Search for Nancy Guthrie: Person of interest released; Arizona home searched

Video camera footage shows a person at the door of Nancy Guthrie's residence.
Nancy Guthrie: An image of video camera footage shows a person at the door of Nancy Guthrie's residence. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

RIO RICO, Ariz. — As the search continues for the 84-year-old mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie, authorities in Arizona detained a man for questioning before releasing him. Meanwhile, a home in southern Arizona was searched before deputies cleared the scene.

Nancy Guthrie was reported missing at about noon MT on Feb. 1. She was last seen the previous night when she was having dinner at the home of her daughter, Annie Guthrie, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

Late Tuesday, deputies detained a man during a traffic stop south of Tucson, The Associated Press reported.

The man was released from custody early Wednesday, KNXV reported. The man, who identified himself as “Carlos,” spoke to the television station and said he had been detained “for hours.”

“They didn’t even tell me what’s going on until the detectives got here,” Carlos told the television station. “They told me I was being detained for kidnapping, and I asked them, ‘Kidnapping of who?’”

The sheriff’s department later said it had “completed their search” of a residence in Rio Rico, located approximately 60 miles south of Tucson, that had been associated with the man, The New York Times reported.

“I hope they get the suspect, because I’m not it,” Carlos said on the doorstep of the home, according to the newspaper. “They better do their job and find the suspect that did it so that they can clear my name.”

Rico Rico is located about 12 miles north of the Mexican border.

On Tuesday, the FBI released photos and videos showing a potential “subject” at the home of Nancy Guthrie.

The video appears to show the masked person tampering with the residence’s doorbell camera, CNN reported. At one point, the person picks up what appear to be plants from the front yard and covers the camera with them.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the videos were pulled from data on “back-end systems” after investigators wroked to discover lost, corrupted, the AP reported.

Savannah Guthrie posted her latest video on Tuesday, following the release of the surveillance video. In her Instagram posts, she asked for the public’s help in sharing any tips with authorities.

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