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Images of Potential Suspect in Nancy Guthrie Case Released. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired February 10, 2026 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:00:01]

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: We know from our reporting that the camera was actually removed. And so this could be him seeing that and then trying to disable that camera.

Thankfully, because of the advancements in technology, authorities were able to go back and access some of this back end technology in order to try to recover some of these images. And now law enforcement is in full crowdsource mode.

They want anyone who has any information obviously on who this person is to bring that forward. And there all -- there have been all kinds of, as I mentioned earlier, some speculation in other networks about, well, was this an inside job?

You could bet that this -- these images were shown to the family members before they were released publicly to see if anyone recognizes who this is. And so now we now we wait to see if this is indeed the big break.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Yes, and just underscoring this is a big development.

What you're seeing are four images that the FBI director just released to the public on social media, along with it saying that what we're looking at shows an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie's front door the morning of her disappearance.

Thank you to you both. We are obviously going to stay on this big development in this heartbreaking story.

Don't go anywhere. "CNC" picks it up right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And we're beginning now with breaking news.

The FBI has just released some new photos of a masked person tampering with the camera in Nancy Guthrie's home on the morning that she disappeared. You see one of these here, the images showing a person in a ski mask and carrying a backpack or tools.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's go straight to Tucson, Arizona. CNN's Jake Tapper and Ed Lavandera are there.

Jake, take us through these images and how they could fit into the timeline that investigators are working with.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't hear it.

SANCHEZ: Jake, can you hear us?

KEILAR: All right. I think we're having a hard time with our signal with Jake there.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

But, as you can see in these images, it appears to be a person who with gloves on is attempting to obscure or perhaps strike the cameras that are outside of Nancy Guthrie's home, the 84-year-old going missing some 10 days ago now.

The search for her has left many questions unanswered.

Let's go back to Jake Tapper and Ed Lavandera.

Jake, take us through these images.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Yes, sorry about that. We were having a communications problem.

So, first of all, the image of this masked intruder on the front porch of Nancy Guthrie, you can see the oval of the front porch behind me, and you see that in this first image. The individual is wearing a mask. He has a backpack. He's wearing gloves. It is a daunting image.

You can see the street that we're standing on right now behind him. This is from a Nest camera. The next image, he's holding some sort of floral arrangement. I'm not really quite sure what that is. But, again, if you zoom in on his face, you see the kind of mask he has. It appears a winter face mask.

You get a better idea of the kind of mask he has. There's also a close-up in the -- in photos three and four of the kind of gloves this individual has. He appears to be -- this right before he smashes the Nest camera before they removed -- before this individual removed the Nest camera.

Just to give some background, first of all, also, I'm told by the FBI that these are just the first of many images. There are going to be more images to come, I'm told. What the FBI director said when he released these videos -- these images, rather, just moments ago is that, over the last eight days, the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Department have been working closely with the private sector.

Presumably, that has to do with ring cameras and Nest cameras, to continue to recover any images or video footage from this home that may have been lost, corrupted or inaccessible due to a variety of factors, including the removal of recording devices. This video, the clips from this page or the images, were recovered

from residual data located in back end systems. And then, obviously, a plea for help, 1-800-CALL-FBI or Tips.FBI.gov.

"This shows an armed individual,' Kash Patel, the FBI director, says, "appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie's front door the morning of her disappearance."

Ed, and, Well, this is disturbing stuff, and you can see where it took place right there.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.

Yes, I think that is an image of nightmares, right, like, you see someone like that approaching your camera. And, as you talk about, the doorway is just behind the agaves you see behind us. What kind of stands out to me from that first picture, where you can see the man approaching the door, if you look in the background there, there is no car.

TAPPER: Yes.

LAVANDERA: So I thought, so, where exactly -- it's a circle driveway. Where exactly this person parked isn't clear, but it's not -- it's clearly not at the bottom of the walkway down to the driveway, which kind of stuck out to me, because I thought that would be clearly a piece of evidence that officers would love to have is what kind of car we're looking for, right, was the getaway vehicle.

[13:05:11]

TAPPER: Yes.

