The search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “TODAY” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, is entering the six-week mark. Andrew Bringuel, a retired FBI agent who runs a private security consulting firm in New York, said a cooperating witness likely represents the “greatest chance” for detectives to identify and arrest those responsible.
Bringuel Discusses Why the Release of Ransom Notes May Help
Getty“Because in this case there are limited pieces of information available to public, it makes it more difficult, but not impossible to find a cooperating witness,” Bringuel told Newsweek. “The police have released the video and will continue to elicit cooperation from the public. These cases are solved when the subject makes a mistake.”
On February 10, the FBI released video from a doorbell camera showing a masked man on Guthrie’s porch on the night she disappeared. The FBI later called the person a suspect and described him as being about 5 feet, 9 or 10 inches tall with an average build. The FBI said he was carrying a 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.
The release of the surveillance footage led to a surge in tips from the public, but authorities have yet to publicly identify a suspect or vehicles possibly linked to the crime.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos commented on a Ring camera video shared by Fox News Digital, showing a car driving in Guthrie’s neighborhood, less than three miles from her house, at 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1, hours before she was reported missing. The authorities have not been able to identify the vehicle, but are investigating it.
“Look, what I would tell you is this: We’re aware of it, and we’re looking into it, just like any other piece of evidence,” Nanos told NBC News on March 2. “We’re looking at that vehicle as well as hundreds of thousands of other vehicles that were out driving that time of day.”
Unverified ransom notes have also been received by authorities, including several sent to local and national news outlets, but the contents have not been widely disseminated, Bringuel said.
“I am curious why the police have not released the communications between the ‘subject(s)’ and the media/police,” he said. “This may be to protect the integrity of the case, it may be because they do not believe they are legitimate, it may be to protect the victim, or some other strategic reason.”
He continued, “If the communications sent to the media contain slang or unique language, perhaps someone in the public could help.” Though FBI agents have undoubtedly analyzed the language used in the previous communications, Bringuel believes that releasing some or all of the letters could lead to a break in the case.
Bringuel Breaks Down the Surveillance Footage
GettyBringuel said the masked man spotted outside Guthrie’s home appears to be a burglar but “not a particularly professional” criminal.
“The way he walked to the home suggests to me that he wasn’t exactly sure where the camera was located until he got to the porch. He even walked with his head bowed down,” Bringuel said. “He identifies where it is but then has to fetch a piece of brush to conceal it before dismantling it.”
The suspect had a backpack presumably to steal valuables or hold instruments to bound his victim, Bringuel said.
“Without knowing if anything of [value] was indeed stolen, my opinion is the subject’s intent was to kidnap Mrs. Guthrie but something went wrong, violence took place, and she was injured but not killed,” he said. “If his intent was to murder her, he could have done so with the weapon on his person. He clearly wasn’t against the use of violence as the evidence suggests he caused an injury to Mrs. Guthrie.”
The suspected kidnapping is likely not the suspect’s first criminal act because of the preparations he took, albeit imperfect ones, Bringuel said.
Timeline of Guthrie’s Disappearance
In a press conference on Feb. 5, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told reporters that doorbell camera video had helped authorities piece together a timeline of events for Guthrie’s kidnapping.
- Jan. 31 at 5:32 p.m. Guthrie traveled to her family’s house for a game night.
- Jan. 31 at 9:48 p.m. Her family dropped her back at home, and the garage door opened.
- Jan. 31 at 9:50 p.m. The garage door closed.
- Feb. 1 at 1:47 a.m. Doorbell camera in front of Guthrie’s home disconnected.
- Feb. 1 at 2:12 a.m. Software for the smart home detected a person on the camera.
- Feb. 1 at 2:28 a.m. Guthrie’s pacemaker app shows it was disconnected from her phone.
- Feb. 1 at 11:56 a.m. The family checks on her.
- Feb. 1 at 12:03 p.m. Family calls 911 to report her missing.
- Feb. 1 at 12:15 p.m. Patrol cars arrive.
Exactly how did he know she has a pacemaker? Is there no way to track pacemakers? I feel this crime was not random. I also don’t believe that the suspect is extremely close either. Possibly a passerby that she has previously spoken with or someone who knows someone close to her?I pray she is found alive, In Jesus name, amen.
I agree,however why did they broadcast about hearing aids if he was smart as they say he probably knew however if he didn’t no. He does now.noow I understand she lived there 30 years.but come on look how big the house is an in the dessert living alone at 84 good grief why didn’t they get her a dog,a big bad dog,maybe it could have saved her, I pray everyday for this family.we don’t no what the outcome will b. But I have ask God to keep this family safe an prepared for whatever outcome may b.thank u Jesus.Amen
I think that they should get DNA from anyone who came there or comes back n see if it matches the DNA on the glove n see if the matched person looks any thing like the masked person
I suspect the Sheriff messed that up your right DNA would have transferred form the mouth light to the glove. He had facial hair some could have fell out. The fact that news media was allowed to roam the property makes me think they didn’t even think of that. Also didn’t have the porch video when they checked the house for DNA. The Sheriff said they called google was told no subscription nothing we can do they gave up on that camera. FBI had inside connections at Google who knew what they were doing could recovery the data from the storage array using data recovery.