Federal agents have unveiled new insights into the individual captured on Nancy Guthrie’s surveillance footage, as they raise the stakes by offering up to $100,000 for information leading to her location or the suspect’s identity.
The 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie, the well-known host of the Today Show, was abducted from her residence in Tucson, Arizona’s affluent Catalina Foothills neighborhood during the early hours of February 1.
Eerie surveillance video from that night captures a masked man wearing thick gloves, attempting to obscure a Nest doorbell camera positioned on Nancy’s front porch.
Authorities now describe the suspect as a man standing between five feet nine inches and five feet ten inches tall, with an average build.
At the time of the incident, he was carrying a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.
The FBI expressed optimism in a statement, saying, “We hope this updated description will sharpen the focus of the public tips we are receiving,” adding that they have already received over 13,000 tips since the disappearance of the mother-of-three.
Anyone who provides tips that lead to Guthrie’s location or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her abduction can now receive a $100,000 reward, an increase from the $50,000 reward the bureau was previously offering.
At the same time, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is expanding its request for security video from Nancy’s neighbors in the Catalina Foothills, asking people to check for any video taken from 9pm to midnight on January 11 – nearly three weeks before Nancy went missing.
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of television host Savannah Guthrie, was abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona in the early morning hours of February 1
A chilling masked figure was seen outside Nancy’s home on the day she went missing
They have also requested footage from 9.30am to 11am on January 31, hours before Nancy’s abduction, saying a suspicious vehicle was spotted in the area around that time.
Authorities combing through the desert surrounding Guthrie’s home have previously found a black glove that looks similar to the one her abductor wore in the doorbell camera footage.
The Daily Mail understands the lone glove, found lying in a small shrub, was bagged up and taken by authorities, who remained tight-lipped about who the glove may belong to.
But on Thursday, four officers were seen arriving at Guthrie’s home in an unmarked black vehicle and carrying a bag into a tent set up at the property, while others brought in additional equipment.
The large tent, which blocked the entrance to Guthrie’s home and the front porch where investigators previously found blood that matched her DNA, was then taken down about an hour after being erected.
It now remains unclear what authorities were looking for, but forensic tents are typically erected when investigators want to conceal a body, weapon or other critical pieces of evidence.
Yet the front porch has been routinely trampled on by authorities and family members throughout the investigation. It was left exposed to outdoor elements, with the blood found splattered on the ground having been dried out by the sun.
One Pima County Sheriff’s source even told the Daily Mail: ‘This is amateur hour.’
Federal authorities now say the suspect was seen carrying a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack like the one pictured
Investigators temporarily erected a white tent outside the house on Thursday
Still, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department insists that it is combing through thousands of tips with hundreds of detectives and federal agents assisting in the investigation.
Some federal agents were seen on Wednesday carrying out an extensive search of the rugged scrubland around Guthrie’s home, while other investigators emerged from Guthrie’s eldest daughter’s home with a paper grocery stack and a white trash bag.
One, still wearing blue protective gloves, also took a stack of letters from Annie Guthrie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni’s, roadside mailbox. They then drove away without speaking to reporters.
Annie and Cioni were the last people to see Nancy, who showed up at their house for dinner the night before.
She was then reported missing the next day after she failed to show up to a friend’s house to watch virtual church services.
Nancy has not been seen or heard from since as her children repeatedly pleaded with the public for any help finding their mother.
Law enforcement agents check vegetation areas around Nancy’s home on Wednesday
Investigators were also spotted on Wednesday combing through the mail at daughter Annie’s mailbox
Her three children have repeatedly asked for the public’s help in finding their beloved mother ever since, and on Thursday, Savannah shared another heartbreaking video tribute to her mom.
‘Our lovely mom,’ the television host wrote. ‘We will never give up on her. Thank you for your prayers and hope.’
