Last week, unsettling images emerged showing a masked individual in Nancy Guthrie’s residence amidst her suspected kidnapping. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos hinted to the Daily Mail that these might not be the only videos to surface from the home’s surveillance system.

Specialists in digital forensics, particularly those focusing on connected devices and cloud storage at Google, are diligently working to retrieve data from Nancy’s home cameras. Initially, the devices were deemed unhelpful as they were either offline or inactive due to Guthrie’s lack of subscriptions.

“Google initially told us they had nothing, but they’re committed to trying what they call ‘scratching,'” Nanos revealed in an exclusive Sunday interview.

“It’s challenging. Imagine trying to peel through multiple layers of paint on a wall. They’re attempting to reach the deeper layers without damaging the existing data,” he explained.

He added, “I truly hope they can capture a shot of the driveway to identify any vehicle. After all, you can’t disguise a vehicle with a mask, can you?”

Nanos shared these insights during an extensive interview, marking nearly two weeks since he was informed by his officers about the abduction case at North Camino Escalante in the Catalina Foothills. While the sheriff remains optimistic about locating 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, he admitted that the process could span ‘weeks, months, or even years.’

Nanos, who resembles a cop from a 1970s TV show with his shock of white hair and desert tan, is by turns folksy and firm.

He said he believes the incident was a kidnapping, not a burglary gone bad.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said digital forensic experts are attempting to recover additional video from cameras at Nancy Guthrie’s home

A masked intruder was previously captured on doorbell camera footage at Guthrie’s home

Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her home in the Catalina Foothills near Tucson on January 31. She is pictured alongside her daughter and Today Show presenter Savannah

‘This is somebody who’s disappeared from the face of the earth, and now we have a camera that says here’s the person who did this,’ he said.

‘And that’s what makes me say this is a kidnapping. The motivation for it is where we get stuck, right? Is it for money? I mean, we had the one demand where they asked for money. But is it really for money, or is it for revenge for something?’

Nanos spoke to the Daily Mail just after the FBI said a black glove recovered last week is believed to be the same one worn by the intruder in the video and the agency had received initial results from a DNA profile from a Florida lab.

Nanos, a 70-year El Paso native with 50 years experience in law enforcement has been the sheriff of Pima County since 2015. He is presiding – sometimes controversially – over an investigation that he said has 400 personnel from his department, the FBI and other Arizona law enforcement agencies working 24-7 to find 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie.

So far between 40,000 and 50,000 tips have come in. Sometimes there have been as many as 5,000 an hour that cops have to sift through, categorize, prioritize and analyze.

Nanos said he’s impervious to what he calls ‘haters’ – critics who say he botched the case by releasing the crime scene too early. He’s confident that his officers made a thorough sweep of Guthrie’s home and land well before the FBI came and decided to re-seal the home.

‘My officers were there for almost 20 hours, and they processed their scene, got it done, and brought in all the evidence,’ he said. ‘Then the FBI came and did their thing.’

He said he has a thick skin, revealing that the day after Nancy Guthrie was reported missing and the media began to descend on Tucson, his own brother died.

Guthrie had returned home after visiting her daughter Annie Guthrie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni earlier that evening

The FBI recovered a black glove that investigators believe matches the one worn by the masked intruder captured on doorbell camera footage at Nancy Guthrie’s home

The glove has been sent for forensic testing, and authorities have already received initial DNA profiling results from a specialized laboratory in Florida

A view of the Nancy Guthrie’s residence as authorities remain positioned around the property while the investigation continues in Tucson, Arizona

Jennifer Bond signs a banner that reads ‘Bring her home’ and shows a photo of Nancy Guthrie, at the KVOA newsroom, where Savannah worked earlier in her career, in Tucson, Arizona

A person places flowers in front of Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Arizona

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Google is trying to ‘scratch’ through layers of stored data to uncover potential footage of the suspect who carried out Nancy Guthrie’s abduction

But dealing with that may be why, he said, he’s sensitive to a lot of the early allegations and accusations online focusing on Tommaso Cioni, 50, who is married to Nancy Guthrie’s daughter, Annie.

‘People out there can get pretty ugly and mean and nasty and not have the facts,’ he said. ‘I tell my journalists, you guys need to be a little more responsible… because that’s just really nasty stuff.’

