FBI conducting ‘extensive search’ on roads near Nancy Guthrie home | Arizona

The FBI announced Wednesday that it is conducting an “extensive search” along several roads near the Arizona home of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, who has been missing for 10 days.

According to information received, the development came after authorities released a man who was detained at a traffic stop earlier in the day after several hours of interrogation “in connection with the investigation.”

The FBI gave no clue as to what 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was looking for during the sweep of the Catalina Mountains near Tucson, where she was reported missing from her home on Feb. 1.

a post The FBI’s Phoenix office in X urged drivers and the media to “be especially careful when passing law enforcement personnel near roadways.”

In a separate development, TMZ reported He said he received a note from an anonymous caller early Wednesday demanding one Bitcoin (about $67,000) from the Guthrie family “if they want the name of the person involved.” The note has not been officially confirmed.

Meanwhile, a person who identifies himself to reporters He was the man Carlos Palazuelos said was detained following a traffic stop Tuesday in Rio Rico, about an hour’s drive from the Guthrie residence.

“I hope they catch the suspect, because it’s not me,” he said New York Times He claimed that he had not heard of the case, saying that it was his wife and mother-in-law’s home in Rio Rico.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced Tuesday night that deputies “detained an individual during a traffic stop” and that the person “was being questioned in connection with the Nancy Guthrie investigation.”

Palazuelos, a 27-year-old delivery driver, told reporters he was “horrified” by his detention but insisted he was innocent, NBC News reported reported.

“[It’s] something I didn’t do. I felt like I was being kidnapped, bro. “They didn’t tell me anything,” he said.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said in a statement that his deputies and the FBI conducted a “court-authorized search” related to the investigation in Rio Rico, a town near the Mexican border. Nanos gave no details about the call and said in a separate statement Publish on X He said earlier on Wednesday: “No press conference is planned at this time.”

There was no official confirmation from the FBI or Pima County authorities as of early Wednesday morning that the man had been released, but sheriff’s department spokeswoman Angelica Carrillo told the Times that investigators had “completed their search of a property in Rio Rico.”

The developments come after the FBI released “previously inaccessible” information on Tuesday afternoon. still images and 44-second video of a ski-masked figure prowling the door of Nancy Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Mountains region north of Tucson, captured by a doorbell camera the morning she disappeared.

In the black-and-white photos, a masked figure wearing gloves and a backpack approaches the door of the house, and in one photo, the person waves what looks like a plant. In another, they start dismantling the Nest camera.

In recent days, Nanos had expressed frustration to journalists about the speed of capturing images. “If only the technology were as easy as we think it is, here’s a picture, here’s your bad guy. But it’s not,” he told The Associated Press as the search entered its second week on Monday.

The breakthrough was announced Tuesday by FBI director Kash Patel.

“As of this morning, law enforcement, working with our partners, has uncovered this new, previously inaccessible footage in which a gunman appears to have tampered with the camera.” wrote to x.

Also on Tuesday, the FBI released a statement. $50,000 prize For “information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.”

Detectives conducted a series of searches in and around Guthrie’s home, which was declared a “crime scene” early in the investigation; At least one vehicle was removed, and drone footage emerged showing FBI agents inserting a pole into a septic tank.

Savannah Guthrie, who has hosted NBC’s Today show since 2012, has posted several videos on social media celebrating the return of her mother, with whom she says she shared a special bond, especially after the death of her father when the host was young.

Nancy Guthrie had mobility issues and needed regular medication to survive, her daughter said.

In the days since Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, the case has become a source of frustration and intrigue. Investigators found blood on the doorstep and examined the authenticity of several notes reportedly demanding a ransom of $6 million in cryptocurrency from the Guthrie family. “We will pay,” said Savannah Guthrie in one of the videos.

One of the memos sent to an Arizona television station last week claimed that a request for money would be made by Monday afternoon and that the deadline would pass without incident.

In a bizarre incident, a person was seen trying to deliver pizza to Guthrie’s home, which was later revealed to have been ordered by reporters at the scene. “We can’t believe we have to say this, but crime scene media: please do not order food at the crime scene address. This would interfere with an active investigation,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said. Published on X.

Separately to post On Sunday afternoon, the ministry said: “No suspects, persons of interest or vehicles have been identified.”