A suspect has been apprehended for questioning in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, as per sources close to the ongoing investigation.
The individual was detained south of Tucson by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, with support from the FBI. Officials were getting ready to conduct a search at a site associated with the suspect, according to a law enforcement source briefed on the case, who spoke to ABC News on Tuesday evening.
Uncertainty remains over whether this person is the same one seen in surveillance footage acquired from “back-end systems” that the FBI made public on Tuesday afternoon. The footage depicts a masked individual carrying a handgun holster, captured outside Guthrie’s front entrance on the night she vanished without any apparent trace. FBI Director Kash Patel described the person as “armed” and noted that he seemed to have tampered with the surveillance camera. The doorbell camera had been disconnected on the night of Guthrie’s disappearance; she is the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie.
The release of the video has led to a surge in tips, according to reports from NBC News. Authorities mentioned on Tuesday night that the suspect is believed to be someone residing in the local area.
Nancy Guthrie was last spotted on the evening of January 31, after being dropped off at her residence following a family dinner. She was scheduled to join friends for a livestreamed church service the following day. When she failed to appear, her friends alerted the family, who subsequently reported her missing after discovering no trace of her at home. Investigators have determined the residence is a crime scene, indicating that Guthrie may have been abducted.
Since then, several purported ransom notes have come in — at least one of them a hoax — and her grown children, including Savannah Guthrie, have pleaded for her return in video messages. While Nancy Guthrie is of sound mind, her physical health is frail, and she may have been without daily medication that she needs to survive.
Source: The Associated Press
