Delivery man questioned and released over suspected kidnapping
A delivery man told news organizations that he was the man detained for questioning in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance before being released, hours after the FBI shared surveillance video of a masked man wearing a gun holster outside her front door the night she disappeared from her Arizona home.
Authorities have not confirmed that the person they captured has been released.
According to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, officers detained a person during a traffic stop south of Tucson. No details about the person or location were immediately available. The FBI referred questions to the sheriff’s office.
A Phoenix Television station KNXV-TV, known as ABC15 Arizona, interviewed a deliveryman He said he was detained by police on suspicion of kidnapping Guthrie. Realizing that the police were following them, he and his wife said that they pulled the car over.
The man, who gave only his first name (Carlos) and said he lived in the town of Rio Rico, said he was innocent and police released him a few hours later.
In a separate interview, the man told reporters: “I hope they catch the suspect because it’s not me.”
His account could not be independently verified. Local and federal authorities have not confirmed that the person they detained has been released.
The department and the FBI conducted a court-authorized search Tuesday night at a location in Rio Rico, about an hour south of Tucson, the department said in a statement. It was expected to last several hours.
Guthrie disappeared on February 1, and the case has gripped the country ever since. Until Tuesday, authorities appeared to have made little progress in determining what happened to the 84-year-old mother. Today show host Savannah Guthrie or find out who’s responsible.
Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings released a series of video statements pleading for their mother’s return and stating that they were willing to pay a ransom. Authorities described Nancy Guthrie as mentally healthy but with limited mobility. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said repeatedly that he takes many medications and that there were concerns from the beginning that he might die without them.
The community of Rio Rico, population 20,000, is about an hour’s drive from Guthrie’s home and about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Videos released early Tuesday show a person wearing a ski mask and a backpack. At one point, they tilt their heads down and away from the doorbell camera as they approach the Guthrie’s front door. The footage also shows a person holding a flashlight in his mouth and trying to cover the camera with his gloved hand, and a piece of plant plucked from the garden.
The videos, less than a minute in total length, gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Guthrie’s home in the hills outside Tucson. But the footage doesn’t show what happened to him or help determine whether he’s still alive.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the “gunman” “appeared to have tampered with the camera.” It was not clear whether there was a gun in the holster.
The videos were pulled from data on “back-end systems” after investigators spent days trying to find missing, corrupted or inaccessible footage, Patel said.
“This will get the phone ringing for a lot of potential leads,” said former FBI agent Katherine Schweit. “Even if there is a person who appears to be completely covered, they are not. You can see their surroundings, the shape of their face, possibly their eyes or mouth.”
Investigators have been saying for more than a week that they believe Nancy Guthrie was abducted against her will. She was last seen at her home on January 31 and was reported missing the next day.
Police said DNA tests showed blood on Guthrie’s front porch matched his, and the doorbell camera was disconnected in the early hours of Feb. 1.
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