LAVANDERA: But, again, we keep speaking to the idea that how dark it was. It's hard to tell from this. It's incredibly -- like, seeming almost incredibly difficult to see any kind of -- anything here at night.

It gets so dark.

TAPPER: Right, there are no street lights at all throughout -- up and down this entire street. There are no street lights.

LAVANDERA: We should also point out that the sheriff early on in the initial days was talking about how this camera had been disabled, taken away.

As far as we know, they have never had the actual physical camera on that front door in their possession.

TAPPER: Yes.

LAVANDERA: And they have been working with the companies to try to access this video. So the amount of technical legwork that has gone in to somehow salvage these images -- and that was my question as we heard of this word... TAPPER: Yes.

LAVANDERA: ... this news breaking this morning. It was like, where were these images going to come from? Where is it going to come from, convenience store, somewhere else they thought might be connected?

The fact that we're seeing these images Jake, to me, is absolutely stunning, because this is the moment of horror. This is the moment. This is the image that investigators have needed. And then the hope is, is that somewhere, either the body shape or maybe some of the mannerisms or something -- but, clearly, this person went to extraordinary lengths to conceal their identity.

TAPPER: Yes.

And one of the things that's so important to remember here is, first of all, this individual, this kidnapper who abducted Nancy Guthrie, age 84, he took the Ring camera that you see him hitting in these images. He took it. And the fear was that nothing from that Ring camera -- Nest camera, I should say, was going to be salvageable because he took it.

That was not actually the case, thankfully. And Nancy Guthrie has been missing. She was taken some time in the middle of the night February 1. We know roughly the timeline because of some of the digital things that happened in her house.

Her pacemaker, which was connected to her phone, and her phone was left behind, that disconnected some time before 3:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. But, after that, so much of her presence, her whereabouts has been just a complete mystery, which I'm sure, to a lot of people, especially in urban environments, doesn't make sense, because how could there not be any camera images? How could there not be any images from other homes?

And the truth of the matter is, the other -- the home across the street right behind the cameraman here, our cameraman, is very set off from the street. And even if they have 50 Ring cameras, it would not be getting this area right over here.

And so one of the things that's going on here is, this is hope. This represents hope, because this idea, this image represents the first tangible lead that anybody had in this case.

LAVANDERA: And I think it's also important to point out is that, even though we only see one person in this video, I think there's some question. There has been some question, is this something that just one person is responsible for or are there multiple people responsible for?

We see one person here. It doesn't mean that there's not a second person in a car. Clearly, there had to have been some sort of vehicle here for them to leave the scene. So, I mean, that's a question I bring up that we don't really have the answer for at this point.

But, I mean, this is monumental. I did not think we were going to see this picture from this particular scene.

TAPPER: It's a lot closer.

We should remember that this could be a break in the case, I mean, the idea that there is now this image, there are people out there who know who this individual is, who recognize this individual based on his body type, based on the clothing he has, based on the gloves or the hat or the backpack, based on his outfit. There are individuals.

And while the Guthrie family has had had little reason to hope, beyond their religious faith, this does represent a possible break in the case. And we have seen in recent years images like this lead to the discovery of the perpetrator, whether Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare executive, or the individual who assassinated Charlie Kirk.

It is images like this, actually not even as good as this one, that have led to that kind of information. So, that is why this photograph comes -- these photographs -- and, again, we're expecting others, according to a source I have at the FBI.That is why these photographs could really be important for everybody out there in the public.

And we saw Savannah Guthrie yesterday taking to social media pleading with the public, not only to offer their prayers, but to offer any tips that might have. That was followed by a statement from the FBI repeating that same idea, we are -- please, help any way you can, giving the tip line.

[13:10:06]

The Pima County Sheriff's Department also saying that, despite rumormongers or influencers or people out there who claim to know more than they do, there is no main suspect, there is no automobile that they have located that's relevant, and asking again for tips; 1-800- CALL-FBI is the easy-to-remember number, 1-800-CALL-FBI.

These photographs could really mean the difference between Nancy Guthrie returning to her family and not. So, anyone out there -- I'm sure we have the images up right now. Anyone out there, take a look at the photographs, go into your computer, take a closer look, see if there's anyone out there, anyone in your world, anyone that's a neighbor, anyone who you know who this looks like, who this might be, and then call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

KEILAR: And, Jake, do we know if they're going -- law enforcement is going to take us through any of these?

