Authorities Execute Search Warrant in Nancy Guthrie Missing Case Investigation
Law enforcement officials in Arizona have intensified their investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, executing a court-approved search warrant at a residence in Rio Rico. According to CNN, Angelica Carrillo, spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff's Office, confirmed that authorities are carrying out the search as part of the ongoing probe into the missing person case that has captured national attention.
Coordinated Law Enforcement Operation
The Pima County Sheriff's Office revealed it is working in close coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to conduct the search at a property in Rio Rico, approximately 60 miles south of Tucson near the US-Mexico border. The department stated that the court-approved search began Tuesday night and was expected to continue for several hours as investigators meticulously examined the premises.
Authorities previously disclosed that they had detained an individual for questioning following a traffic stop. A law enforcement official confirmed this person was taken into custody in Rio Rico, though the specific circumstances leading to the traffic stop remain unclear. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe noted that while the exact lead prompting law enforcement to stop the individual remains unknown, authorities had sufficient grounds to bring the person in for questioning.
Family Connection and Denials
NewsNation's Brian Entin reported speaking with the detained man's mother-in-law, who owns the home where the search warrant was being executed. The woman strongly rejected any allegations of her son-in-law's involvement in Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, stating emphatically that her family had no connection to the case.
"We don't know her at all. I don't know who she is," the woman stated during an interview, expressing confusion about why authorities were searching her property. She revealed that law enforcement had seized all electronic devices from the home during the search operation.
Critical Video Evidence Emerges
The investigation gained significant momentum earlier Tuesday when the FBI released surveillance footage showing an individual wearing a ski mask and carrying a backpack outside Nancy Guthrie's home in the foothills near Tucson. The less-than-one-minute video clips depict a person lowering their head and turning away from a doorbell camera while approaching Guthrie's front door.
The footage captures the individual holding a flashlight in their mouth and attempting to obscure the camera using a gloved hand and a piece of plant material pulled from the yard. FBI Director Kash Patel described the person as an "armed individual" who appeared to have tampered with the camera, though investigators couldn't definitively confirm whether there was actually a gun in the visible holster.
Patel explained that the videos were retrieved from "back-end systems" after investigators spent several days recovering footage that had been lost, corrupted, or otherwise inaccessible. This breakthrough provided both investigators and the public with their first visual evidence of someone outside Guthrie's home around the time of her disappearance.
Ongoing Search for Answers
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie, went missing on February 1st, sparking a nationwide search and intense media coverage. Until Tuesday's developments, authorities had appeared to make limited progress in determining what happened to Guthrie or identifying potential responsible parties.
Savannah Guthrie shared another message from her family expressing their belief that their mother remains alive. Both the Guthrie family and law enforcement agencies continue to urge anyone with information to come forward through multiple channels, including the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI, local crime reporting numbers, and online submission portals.
The investigation remains active as authorities work to determine whether the detained individual in Rio Rico has any connection to the surveillance footage or Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. With the search warrant execution and ongoing questioning, law enforcement hopes to uncover critical evidence that could break open the case that has remained shrouded in mystery for weeks.
