FBI releases photos of masked man at Nancy Guthrie’s front door in kidnapping case
Investigators released a surveillance photo Tuesday showing a potential suspect in the investigation of Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping, marking a major update in the unusual case.
The image spread with no trace of the 84-year-old, less than a day after the ransom was given to pay $6 million in bitcoin to Guthrie’s kidnappers.
The FBI said Monday that it has not identified any suspects in the bizarre kidnapping that began 10 days ago when Guthrie’s family reported him missing after he failed to show up for church and was not at his home in Tucson. 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.
The image of a masked person appears to have been taken from a Nest camera outside Guthrie’s home. 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.”
In the footage, a person wearing a full-face mask, dark gloves and a backpack appears to be tampering with the camera at Guthrie’s front door on the morning of Guthrie’s disappearance. Patel said the person was armed.
The surveillance photos mark the first major development made public in the case that has baffled law enforcement experts for more than a week.
The family’s pleas for Guthrie to return became more urgent as time went on.
“We believe our mother is still out there. We need your help,” Nancy’s daughter, “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, said in a video posted to Instagram on Monday. “So I’m coming to ask you not only to pray, but to ask you to not only pray, but to notify law enforcement wherever you are — even if you’re far from Tucson — if you see anything, if you hear anything, if anything seems strange to you. We’re in an hour of desperation.”
On Saturday, Savannah Guthrie addressed her kidnappers directly in a cryptic video, saying her family would pay for Nancy’s return.
“We got your message and we understand,” Guthrie said in the video, sitting next to his brother and sister. “We now ask you to return our mother to us, so we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we can have peace. It is very dear to us, and we will pay the price.”
