Investigators have released surveillance photos showing a potential suspect in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation on Tuesday, marking a major update in the unusual case. The images were circulated less than a day after a ransom deadline to pay Guthrie’s abductors $6 million in bitcoin passed with no sign of the 84-year-old. The FBI said Monday that it had not identified any suspects in the bizarre kidnapping case, which began 10 days ago when Guthrie’s family reported her missing after she did not show up for church and wasn’t at her Tucson, Arizona, home. There has been no evidence Guthrie is taking the medication she needs or proof from kidnappers that she’s still alive.
There has been no indication any ransom was paid and the FBI also said it is not aware of any communication between the abductors and the Guthrie family.
The images of a masked individual appear to have been recovered off a Nest camera located outside Guthrie’s home. Law enforcement has been working for days to recover any images or video footage that may have been “lost, corrupted, or inaccessible due to a variety of factors–including the removal of recording devices,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.
Patel said in a post on X that the video was recovered from “residual data located in backend systems.”
The images show an individual wearing a full face mask, dark gloves and a backpack appearing to tamper with the camera at Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance. Patel said the person was armed.
The surveillance photos marks the first major development released to the public in the case that has baffled law enforcement experts for more than a week. Pleas from the family for Guthrie’s return have become increasingly urgent as time has passed.
“We believe our mom is still out there. We need your help,” said Nancy’s daughter, Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie, in a video on Instagram on Monday. “So I’m coming on just to ask you, not just for your prayers but no matter where you are — even if you’re far from Tucson — if you see anything, if you hear anything, if there’s anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement. We are in an hour of desperation.”
On Saturday, Savannah Guthrie addressed the kidnappers directly in a cryptic video saying that her family would pay for Nancy’s return.
“We received your message, and we understand,” Guthrie said in the video, sitting beside her brother and sister. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
-by Richard Winton and Hannah Fry
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