Nancy Guthrie investigation: Why video of masked person video is such a game-changer

More than a week after Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her Tucson home, authorities offered few leads.

There is no video surveillance.

There is no suspect.

There is no exact information about when exactly he was kidnapped.

There is no information on where he is being held or whether he is still alive.

However, that changed on Tuesday morning when security camera footage of a masked man in front of his home was released.

What does it show?

The footage of a masked person appears to have been taken from a Nest camera at the front door of Guthrie’s home.

Footage recorded at 1:47 a.m. on Feb. 1 shows a man wearing a ski mask, gloves and a backpack tampering with the camera on Guthrie’s front porch the morning Guthrie disappeared. A gun holster is worn around the person’s waist, placed in front of the body and easily visible.

In the video footage, it can be seen that the person approaching the front door noticed the camera and tried to cover the lens with his hand. The person then looks around the patio and garden area to find something to block the camera, eventually settling on some greenery found in the garden.

How did they get this?

FBI Director Kash Patel said law enforcement has been working for days to recover any images or video recordings that “may have been lost, corrupted, or inaccessible due to a variety of factors, including the removal of recording devices.”

Patel said in a post on X that the video was recovered from “redundant data found in backend systems.”

A law enforcement source told The Times on Tuesday that authorities spent a significant amount of time retrieving data from the Nest camera. The source spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

Why is it important?

Mary Ellen O’Toole, a professor at George Mason University and a former FBI profiler, said the video footage was useful to investigators in more ways than one, including providing some insight into the personality of the alleged kidnapper.

“It really added a sense of life and courage to the case that I think are not just any photos, but really useful photos,” he said. “Someone will recognize this person. They will recognize their clothes, they will recognize the way they walk and how they carry themselves. I think that will be important.”

Added University of Hawaii Police Chief Andrew Black, formerly the FBI special agent in charge of the Tucson office. “They won’t be dressed exactly as they are here, but they will have used some of these items of clothing in everyday life. Chances are, someone might recognize them.”

Where does it fit in the timeline

The video fills a key gap in the timeline authorities provided about the hours before and after Guthrie’s abduction.

• Saturday 5:32 p.m.: Left his home in the hills north of Tucson to have dinner at a family member’s house. Authorities said he took an Uber to dinner but was driven home by his family.
• 9:48 p.m.: Guthrie returned home and the garage door opened.
• 21:50 Data shows the door closed two minutes later.
• Sunday 1:47: The person in the video appears at the door and tries to block the Nest camera.
• 2:12 a.m.: A security camera software detected a person or possibly an animal in the home, but no video was available.
• 02:28: Nancy Guthrie’s pacemaker app disconnects from her cell phone. His phone doesn’t appear to have left his house.

Where do things stand?

On Monday, the ransom deadline to pay Guthrie’s kidnappers $6 million in bitcoin passed and there was no sign of the 84-year-old.

The FBI said Monday it has not identified any suspects in the bizarre kidnapping case. There is no evidence that Guthrie received the medication he needed, nor is there any evidence from his captors that he is still alive.

There is no indication that any ransom was paid, and the FBI also said it was not aware of any communications between the kidnappers and the Guthrie family.

Nancy’s daughter, “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, shared the surveillance footage in two posts on Instagram on Tuesday, asking for the public’s help. The family believes their mother “is still alive,” Savannah Guthrie says in a post.