I mean, just raising questions about what we see here, is this a mustache? Is this a goatee that you see through? What should we be looking for? I mean, there's a number of things they might want to suggest that people are looking for or ways that they can match certain features.

The eyes are distinct. I mean, are they going to take people through this?

TAPPER: Presumably, they will, but, as of right now, nothing's been scheduled.

And, obviously, they're getting this information out to us as quickly as possible. I'm sure they have enhanced them, the photographs, as much as they could, while also keeping the rapid nature, the urgent nature of this in mind. If there's an ability to enhance them further, I'm sure that they will do that.

But, as of right now, nothing is planned.

SANCHEZ: Jake, and Ed, please...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Jake and Ed, please stand by for us. We will await word from law enforcement as to whether they're going to take us through these images, whether at the federal level with the FBI or in Pima County.

Let's get some perspective now from Josh Schirard, who's a former SWAT team commander who's now director of Byrna Law Enforcement.

Josh, what do you make of these images? What in them stands out to you?

JOSH SCHIRARD, FORMER SWAT TEAM COMMANDER: Clearly, what we're seeing with these images, which I'm sure is just more images to come and some video that's included, hopefully, but we're seeing intent.

Obviously, we can all see the description. They're wearing a mask. He's clearly concealing his identity from head to toe, pants, a jacket, a mask, latex gloves, but he's also armed with what appears to be a handgun, at least from what we can see here.

So anybody can see that this is displaying intent. It would be very different if the image was just a dark figure showing up in normal clothing at the door and there really wasn't any intent to go with it. All we would see is just somebody there and somebody to look for.

But this tells us that, definitively, something was done with Nancy, whether she was taken, whether she was harmed, that clearly someone wanted to show up with a weapon to either threaten or harm her and conceal their identity and destroy evidence.

And that's what we're getting from these pictures. So, just like Jake said, this actually gives us some kind of direction, some kind of hope and a way for the public to help. Now, there are still a lot of questions to be answered by law enforcement that go along with these pictures, but at least now we have another direction.

KEILAR: And it's interesting, Josh. As we understand it from law enforcement, there was not a subscription, right, on this account. So it was something that might -- you might be able to see who's at the door while you're inside the house.

But the subscription to the account would allow you to save the images so that you could later refer to them. It still seems ultimately that, through the cooperation with Nest and law enforcement, they were able to retrieve these photos.

It seemed for a while that was not going to be possible. What do you make of that?

SCHIRARD: Obviously, digital forensics is an ever-growing technology, but this is a demonstration to people out there that digital evidence very rarely goes away. It takes a lot for it to go away, especially on the user side.

When you think you deleted something, that doesn't mean it was deleted. It just means it was slated for reuse. So the retrieval of that is generally possible. A lot of times, it just takes time. So the biggest question I have for law enforcement is, when did we come across these pictures?

I think that there may have been some strategy there.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: ... Jake Tapper and Ed Lavandera, because the FBI has just released an actual video. And we're looking at it now.

Ed and Jake, are you able to see what he's doing?

TAPPER: Yes, we can hear you. We can hear you.

So, FBI Director Kash Patel just two minutes ago released new images. One of them is just another -- two of them are images, still images, of this assailant walking up to Nancy Guthrie's front door. But then the videos, one of the images has him holding his glove over the Nest camera and then walking backward and trying to -- and getting a tool or a rock.

[13:15:02]

LAVANDERA: No. No, it's not a tool.

TAPPER: What is he getting?

LAVANDERA: It looks like he goes back...

SANCHEZ: Grass.

LAVANDERA: ... out from the porch and grabs some shrubbery off the ground or grabs for something.

TAPPER: Oh, he's grabbing shrubbery. OK.

LAVANDERA: And it looks like he was trying to cover the Ring camera.

TAPPER: Oh, he's trying to block the Ring -- the Nest camera. OK, I see.

LAVANDERA: So it looks like he's trying to...

TAPPER: And that's the second image -- the second video, I should say, of him taking these -- the shrubbery, these plants from the yard and trying to block the camera. And...

