Suspect Detained in Kidnap of US TV Anchor’s Mother
AFP/APP
Los Angeles: Authorities have detained a person for questioning over the kidnapping of the mother of US television anchor Savannah Guthrie, media reported Tuesday, the same day the FBI released new images of an apparent suspect in the case.
Citing unnamed law enforcement sources, major networks CNN, ABC and Fox reported that officials had detained an individual in connection with the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, who is believed to be held for ransom. The person has not been charged, CNN reported.
The update comes amid intense national coverage of the kidnapping of the high-profile anchor’s mother, a case that has gripped the country.
Earlier on Tuesday, the FBI released images showing a person in a full-face balaclava apparently tampering with a front-door camera outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in the southwestern city of Tucson, Arizona.
The six photographs and three videos, posted by FBI Director Kash Patel on his X account, show an individual standing on a deserted doorstep in eerie black-and-white imagery. The person is described as an “armed individual.”
ABC reported, however, that there was no indication the detained person was the same individual seen in the photographs.
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC News Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to have been kidnapped from her home on the night of January 31 or in the early hours of February 1. The images released by the FBI date to “the morning of her disappearance,” Patel said.
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“As of this morning, law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” Patel wrote.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said she and President Donald Trump had reviewed the newly released imagery before a media briefing.
The FBI has confirmed that Nancy Guthrie’s family has received ransom letters containing payment demands.
‘Hour of desperation’
Footage shows the individual approaching Guthrie’s front door with head down, wearing long pants, a zip-up jacket, hat and gloves, and carrying a backpack.
The person’s hands hover over the camera for several seconds before turning, searching the ground, stepping outside the entryway and pulling up plants. Subsequent footage appears to show the individual pushing the plants against the camera.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said last week that the doorbell camera outside Guthrie’s home was disconnected at 1:47 am on Sunday, February 1. At 2:12 am, “software detects a person on a camera, but there’s no video available,” he said.
Savannah Guthrie on Monday released another video appeal for public help in locating her ailing mother, who suffers from heart problems and requires regular medication.
“As we enter into another week of this nightmare… thank you so much for all of the prayers and the love that we have felt,” an emotional Guthrie said on Instagram.
“Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock trying to bring her home, trying to find where she was taken, and we don’t know where. We believe our mom is still out there. We need your help.”
Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance has prompted wall-to-wall coverage across US media, with dozens of reporters and camera crews descending on the quiet Arizona suburb where she lives.
Authorities have said they believe the missing woman is still alive and confirmed that blood discovered on her doorstep belonged to her.
