FBI releases 1st images of masked individual in search for Nancy Guthrie

Authorities investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie released the first surveillance images Tuesday showing a masked person on the porch of her Arizona home the day she went missing, as law enforcement and her family intensified calls for public help more than a week into the search.

Law enforcement searching for the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie have not identified any suspects of persons or interest, and it’s unclear if she is still alive. FBI director Kash Patel posted the images on X.

“The video was recovered from residual data located in backend systems,” Patel wrote, saying the images show “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance.”

Video released by the FBI shows a person wearing a backpack, long sleeves and pants walk up to the door and try to conceal a camera with a glove before turning around, grabbing some plants and then putting them in front of the camera.

Investigators had been hopeful that cameras at the home would turn up some evidence about how she went missing, but the doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday.

And while software data recorded movement at the home minutes later, Nancy Guthrie didn’t have an active subscription, so none of the footage could be recovered, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had said.

The announcement comes as heartbreaking messages made by Savannah Guthrie and her family have shifted from hopeful to desperate as they plead with the apparent kidnappers to hand over their mother.

It’s also unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines that have already passed were authentic or whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with the abductors.

Family videos

Guthrie and her family have posted a series of videos over the past week, each striking a different tone. The latest message from Savannah Guthrie, in which she appeared alone, was more bleak. “We are at an hour of desperation,” she said Monday, telling the public: “We need your help.”

Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her house just outside Tucson. She was last seen there Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day after not attending church.

DNA tests showed blood on Nancy Guthrie’s front porch was a match to her, and a doorbell camera was disconnected in the early hours of Sunday morning, the sheriff has said.

Authorities say Nancy Guthrie needs daily medication because she has high blood pressure and heart issues, including a pacemaker.

Investigators were in her neighbourhood several times over the past few days and plan to keep working Tuesday as they expand the search and follow up on new leads, the sheriff’s department said.

Three days after the search began, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings sent their first public appeal to the kidnappers, telling them “we want to hear from you and we are ready to listen.” In the recorded video, Guthrie said her family was aware of media reports about a ransom letter, but they first wanted proof their mother was alive.

“Please reach out to us,” they said.

Law enforcement officials declined to say whether the letters sent to several media outlets were credible but said all tips were being investigated seriously.

The next day, Savannah Guthrie’s brother again told the kidnappers to reach out “so we can move forward.”

“Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly,” Camron Guthrie said.

Then over the past weekend the family posted another video — one that was more cryptic and generated even more speculation about Nancy Guthrie’s fate. “We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” said Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her siblings.

“This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

Up to that point, the family’s first three videos addressed the kidnappers directly. But just ahead of Monday’s deadline spelled out in a purported note, Savannah Guthrie urged people countrywide to be on the lookout “no matter where you are, even if you’re far from Tucson, if you see anything, if you hear anything.”

Her turn to the public comes as much of the country is closely following the dramatic twists and turns involving the longtime anchor of NBC’s morning show.

The FBI this week began posting digital billboards in major cities from Texas to California.

Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said Monday that the agency wasn’t aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and the suspected kidnappers.

Authorities also had not identified any suspects or persons of interest, he said.

“Someone has that one piece of information that can help us bring Nancy home.”