LAVANDERA: So, at some point, he gives up on that and then just decides to take the camera.

TAPPER: And then he decides to take the camera altogether.

But while he was doing that, the camera was indeed recording. And because of the work, the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff working with the private sector, working presumably with the folks behind these Nest cameras, they were able to get this video.

And we're almost 10 days into this missing persons case. But it has -- it is pretty impressive information that they were able to get.

LAVANDERA: I do wonder, Jake, as I'm watching this, we're all trying to figure out, is this someone who planned this deliberately? How long was this planned for?

But this suggests to me -- and people smarter than me can opine, but you would think -- you would know that he -- that there was a camera there, and almost like he seems unprepared to cover it up. Like, he -- it seems to me like, if you knew the camera was there, you would have brought something to cover it up...

TAPPER: Yes.

LAVANDERA: ... or you would have just knocked it off immediately.

TAPPER: Or gone right to it.

It does suggest -- and you and I are not sleuths.

LAVANDERA: No.

TAPPER: But just as humans watching this, it does suggest a lack of familiarity with the security in the front porch.

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA: But then the way he's dressed and covered up and clearly prepared, I mean, the gloves...

TAPPER: Yes.

LAVANDERA: I mean, there's not an ounce of skin, clearly someone who's probably thinking, I don't need to drop any kind of DNA around this scene whatsoever. So, he's prepared for that.

TAPPER: Yes, although, as Brianna points out, if you zoom in on the closeup of the mouth in his face mask, it does seem as though there could be a mustache there. It's unclear.

And -- but let's bring in Josh Campbell, our colleague who used to work for the FBI.

Josh, correct me if I'm wrong, but these images seem potentially very valuable. They are much more clear on this suspect than images we have seen related to the UnitedHealthcare executive killing or the Charlie Kirk assassination. And both of those resulted in alleged murderers being captured.

This -- these seem even better in terms of the quality and in terms of what's revealed in the images.

CAMPBELL: Absolutely.

And this shows you the advancement in this camera technology that's now available to just the average consumer at their homes. And, as you mentioned, in other cases, we have seen where there's a suspect who maybe walks by a camera on a street and then you get some type of image.

Of course, what's so notable here is that the camera is at the front entryway of this home, where this person is -- appears to attempting to be entering. So you get all these different views of this individual. The point that you gentlemen made just a second ago I think is spot on when you see him coming up.

I say him -- the person, possible subject here, it looks like this person then goes and finds some type of foliage or plant or flower or something there perhaps with the intention of trying to obscure that camera.

We do know that the camera itself was eventually removed. And that is why authorities have been taking so much time in order to try to access this image. The FBI says that they were working with private sector companies. When information is deleted, that doesn't mean it's just -- it's completely gone.

Oftentimes, these computer analysts can go through and look in what's called the slack space of different hard drives, depending on where information might be backed up to, in order to try to resurrect some of that imagery.

But you're spot on, Jake, that this is crystal clear. This is certainly much clearer than I think many of us were actually expecting. We do see some other things in this video as well. Obviously, the person appears to be trying to obscure not only their face, but you see the gloves that are on there.

As I was mentioning earlier, again, there's a lot we don't know. But criminals these days are often smart, in the sense that they don't want to leave it behind any type of DNA or fingerprints. And so that is the question here. Is that why this person is going through these lengths to try to shield this person's hair, to ensure that no fingerprints actually make their way in?

TAPPER: Yes.

CAMPBELL: And then the last point I will note, Jake, is that there's a lot that investigators would have been assessing before they even released this publicly. And that is, every single item that you see on this individual, the backpack, the gloves, this clothing, all of that will be analyzed to try to determine where it came from. What companies sell that? Was there someone who recently was in a particular retail store buying that type of material?

It takes a lot of work, it's tedious, but that's what would be under way.

TAPPER: One last thing before I throw it back to you, Brianna and Boris, is that Savannah Guthrie, obviously, whose mother is -- was taken by this man, by this miscreant, just posted the four images that were initially released by the FBI from the Nest camera.