Nanos maintains that ‘nobody,’ has been cleared in the case, including workers at Guthrie’s home, the people who were recently the subject of two separate SWAT raids – and presumably family members.

‘I stay in touch with them, mostly Savannah. I’ve not been in touch with Tommaso or Annie too much,’ he added.

‘I have talked to them a little bit, but I know the investigators are in touch with them. But I’ve really told people, this is a lot of stress. If he [Cioni] is guilty, if he’s the one who did it, and we’re able to prove that, then at that time jump on it but don’t come out of nowhere with this.

‘I understand the pundits are out there. They’re gonna say, well, he’s the last one to see her alive. We understand that stuff. But, my goodness, you’re putting a mark on somebody who could be completely innocent. And more important than that, he’s family.’

It’s also why, Nanos said, he will not specify who was with Nancy when she was driven home from Cioni and Annie Guthrie’s home after going to their house – which is about 10 minutes away – for dinner and a game night.

Nancy Guthrie has been missing since January 31, when she disappeared from her Catalina Foothills home after returning from dinner with family

A member of the FBI surveils the area around Nancy Guthrie’s residence after she went missing from her home on the morning of February 1st

Savannah Guthrie shared a somber video on Sunday as she marked two weeks since her mother, Nancy, went missing

Some early reports identified Cioni as the last person to see her when she was dropped off at her home at 9:48pm on January 31.

Nanos admitted that the wording on that aspect of the investigation was changed to just ‘family,’ in that ‘family drove her home’ to deflect from the overwhelming rumors online.

‘We know who it is, but… when we saw everybody was attacking everybody and saying it’s this we just thought, you know what? We’ll say it was family.’

Nanos said the entire Guthrie family has been ‘nothing but cooperative’ at every turn despite what for them is a nightmare without end.

‘Everything we’ve asked for, they’ve given us. They’re in such a state of grief. But they’re also, you know, I think they’re a little weary too, of what’s been going on and being said about them.’

Nanos will also not reveal if there were any signs of forced entry nor give details as to whether Nancy was taken out the back or front door to what presumably was a waiting vehicle.

He also declined to say where the cameras – that are now being forensically examined – were on the property and if any of them were in the house.

But he did say that the camera that was dismantled by the masked intruder was the only one that had been tampered with at the home as far as he knows.

Nanos bristled at a report last week accusing him of blocking the FBI from getting crucial evidence in the case.

‘That’s just so far-fetched,’ he said. ‘Why would I do that? It makes no sense.’

Nancy Guthrie has now been missing for more than two weeks since she was last seen on the night of January 31

 In an aerial view, Nancy Guthrie’s Tuscon home can be seen from above 

FBI and SWAT units were seen in a neighborhood about two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home on Friday

He pointed to ransom notes and other evidence that came in early.

‘Every ransom note that has been given to us… our local media immediately sent them off to us, and we immediately turned them over to the FBI. We know their skill sets. We know they have great teams that work with hostage negotiations.’

By far the most crucial piece of evidence so far is the doorbell-camera image of the intruder.

‘I believe somebody out there knows who this is,’ he said.

‘I believe somebody out there can look at that video and go, I know exactly who that is. And that’s what our plea is to our community. If you go back in history – like at cases like the Unabomber – they were found out because somebody in the community, somebody a family member, a neighbor, called and said, I think I know who did this.’

Security forces and authorities are continuing their work at Nancy Guthrie’s home

Residents from Chandler, Arizona pray at a makeshift memorial at the entrance to Nancy Guthrie’s home as the search continues for the 84-year-old woman

Members of the media are stationed near the entrance to Nancy Guthrie’s home

The FBI is actively assisting in the investigation, including analyzing DNA evidence and helping process forensic material recovered from Nancy Guthrie’s home

Asked whether the suspect appears amateurish in the footage, Nanos urged caution.

‘You never underestimate anybody,’ he said. ‘It’s easy to go… “he’s kind of a goofball,”‘ he said, but added, ‘He may be a lot smarter than people are giving him credit for.’

Any message for him?

‘Let her go,’ he said. ‘No questions asked. We’ll worry about prosecuting… another day. Right now, it’s about… let’s get Nancy back.’

Asked what he would say directly to Nancy if she could hear him, Nanos said: ‘We’re not giving up on you. We’re gonna find you. Just… stay safe as best you can. We’ll find you.’