The grainy black-and-white image has become the center of the investigation into Nancy Guthrie.
At 1:47 a.m. Feb. 1, an individual appears at the door of her Tucson home. The person is wearing a balaclava, gloves and a backpack. A gun is holstered by the person’s waist, positioned at the front of their body and easily visible.
The person notices the camera at Guthrie’s front porch and tries to cover the lens with their hand before scouting around the patio and yard area apparently for something to obstruct the camera. The individual eventually settles on some greenery found in the yard.
It’s been a week since those images became public. But officials still don’t have a suspect in the case. Two people were detained for questioning but were later released.
‘Like the Unabomber’
Still, authorities believe those images hold the key to solving the case.
On Sunday, the FBI said DNA was found on a glove discovered 2 miles away from Guthrie’s home that matched those worn by a masked person seen outside the home. But officials said on Tuesday that the DNA from the glove did not match anything in CODIS, the national DNA database used by law enforcement.
A tip based on the video is likely investigators’ best bet to solve the case quickly.
“I believe somebody out there knows who this is,” Chris Nanos, the sheriff of Pima County, told the Daily Mail. “I believe somebody out there can look at that video and go, I know exactly who that is. And that’s what our plea is to our community. If you go back in history — like at cases like the Unabomber — they were found out because somebody in the community, somebody a family member, a neighbor, called and said, ‘I think I know who did this.’”
Theodore Kaczynski was tracked down with help from his brother who read portions of the Unabomber’s manifesto and alerted authorities to his suspicions. The bomber had targeted people for years before his manifesto was published in the Washington Post. David Kaczynski noticed similarities between the manifesto and letters he received from his brother.
The FBI had tracked the Unabomber futilely for 18 years before his capture in a hermit’s shack in Montana in April 1996. Agents involved in the hunt said they might never have found the reclusive former mathematics professor without the help provided by David Kaczynski.
Trying to keep hope alive
At this point, both authorities and the Guthrie family are trying to keep hope alive more than three weeks after Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped.
“Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie issued a statement Sunday on Instagram pleading with the kidnappers.
“And I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is that it’s never too late, and you’re not lost or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing,” she said. “We are here and we believe, and we believe in the essential goodness of every human being, and it’s never too late.”
There has been no proof of life provided for the 84-year-old, and family has expressed concern about her health because she was kidnapped without her medication.
But clues have been scattered. Nanos told CBS News that investigators believe the clothing, backpack and face mask worn by the suspect could have been purchased at a Walmart. Investigators are working with Walmart management to identify the individual who purchased the backpack, the department said on Tuesday.
While the DNA on the gloves did not lead them to a suspect, authorities are also testing DNA evidence found at Guthrie’s home. The results of those tests are pending.
Nancy Guthrie was discovered missing after she didn’t show up to a friend’s house to watch a church service. She was taken from her home without her heart medication, and it’s unclear how long she can survive without it.
The kidnapping drama has captivated the nation, but there have been relatively few leads.
A day after Guthrie disappeared, news outlets received identical ransom notes that investigators treated as legitimate.
Sources told The Times that authorities have no proof the person who authored the ransom note has Guthrie. But they also said that note felt credible because it included details about a specific damaged piece of property and the placement of an accessory in the home that had not been made public.
Why experts think video is key
The discovery of the video marked the biggest break so far.
Law enforcement worked for days after the kidnapping to recover any images or video footage that may have been “lost, corrupted, or inaccessible due to a variety of factors — including the removal of recording devices,” said FBI Director Kash Patel last week on X.
Experts told The Times that despite the person being masked, it is likely someone close to them can identify them.
“Someone is going to recognize this individual. They’re going to recognize the clothes, they’ll recognize the gait and how he carries himself. I think that is going to be significant,” Mary Ellen O’Toole, a professor at George Mason University, said.
“He or she is not going to be dressed exactly as they were here, but they’re going to have used some of these articles of clothing in daily life,” said University of Hawaii Police Chief Andrew Black.