[13:20:13]

Presumably, she will also post the other ones. But she posted all four of them. And she wrote: "We believe she is still alive. Bring her home. Anyone with information, please contact 1-800-CALL-FBI, 1-800- CALL-FBI, or the Pima County Sheriff's Department 520-351-4900. That's 520-351-4900.

So, Savannah getting those images out as well, and I'm sure so many of her colleagues who have millions of followers will do that as well. And somebody, somebody out there knows who this is, and somebody out there will do the right thing and call the FBI.

SANCHEZ: That is certainly the hope.

Let's bring Josh Schirard back in.

And, Josh, as we're now watching the videos, what do you pick up on from seeing this person moving around outside Nancy Guthrie's home that would be perhaps useful for those who know this person, who have seen this person to be able to identify them and to lead to an actual substantive tip that gets investigators closer to them?

SCHIRARD: Well, obviously, the clothing, the backpack, now that we can see the full backpack, is incredibly helpful, but also kind of that gait analysis, right, the way people move.

We recognize people more by the way that they move than by visual cues often. So, understanding how they're moving, seeing them walk back and forth is definitely a great way to recognize somebody that you might know even when you can't see those features.

But one of the things to note here as well is his calm demeanor. He's walking back and forth very calmly. While he may not have known about the camera, he's clearly not very concerned with it, as he takes a very casual approach to trying to cover it up and trying to destroy that evidence.

KEILAR: Yes, it's such a good point. And just the fact that he's improvising is also very curious, and a lot of questions here about this video.

Will have a lot more ahead, this video and images from it just released by law enforcement.

And we are going to take a quick break. We will be right back with more expert analysis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:26:48]

SANCHEZ: We're following breaking news on CNN.

You're looking at new video directly from the FBI of a person of interest suspected in the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother. She's been missing now for 10 days, and this is her first look at footage that at one point we thought would be impossible to get.

Investigators on the ground had shared with the media that the video cameras at Nancy Guthrie's home had been incapacitated and there was no subscription to a service that would have held on to this footage, but we are learning from the FBI now that, using residual data and back end systems, they were able to recover this.

And as we look at this footage, let's bring in CNN's Josh Campbell, because, Josh, there is quite a bit that you can glean about this armed person outside of Nancy Guthrie's home trying to obstruct that camera.

CAMPBELL: That's right.

And I think it's worth noting that authorities may call this individual a subject or a person of interest until they have greater confidence.

But I think, if I'm working that case, you see someone show up at a residence like that in the middle of the night dressed the way this person is, completely trying to obscure their face, trying to obscure their hands, and showing up armed, which, as you mentioned on the video, we can actually see what appears to be the handle of a pistol that's tucked in to what looks like a holster at the individual at his front.

And so there is no discernible reason why someone shows up looking like that with that type of with a weapon unless there are some type of sinister purposes. And so, again, they may say subject. They may say person of interest. This is the person that they're looking for right now.

But it's so critical to release this footage now and not just the imagery that we had earlier, but, as we have been discussing, looking at -- being able to look at this person's movement to see how they walk, to see what type of clothing that this person has on, that could strike a chord with someone who might be watching.

Either they know the person intimately, which is always a hope that you have a family member or a friend who tries to put the pieces together. This looks like someone I know. And, by the way, that person wasn't home or is now gone. It's those types of things that law enforcement, they're trying to essentially prime the public that we want anything that you have to obviously come forward.

The video itself, Boris, as you mentioned, was able to be resurrected by law enforcement, working meticulously with the private sector. People have been asking, well, what is taking so long to access those cameras? We know that, because the camera itself was taken by presumably the person here, that authorities had to then work with this company to try to get any type of backup data, but now some very, very rich imagery that we're able to see.

Authorities hope that someone will recognize something here and pick up the phone and call the FBI.

KEILAR: And, Josh, that as well, but also that is a specific gun holster. That is a specific backpack. These are specific items on this individual that may have been purchased recently.

How can law enforcement use that?

CAMPBELL: Everything that that person brought to that scene is going to be scrutinized, as you mentioned, the clothing from top to bottom, the type of apparent ski mask that this person has on.

There is that moment where he then turns. You see him walking away, and you have a fairly good shot of what type of backpack that is actually there.