As the search for Nancy Guthrie continues, a longtime private investigator has uncovered a “rookie” mistake made by the potential kidnapper that led to the release of the doorbell camera surveillance footage.
Private investigator Andy Kay discussed it with him Page Six how law enforcement probably recovered the footage, explaining that it was due to the suspect’s own mistake of tampering with the camera.
“The cameras will record to the servers as long as they have internet,” said Kay. “According to Nest, without a subscription, they are usually overwritten quickly with the next image. But if the camera is disconnected, there should be nothing to write on the server.”
Nancy, the 84 year old mother Today host Savannah Guthrie, was taken from her home on the evening of January 31, according to law enforcement. She was reported missing the following afternoon after friends noticed that she did not attend her usual Sunday church service.
On Tuesday (February 10), investigators released new images and video of a masked individual approaching Nancy’s property. In the footage, the suspect is seen tampering with the camera, covering it with flowers cut from the entrance, and, finally, removing the camera from its holder and disconnecting it.
The disconnection of the camera is what Kay believes led to the police being able to recover the footage. Basically, if a person does not have a subscription to the Nest service (which Nancy did not have), the images will continue to be overwritten with new images. But because the camera was disconnected, the last images, showing the suspect, were never overwritten and could therefore be retrieved.
Kay also noted that the potential kidnapper appeared to have his weapon tucked into his pants the wrong way around, which he believes is another sign that the suspect is a “rookie.”
“Over the past eight days, the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been working closely with our private sector partners to continue to recover any images or videos from Nancy Guthrie’s home that may have been lost, corrupted or inaccessible due to a variety of factors — including the removal of recording devices,” authorities said in a statement released along with the new images and videos.
It continued, “Working with our partners — as of this morning, law enforcement has uncovered these new, previously inaccessible images showing an armed individual who appears to be tampering with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door on the morning of her disappearance.”
Hours after the videos were released, investigators detained a delivery driver from Rio Rico, a small community 60 miles south of Tucson. The driver was later released without charge and told reporters he was “innocent” and had never heard of Nancy or Savannah.
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