Nancy Guthrie search live updates: Police conclude search of property in Arizona
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “TODAY” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, was dropped off at her home outside Tucson, Arizona, the night of Jan. 31.
Media reports: man detained for questioning released
The man detained by authorities for questioning last night in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has been released, according to reports from the New York Times and other news outlets.
When contacted by NBC News overnight, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on the reported release.
Earlier, the department confirmed that its deputies along with the FBI’s Evidence Response Team concluded their search of a property in Rio Rico, a community about 60 miles south of Tucson.
With video, investigators got the ‘game changer’
After an excruciating 10 days without much to go on, authorities looking for Nancy Guthrie finally have a potential big break: video of an armed, masked person at her doorstep the morning she went missing.
The black-and-white video captured by Guthrie’s doorbell camera, which the FBI and the Pima County, Arizona, Sheriff’s Department shared yesterday, gives investigators clues that could help their search.
A member of the Pima county sheriff’s office walks around Nancy Guthrie’s home yesterday, in Tucson, Ariz. Ty ONeil / AP
Hours after the video was released, law enforcement was questioning a man in the Tucson area, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News. It is not clear if this is the person seen in the video from the Guthrie home released earlier.
“When you get video, it opens up many new avenues and details,” said Eric Draeger, a former Milwaukee police detective who specialized in high-tech tools. “Detectives hope to get something like this in a case like this.”
Bryanna Fox, a criminology professor at the University of South Florida, agreed. “This is the game changer we were waiting for,” she said.
Tips have dramatically increased since the images and video were released, an FBI source told NBC News.
Location in Rio Rico, Arizona, searched by sheriff’s department and FBI
Reporting from Tucson, Ariz.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said last night that, along with the FBI’s Evidence Response Team, it was searching a location in Rio Rico, Arizona, that is related to the Guthrie investigation.
The department said this morning that search had concluded. The search had been expected to last several hours.
Rio Rico is about 60 miles south of Tucson and just north of the Mexico border.
DoorDash ‘urgently investigating’ whether the detained person is one of its drivers
DoorDash said in the early hours of this morning that it was “urgently investigating” whether the person detained for questioning by law enforcement last night was one of its drivers.
“We have reached out to law enforcement and are ready to support their critical investigation in any way we can. Like tens of millions around the world, our hearts are with the Guthrie family during this heart-wrenching time,” the company said in a statement on X.
Sheriff’s deputies finish searching Rio Rico property
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said early today it has concluded a search of a property in Rio Rico, south of Tucson, in connection with the search for Nancy Guthrie.
The department provided no other information in relation to the search, such as the identity of the resident.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies block a street where a person was detained for questioning, in Rio Rico, Ariz., yesterday. Rebecca Noble / Reuters
What the detainment in the Guthrie case could mean for the investigation
It wasn’t clear if the man who was detained for questioning last night is the same person seen in surveillance video from Nancy Guthrie’s front door the day she went missing.
Man was detained after dramatic increase in tips
The man being questioned by authorities was detained earlier today after the FBI released video and still images of a person appearing to tamper with Nancy Guthrie’s security camera.
The release prompted a dramatic increase in the number of tips, an FBI official told NBC News.
No news conference planned, sheriff’s department says
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said no news conference is planned in connection with the person detained during a traffic stop earlier.
Additional information will be released as it becomes available, the department said.
Authorities searching location in Rio Rico, Arizona
Reporting from Tucson, Ariz.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI’s Evidence Response Team are conducting a court-authorized search tonight at a location in Rio Rico, Arizona, that is related to the Guthrie investigation.
The operation is expected to last several hours.
Rio Rico is about 60 miles south of Tucson and just north of the Mexico border.
Man was detained by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, authorities say
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department detained the man being questioned by law enforcement during a traffic stop south of Tucson, the agency said tonight.
“The subject is currently being questioned in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation,” the department said.
The department did not immediately release additional information about the man, and it remains unclear whether he is the person seen in the security video the FBI released earlier today.
It isn’t clear if the man detained for questioning is the person seen in the security video
It isn’t clear whether the man detained by law enforcement tonight is the person who was seen in security video appearing to tamper with a security camera at Nancy Guthrie’s home.
The man who is being questioned was detained hours after the FBI shared the security video.
Man detained for questioning in Guthrie investigation, person familiar with matter says
Law enforcement has detained a man for questioning in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News tonight.
The development comes after the FBI released black-and-white security camera photos of a potential subject outside the 84-year-old woman’s home on the morning she went missing in Tucson, Arizona.
It was not immediately clear whether the man detained for questioning was the person seen in the doorbell camera images.
The FBI did not comment. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it is not releasing any information at this time.
Investigators wrangled video from Google Nest camera out of ‘backend systems’
Shortly after Guthrie disappeared, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said that a camera affixed to her door had been disconnected, that she did not have a subscription that would have saved video and that investigators were trying to work with a tech company on the difficult forensic task of recovering any video.
Against those odds, they were successful. More than a week after her reported disappearance, that video was revealed, marking the most significant public development in a case that has captured the nation.
An internet-connected Google Nest camera captured an unidentified person in a mask and gloves and carrying a backpack and a gun approaching Guthrie’s home just before her disappearance. FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau was able to collect the video from “backend systems.”
It’s not yet clear how the FBI was able to collect the video. Experts told NBC News it is in some cases possible to collect data from the complex infrastructure that has enabled cloud-based cameras to become a common household feature.
Video doesn’t show subject’s face but still reveals defining features
Reporting from Tucson, Ariz.
The video the FBI released today does not show the face of a person appearing to tamper with Nancy Guthrie’s security camera — but it still reveals defining features that can help investigators.
There appears to be facial hair around the person’s mouth, and distinctive eyebrows can be seen through the eyeholes of the person’s mask. The person is carrying a backpack with reflectors and wearing a zip-up jacket and light-colored running shoes.
“This person has not gone their entire life never interacting with others,” said former FBI agent Bryanna Fox, a University of South Florida criminology professor.
Friends, colleagues and relatives who might recognize those features, she added, “just have to report it.”
Don’t order food to a crime scene address, law enforcement tells media
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department told members of the media reporting on Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance not to order food to a crime scene address.
“This interferes with an active investigation,” the department said on X. “Please also respect private property laws. Thank you.”
Releasing video was FBI’s ‘best shot’ to solve the case, former agent says
Reporting from Tucson, Ariz.
Former FBI agent Bryanna Fox, a University of South Florida criminology professor, said the release of security video is the agency’s “best shot” at solving Nancy Guthrie’s possible abduction.
“If there was some big thing like DNA or fibers at the scene that would have linked them directly to this person, that would have been Plan A,” Fox said. “This is the current best option we have to find this person, and it’s actually a very powerful option.”
The video shows the person’s hand gestures and posture and the way they move, she said.
“This person has not gone their entire life never interacting with others, family members, friends, colleague, people that know him know who he is,” Fox said. “They just have to report it.
To Fox, the person appeared either left-handed or ambidextrous — a gun appeared to be holstered on the person’s left side, but they were using their left hand to cover the camera with brush. The video also appeared to show premeditation, she said.
“The backpack, the weapon — both of those strongly suggest that there was some violent crime that was going to occur in that home that night,” she said.
