FBI releases photos of potential suspect in Nancy Guthrie disappearance

Federal authorities have released the first surveillance photos of a potential subject in the investigation of Today host Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, 10 days after the search began.

FBI Director Kash Patel shared the images in a post on Instagram Tuesday afternoon, writing, “Over the last eight days, the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been working closely with our private sector partners to continue to recover any images or video footage 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.”

“The video was recovered from residual data located in backend systems,” he continued. “Working with our partners – 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 asked anyone with information in the disappearance of Nancy to contact the FBI.

Savannah Guthrie pleads with public to help find mom as ransom deadline passes

The images were released one day after Savannah shared a fourth video pleading for help from the public to find her mother.

In an Instagram video posted on Monday, Savannah said she wanted to “share a few thoughts as we enter another week of this nightmare.”

She thanked her supporters for “all of the prayers and the love” sent to her family, including her sister Annie and brother Camron.

“We believe our mom is still out there,” the Today anchor said. “We need your help. Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock trying to bring her home, trying to find her. She was taken, and we don’t know where, and we need your help.”

“I’m coming on just to ask you, not just for your prayers,” she said, urging people nationwide to be on the lookout, “no matter where you are, even if you’re far from Tucson, if you see anything, if you hear anything.”

“If there is anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement. We are at an hour of desperation and we need your help,” she concluded her video.

The new video comes as a purported ransom deadline apparently set by her mom’s alleged abductors appeared to have passed.

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KOLD-TV said it received an email on Feb. 2 that appeared to be a ransom note. The note included a demand for money with a deadline set for 5 p.m. Feb. 5 and a second one for Feb. 9, investigators said.

Law enforcement officials declined to affirm that the letters were credible but said all tips were being investigated seriously. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Monday that law enforcement tip lines have received thousands of calls.

The search for Nancy has grown increasingly urgent because the 84-year-old grandmother has a pacemaker and heart issues, and could die without her medication, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said.

FBI not aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie family, suspected kidnappers

The FBI is not aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and any suspected kidnappers, the agency said Monday.

The FBI has also not identified any suspects or persons of interest in the disappearance of Nancy, Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said in a statement.

1:54 Nancy Guthrie kidnapping: Trump says authorities have “very strong” clues in case

The agency is operating a 24-hour command post equipped with investigative teams and crisis management experts while asking for help from the public.

“Someone has that one piece of information that can help us bring Nancy home,” Hagan said.

The FBI is asking for the public’s help on digital billboards in several states including Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico, and has offered a US$50,000 reward for information.

A non-profit group that works with the sheriff’s department in southern Arizona called 88-Crime has also offered a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of the person or people involved in Nancy’s disappearance.

Guthrie family posts video pleading for mom’s return

Savannah and her siblings posted a video on Instagram on Saturday, saying they were willing to pay for their mother’s return after receiving a message reportedly containing information about the 84-year-old.

“We received your message and we understand,” she said in an Instagram post. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace.”

“This is very valuable to us, and we will pay,” concluded an exhausted-looking Guthrie, who appeared sitting alongside her brother Camron and sister Annie.

Earlier last week, Savannah posted a video of Camron renewing the Guthrie family’s plea for the person or people involved in the disappearance of their mother to “reach out.”

In the video shared to Savannah’s Instagram page on Feb. 5, Camron pleaded with “whoever is out there holding our mother.”

“We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward. But first, we have to know that you have our mom. We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact,” he said in the video, captioned, “Bring her home.”

In a video posted on Feb. 4, Savannah sat between her sister and her brother as she read a prepared statement, her voice shaking.

“We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” she said. “We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.

“Mommy, if you are hearing this, you are a strong woman. You are God’s precious daughter.”

0:47 Savannah Guthrie pleads for mother’s return as FBI joins search

She described her mother as a “kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light” and said she is “funny,” “spunky” and “clever.”

“Talk to her and you’ll see,” she added.

“Mamma, if you’re listening, we need you to come home. We miss you,” Savannah’s sister Annie added.

Authorities believe Nancy was taken against her will from her home just outside Tucson. She was last seen there Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day after not attending church. DNA tests showed blood on Guthrie’s front porch was a match to her, and her doorbell camera was disconnected in the early hours of Sunday morning, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said.

— With files from Global News’ Rachel Goodman, Jackson Proskow and The Associated Press