The search of an Arizona home overnight by police looking for Nancy Guthrie has ended with authorities seemingly no closer to finding the missing 84-year-old.
The home — part of the semi-rural community of Rio Rico, about 60 miles south of Tucson, belongs to the family of a 36-year-old man who had been detained in a traffic stop and questioned for several hours overnight in connection with the kidnapping case. The man, who The Times is not naming, was released from custody early Wednesday, shortly after deputies and FBI forensics experts and agents left the house.
Officials have not officially released the individual’s identity or offered any details about if or how the person might be connected to the case. The man told reporters outside the home that he’d never heard of the Guthrie family and hadn’t followed news about the case. Police didn’t ask him any questions while he was detained, he said.
“I hope they get the suspect, because I’m not it,” he told reporters. “They better do their job and find the suspect that did it so they can clear my name.”
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Tuesday night that agents are looking at more than one individual as a “person of interest” in the case.
“We are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest,” Patel said.
The case took another bizarre turn Wednesday morning when TMZ announced that the outlet had received a letter demanding a payment of one bitcoin — worth about $67,000 at the time — in exchange for the name of Guthrie’s kidnapper.
“If they want the name of the individual involved, then I want 1 Bitcoin to the following wallet. Time is more than relevant,” the note stated, according to TMZ.
Authorities are already offering a $50,000 reward for information in the case.
The flurry of activity followed what had already been an eventful day for law enforcement investigating the case and the public avidly following it, with FBI officials releasing surveillance footage showing a masked individual approaching the front door of Guthrie’s Tucson home the morning she was abducted.
The footage marked the first major break in the investigation, which has spanned 11 days.
The images, recorded at 1:47 a.m. on Feb. 1, show someone wearing a balaclava, gloves and a backpack tampering with the Nest camera at Guthrie’s front door. A gun is holstered at the person’s waist, positioned at the front of their body where it is easily visible.
In the footage, the person approaches the front door, notices the camera and tries to cover the lens with their hand. Then they look around the patio and yard area, apparently for something to obstruct the camera, and settle on some greenery that they position in front of the lens.
When authorities arrived at the home in Arizona later that day, the camera was gone.
In an investigation with numerous dead ends, the footage was expected to be crucial in helping law enforcement move the case forward. But there is still no sign of Guthrie, who has been without medication since she was taken from her home on Feb. 1.
Pleas from the family for Guthrie’s return have become increasingly urgent as time has passed.
“Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, one of Nancy’s daughters, shared the footage of the masked individual at her mother’s front door in two posts on Instagram Tuesday with a plea for the public’s help. In one post she says the family believes their mother is “still alive.”
“Someone out there recognizes this person,” she wrote. “We believe she is still out there. Bring her home.”
