknowledged that authorities are not sharing everything they know about what happened.
As part of the family’s continuing effort to contact the person holding Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings released an emotional video message Wednesday to the kidnapper, saying they were ready to talk but wanted proof their mother was alive. Camron Guthrie repeated the family’s plea in a video posted Thursday, saying, “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly,” the AP reported. The Associated Press also reported that Donald Trump said on Air Force One that the investigation was going “very well,” and that Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal authorities are assisting Arizona officials but declined to offer details.
Sejal Govindarao reported that Savannah Guthrie’s mother was being sought after authorities believed she was abducted near Tucson, where investigators were still trying to recover evidence and assess new messages received through the media and law enforcement channels.