Nancy Guthrie case: Expert insights on FBI videos and images of masked suspect
Experts tell a news outlet the suspect appears inexperienced, with poorly carried firearm and clumsy attempts to block the camera.
Images and videos of an armed, masked suspect outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home have reignited the search for the missing 84-year-old and could provide key leads for investigators.
Footage captured by doorbell camera
The video and images were recorded by Guthrie’s Nest-made doorbell camera and recovered with technical assistance from Google, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN’s Brian Stelter.
Authorities released the footage on Tuesday (February 10) in hopes the public could identify the individual.
Armed, but appears inexperienced
Law enforcement experts analyzing the footage noted the suspect carries a pistol in a holster at the belly. CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI, said: “In my opinion, this is not someone, first of all, who was ever trained to carry a gun. No person with law enforcement or military training would ever carry a firearm in a holster like that… It’s not very tactically sound for a lot of reasons.”
Retired FBI supervisory special agent Steve Moore added: “It’s kind of ridiculous. He’s got a small, semiautomatic pistol meant for concealment that he could have put in his pocket, but instead he’s holstering it in a holster made for a large-frame revolver. They don’t even match.”
Full coverage to avoid leaving DNA
The suspect is fully covered, wearing a mask, gloves, jacket, long pants, a holster, and a backpack. CNN senior correspondent Josh Campbell, a former FBI agent, said the attire “could have been a purposeful attempt to try to prevent leaving behind any DNA at the scene, from skin or hair fibers, as well as fingerprints.”
Campbell added that investigators will analyze the items to determine their brands and possible points of sale, noting: Authorities have canvassed places like clothing and hardware stores in order to determine if employees may have recognized a possible subject (from) when the items were purchased.”
Movement may offer recognition clues
The video reveals the suspect’s movements outside Guthrie’s home, including attempts to obstruct the camera. Josh Schirard, a former SWAT commander, told CNN: "We recognize people more by the way that they move than by visual cues, often. Understanding how they’re moving, seeing them walk back and forth, is definitely a great way to recognize someone that you might know,” even when other features are obscured.
Experts also noted the individual’s approach lacked urgency. McCabe told CNN the suspect’s movements were “not particularly furtive or concerned.” Former FBI agent Bryanna Fox said: “He almost saunters up like that’s his house. There is a lack of concern that he’s going to be caught… He still has this kind of air of bravado, that he’s going to be able to get away with this.”
Attempt to obstruct camera suggests poor planning
The footage shows the individual first trying to block the lens with a gloved hand, then picking up shrubbery to cover the camera. Campbell told CNN: “This does raise questions about his sophistication and any pre-planning. If he had actually conducted surveillance on the home and saw a camera, he would have brought with him means of obstructing it.”
Moore added that the suspect’s actions suggest inexperience: “What this strikes me as is somebody who doesn’t know what he doesn’t know… I believe this is the first time he’s ever done something like this.”
Public appeal continues
Authorities hope the images and video will prompt anyone with information to come forward, potentially helping solve the mystery surrounding the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie in the early hours of February 1.