‘where’s Nancy?’ Guthrie Case Baffles Ex-fbi Agents

When erstwhile FBI supplier Katherine Schweit heard astir nan disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, her mind drifted to a crime that took spot successful agrarian Wisconsin much than 2 decades ago.

An 88-year-old grandma was abducted from her location successful February 2003 and placed successful nan trunk of her car. Her abductor drove her to his spot and shackled her wrong a trailer. Soon after, nan woman’s grandson, who owned a building company, started to person messages demanding millions for her release.

“The kidnapper thought he could get a large ransom from nan family,” said Schweit, who investigated nan lawsuit and helped seizure nan fishy and rescue nan female 5 days aft she was taken.

The Guthrie lawsuit doesn’t look to beryllium pursuing that script, Schweit said. “If you were going to abduct personification for cash, why wouldn’t you aggressively effort to get nan rate by communicating pinch nan family correct from nan start, truthful you could get your money and return nan victim?”

It’s 1 of nan large questions baffling investigators, rule enforcement experts and nan millions of Americans pursuing nan high-profile case. Even nan recent merchandise of location surveillance footage showing a imaginable fishy provides nary further accusation astir nan person’s imaginable motive aliases what happened to Guthrie.

An FBI advertisement successful California displaying a missing personification alert for Nancy Guthrie connected Monday.via KNBC

The 84-year-old mother of NBC’s “TODAY” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie vanished from her home extracurricular of Tucson, Ariz., aft she was dropped disconnected by family members connected nan nighttime of Jan. 31.

Eleven days later, nan personality of her abductor aliases abductors remains a mystery. But Tuesday, nan FBI released images and videos from Guthrie’s location information camera showing a personification successful a skis disguise and gloves and carrying what appears to beryllium a handgun. The personification walks up to her house, caput down, and past attempts to tamper pinch nan camera.

Michael Alcazar, a retired New York Police Department detective who is now an adjunct professor astatine nan John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said he expects nan caller images and videos to nutrient a flood of tips that will thief investigators place nan person.

“One 100 percent, personification is going to admit him,” Alcazar said.

Alcazar said he thinks it’s important that nan fishy approached nan location pinch nan caput down, an evident effort to support nan doorbell camera from signaling nan face. “That tells maine he’s been location before,” said Alcatraz, who added that he wouldn’t discount nan anticipation that it was a burglary gone wrong.

Following nan merchandise of nan caller images and videos, Savannah Guthrie posted connected her Instagram page: “We judge she is still alive. Bring her home.”

Abductions involving adults are uncommon successful nan United States, and rarer still are nan benignant that do not impact family disputes, supplier traffickers aliases gangs, experts say.

Chip Massey, a retired FBI hostage negotiator, said nan different circumstances of nan lawsuit — an abduction involving a celebrated American family — reminded him of nan 1932 kidnapping of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh’s 20-month-old boy from his location successful New Jersey.

“This is nan worldly of movies,” he said.

In Guthrie’s case, a imaginable ransom statement was sent to 3 news outlets, and nan FBI said it referenced an Apple Watch, which she is believed to person worn. The statement contained 2 deadlines — 1 astatine 5 p.m. Feb. 5, and a 2nd deadline Monday, according to Heith Janke, nan typical supplier successful complaint of nan FBI’s Phoenix division. But he said nan statement did not found a intends for communication.

A 2nd statement was sent to section TV position KOLD, but it did not incorporate a ransom request and was different “in almost each way” from nan first one, according to its news head Jessica Bobula.

Massey, nan retired FBI hostage negotiator, said nan deficiency of connection complicates rule enforcement’s expertise to place whoever is responsible.

“If I can’t perceive a voice, if they can’t perceive mine, a batch of my training and inheritance is now useless,” he said.

Written messages alone, Massey added, tin supply important leads for investigators, but they besides could beryllium utilized to deceive rule enforcement.

A Pima County Sheriff's Office lawman stands extracurricular of nan location of Nancy Guthrie successful Tucson, Ariz., connected Sunday.Rebecca Noble / Getty Images

The authorities person revealed that Guthrie’s humor was recovered connected her porch. She has mobility issues and requires regular medication, but her mind is sharp, according to section authorities.

Jim Cavanaugh, a retired supplier from nan Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who is now an NBC News rule enforcement analyst, said he’s not convinced nan ransom statement is legitimate. He said that anyone could cognize that Guthrie wore an Apple Watch — each you person to do is Google her.

“There’s a image that pops correct up wherever they’re connected nan group of nan ‘TODAY’ show, and nan mother has a very salient Apple Watch on,” he said. “Anybody sitting successful Kathmandu could deed Google and spot those pictures and request bitcoin.”

Cavanaugh noted that Tucson is adjacent to nan confederate border, wherever Mexican supplier cartels operate. In nan mid-2000s, its neighboring large city, Phoenix, was branded nan “kidnapping superior of nan U.S.A,” and galore of nan crimes were linked to nan cartels.

He sees nary logic why a cartel would target personification for illustration Guthrie. He thinks it’s much apt that a homegrown criminal would activity to clasp her for ransom, but that this personification did not expect nan lawsuit to rustle up truthful quickly into a nationalist obsession.

“It sewage excessively big, excessively fast,” Cavanaugh said. “They could person gotten frightened by nan scope of nan consequence and past abandoned it. But then, why wouldn’t they merchandise Nancy? Where’s Nancy?”

Cavanaugh said that’s not nan only anticipation investigators would consider. The abductors could person deed nan incorrect location and decided against returning her retired of fearfulness of going to prison. Or this could person thing to do pinch money, he said, and nan personification responsible could beryllium harboring immoderate benignant of grudge.

Schweit, nan erstwhile FBI agent, said it wouldn’t beryllium particularly difficult for personification to region Guthrie from her location and thrust distant undetected fixed nan location. She lives successful a quiet organization astir 6 miles northbound of Tucson wherever homes are dispersed retired crossed godforsaken terrain.

“That’s what makes it challenging for rule enforcement,” she said.

In nan absence of eyewitness accounts and further surveillance footage revealing much astir nan suspect, Schweit said, investigators seeking clues are forced to scrutinize nan recordings from cameras that could beryllium miles away.

They must canvass an almost endless number of locations and neighborhoods seeking accusation from group who mightiness person seen thing suspicious. And nan FBI’s behavioral experts based successful Quantico, VIrginia, will beryllium reviewing ample amounts of information successful nan dream of uncovering a kernel of accusation that could lead to a suspect, Schweit said.

“It’s not a consecutive line,” she added, “from personification gets abducted, a ransom statement goes out, nan personification who gets kidnapped is recovered. That only happens successful nan movies.”

The FBI, Schweit said, is “incredibly tin of carrying retired very analyzable work.”

“She’s retired there, and they will find her. We conscionable want to find her successful time.”