The kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie in Tucson has locals so terrified that home security businesses have seen a sudden surge in requests for panic room installations.
Kevin Hand, who specializes in break-in-resistant ‘safe rooms’ at Sportsman Steel Safes in Arizona, said homeowners have been calling him daily with rush orders to install thick steel doors and secret hiding rooms after the chilling disappearance of the 84-year-old in the early hours of February 1.
Prior to the kidnapping, Hand said many homeowners were satisfied with simple solutions like Ring and Nest cameras to feel safe – something Nancy herself had installed at her home.
Now, locals fear the devices may not be enough to deter intruders, and are scared that they too could be ripped from their beds in the dead of night.
‘There has been a huge spike in calls and business since the Guthrie case,’ Hand told the Daily Mail, describing how the fear rippling through Tucson is only intensifying the longer Nancy is missing.
His company has built heavy-duty vault doors and reinforced safe rooms for wealthy clients in Texas and California for decades, but now, he says, more middle class families in Arizona are seeing them as a necessary investment.
Consultations are booking out weeks in advance. Families who once considered extreme security measures ‘over the top’ are now asking the same urgent question.
‘It’s got people thinking “What would we do if someone broke in tonight?”‘ Hand said. ‘People don’t want this to happen to them or their families, and they’re realizing maybe it can.’
Ordinary bookshelves are turned into fortified panic rooms and flimsy interior doors are replaced with 800-pound slabs of steel and concrete where people can hide during an emergency
The kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie’s mom Nancy Guthrie in Tucson has locals so terrified, one area home-security business has seen a sudden surge in requests for panic rooms
The security firm boss said homeowners are now scrambling to structurally fortify their properties.
Hand transforms ordinary closets into fortified panic rooms and replaces flimsy interior doors with 800-pound slabs of steel and concrete owners can hide in during an emergency.
His firm is so reputable, it also manufactures vault doors and protective products for top-secret government clients.
‘We build vaults for almost every government agency,’ he said. ‘We’ve never had a vault door ever broken into, drilled open, pried open or lost to a fire, not one.’
That track record is encouraging Guthrie’s nervous neighbors, many of whom thought they were living in safe, upmarket neighborhoods, to invest in home security.
Hand said locals are retrofitting rooms in their homes with ultra-reinforced doors which can weigh anywhere from 800 to 1,000 pounds.
A full-length bathroom mirror hides a panic room built by one Arizona-based builder that has seen an uptick in calls following the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie
Most locals never even thought it would come to this but as the search continues for Savannah Guthrie’s mom Nancy, panic rooms have become a real purchase
The rooms are, this one behind a wooden unit, built as thick as bank vaults and they have high quality bullet proof doors
Ordinary looking everyday furniture leads to secret panic rooms, where families can hide during a home invasion
Kevin Hand, who specializes in break-in-resistant ‘safe rooms’ at his company Sportsman Steel Safes in Arizona , said area homeowners have been calling him daily with rush orders to install thick steel doors and secret hiding rooms
‘We make them look just like a regular door. It just looks ordinary, someone wouldn’t know it’s a panic room from the outside,’ he said.
But behind that unassuming exterior lies layers of steel, concrete cores, fireboard and anti-pry reinforcement designed to keep intruders out and prevent gunshots getting through.
‘When you’re using multiple layers of steel, that gives it an excellent ballistic rating,’ Hand said.
On the outside, a digital keypad unlocks and swings open the door in seconds. Inside, there’s an internal release that retracts ‘typically 18 bolts’ into thick steel framing.
Hand said these measures make it ‘impossible’ for intruders to get in.
Security experts know home invaders rely on speed, and estimate that most intruders spend only minutes inside a property before fleeing.
‘These people that break into houses to rob you are only going to spend about seven to eight minutes at the most,’ Hand said. ‘And that narrow window is precisely what panic rooms are designed for.
‘If you put one of these 800, 900-pound doors on a walk-in closet, someone is not going to be able to break through this door. And the amount of time it would take to abduct you, it gives you plenty of time to make a phone call – and the panic rooms have reception.’
In many homes, the bedrooms are located upstairs, which offers an additional layer of natural defense.
Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home could have had high end security systems like a panic room
If a homeowner puts one of the 800, 900-pound doors on a walk-in closet, someone is not going be able to break through the door
‘Typically, the family is on the second story,’ Hand said, explaining that a popular request is for a reinforced walk-in bedroom closet. ‘It gives you plenty of time to make a phone call to the police and for the police to get there.’
Intruders rarely attempt to break down the walls due to the speed at which they need to get in and out, the security expert said, but homeowners may still wish to reinforce their walls for maximum security.
Installing a security door alone dramatically increases the odds of survival in a home invasion situation, Hand explained, adding that it’s no longer just wealthy homeowners who are making inquiries.
‘If you’re a relatively high-profile person, there’s simple precautions you can take to make your home kidnap-proof, and now everyone is wanting the same,’ he said.
The rooms also serve a dual purpose, giving people somewhere to store and protect valuables such as firearms, jewelry and luxury handbags, while also providing refuge during civil unrest, armed break-ins or other emergencies.
Installing doors and secret rooms dramatically shifts survival odds in your favor, said experts
In these rooms, homeowners can store and protect valuables such as firearms, jewelry and luxury handbags, while providing refuge during civil unrest, armed break-ins or other emergencies
Neighbors visit Nancy Guthrie’s home as the search for her goes on. Many are now inquiring about panic rooms for their homes
While recent headlines have focused on Guthrie, the mother of millionaire Today show host Savannah Guthrie, panic room builder Steve Humble said the demand for improved home security is no longer limited to the rich and famous.
‘You used to see these only in the movies. People thought they were just for the ultra-wealthy, but now they are geared toward the middle class,’ Humble, who owns Creative Home Engineering in Arizona, told Daily Mail.
‘With crime generally worse and the Guthrie story ongoing, people want a safe place to go in a home invasion.’
While high-end security and custom designs can run upwards of $25,000, Humble’s rates start at $1,000 for a secret door.
Mid-range installations with additional reinforcement panels run between $7,500 and $8,500 or more.
‘It’s a small price to pay to save your family’s life during an armed attack,’ he said.
Custom-built door and secret room builds typically take about 90 days from measurement to final installation. In custom cases they can take about a year.
A well hidden secret door and a panic room can run upwards of $25,000 with high-end security and custom designs
Mid-range installations with additional reinforcement panels run between $7,500 and $8,500, like the one seen here on the right
In one home, a fireplace twists open to reveal a panic room, which local Tucson families have been inquiring about
The search continues for Savannah Guthrie’s mom, who disappeared from her Tucson home in the early hours of February 1
Hand confirmed that customers have used the rooms during real-life crises more than the general public knows.
‘People use these in panic situations, a lot more than you think,’ he said. ‘It’s usually kept very private when stuff goes on.’
The security expert said that when the Guthrie family news broke, he wondered why someone with such a public-facing profile wouldn’t have taken high-end security measures.
Meanwhile, as Tucson residents continue to process the mysterious kidnapping, many are asking Hand unimaginable ‘what if’ scenarios.
His advice is to reinforce doors, install steel cores and create hidden safe spaces.
A panic room may never be needed, he added, but in an area now on edge with a ruthless abductor on the loose, the idea of an 800-pound barrier disguised as a regular closet door is likely to put minds at ease.
