The masked person spotted trying to block Nancy Guthrie's Nest doorbell camera on the night she was abducted reportedly had been to the home earlier also. Sources say investigators believe the masked intruder seen in the home's surveillance footage had visited Guthrie's house at some point before she vanished on February 1.
Police haven't made any arrests yet and say they have no solid leads in the disappearance of the 84-year-old, who is the mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie. Sources pointed to a piece of home security footage that shows the suspect at Guthrie's front door, without a backpack, as seen in a photo released by the FBI.
Twist in the Tale
The photo was reportedly taken on a different day than when the 84-year-old mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie was abducted. The FBI has also shared other photos showing the suspect wearing a backpack, which were captured on the morning she disappeared.
One possibility investigators are considering is that the man may have gone to the door once before but backed off after noticing the camera. Later, he appears to have returned, this time tampering with the device and covering the lens with branches.
At the same time, others believe the person seen without a backpack could be a different person altogether, separate from the one who blocked the camera.
For now, authorities say they have not identified any suspect connected to Guthrie's disappearance.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department said it is aware that doorbell images shared earlier in the case show the suspect wearing different clothing at different times, including instances where he appears both with and without a backpack.
At the same time, officials said in a statement released on Monday night that the photos do not include any date or time stamps, making it difficult to determine exactly when they were taken.
"Therefore, any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative," the statement cautioned. "Speculation, without factual support, does not advance the investigative process."
Still No Clue
The search for Guthrie entered its third week on Sunday, with frustration growing among those trying to help. A group of volunteers decided to act on their own and found a suspicious Swiss Gear backpack inside a storm drain near Guthrie's home — an area that also serves as a homeless encampment.
However, investigators later said the bag did not appear to match the one seen on the masked suspect. Authorities have identified the suspect's backpack as a black Ozark Trail Hiker model, which is sold exclusively at Walmart.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have repeatedly tried to make contact with the people believed to be behind their mother's disappearance, who may have sent ransom messages demanding massive sums of bitcoin in exchange for her safe return.
Every attempt by the family to respond has been met with silence. Even after another ransom message surfaced last week, the sender was bluntly told to take any real information directly to federal authorities if they truly expected to get paid.
Although the investigation has appeared to slow in recent weeks, with no major developments since early February, the Pima County Sheriff's Department says the case remains a priority. Between 300 and 400 personnel are still assigned, the same level of staffing as when the search first began.
Officials say there is still a large amount of evidence being examined, including blood traces found inside Guthrie's home. However, Nanos said that DNA testing is a slow process and could take as long as a year to complete.
