Nancy Guthrie updates: FBI conducting ‘extensive search’ on roads near home of Savannah’s mother

A person has been detained and is being questioned in connection with the apparent abduction of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, authorities said.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a post on X that the subject was detained during a traffic stop south of Tucson and is “currently being questioned in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation.”

A senior law enforcement official said the individual was detained in Rio Rico, Arizona, near the US-Mexico border.

Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed deputies carried out the stop but did not say whether the person is considered a suspect. Authorities have also not indicated whether the individual is the same person seen in surveillance photos and video released earlier by the FBI.

“Additional information will be released as it becomes available,” the sheriff’s department said, adding no press conference is scheduled at this time.

The FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department are conducting a court-authorized search in Rio Rico, Arizona, in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, according to CNN.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said the search, taking place about an hour south of Tucson, is being carried out with assistance from the FBI’s Evidence Response Team. The operation is expected to last several hours, officials added, with no further details about the location or what investigators are seeking.

A sheriff’s department spokeswoman confirmed the search is related to the investigation into Guthrie’s disappearance.

This development comes after deputies detained a person for questioning during a traffic stop in the same area earlier.

FBI director Kash Patel said agents are examining multiple “persons of interest” in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, describing “substantial progress” in the past 36 to 48 hours.

Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Patel said: “We are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest,” adding that individuals remain under that designation until they are either eliminated or identified as culprits.

Patel did not specify who is under scrutiny but said the FBI’s technical capabilities and outreach to private-sector partners had helped identify individuals “in and around the area related to this event.”

He said the bureau’s first priority is finding Guthrie, 84, and then ensuring “anyone and any others involved in this kidnapping case” are brought to justice.

Police have cordoned off Camino Agosto, a road near Interstate 19 in Rio Rico, Arizona, as investigators carry out a search linked to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.

The area, about an hour south of Tucson and near the US-Mexico border, was blocked off Tuesday as officers worked at the scene.

A woman who identified herself as Josefina told CNN that authorities were searching her home after receiving a tip connected to the case. “They had somebody give a tip that the lady was in my house,” she said. “I told them you can go in and search my house, there is nobody there. I have nothing to hide.”

She said her son-in-law had been detained but insisted “he had nothing to do with that.”

“I’m sorry what’s happened to (the Guthries),” she added. “I don’t know her, I don’t know anything about their lives or what’s going on, but I’m so sorry – whoever took her, I hope she got back safe.”

In a major development, the FBI on Tuesday released surveillance images and videos from a Google Nest doorbell camera outside Nancy Guthrie’s home

The footage shows a masked, armed individual approaching her front door and apparently attempting to block or tamper with the camera shortly before she disappeared on February 1.

Investigators initially believed there was no usable video because the camera was disconnected and Guthrie did not have an active subscription.

However, FBI director Kash Patel said agents and digital forensics teams worked with Google and private-sector partners to recover the footage from backend systems, where video data was still stored even without a paid plan.

Savannah Guthrie shared the stills on Instagram, writing: “We believe she is still alive. Bring her home.”

The person detained for questioning in the Nancy Guthrie investigation was stopped while delivering a DoorDash order.

According to News Nation reporter Brian Entin, the individual was pulled over near the Mexico border in Rio Rico, Arizona, where authorities have been conducting a search of a property.

The woman who said her home was searched told The New York Times that her son-in-law was working, delivering food, when he was stopped and detained. She said he spends weeks in Tucson working in the shipping business and staying with his mother, and that he and her daughter have been saving to rent their own apartment.

She also insisted that the masked person seen in the doorbell camera footage released by police “was not” her son-in-law.

A person has been detained for questioning over the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, police have announced.

“Earlier today, Pima County Sheriff's Department deputies detained a subject during a traffic stop south of Tucson. The subject is currently being questioned in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation,” the department wrote online Tuesday evening.

The individual was detained with assistance from the FBI, as searches for the 84-year-old continued for more than 10 days.

The White House weighed in Tuesday after the FBI released surveillance images showing a masked individual outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home the morning she disappeared.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said US president Donald Trump had reviewed the footage shortly before the daily briefing.

“His initial reaction, of course, as all Americans, is just pure disgust,” Leavitt said. “It's heartbreaking to see now this footage really bring to life a story we've all been reading about. And again, we’re just praying for the safety of Nancy Guthrie and that she will return home soon.

“The president directed me to please encourage all Americans with any information to call the FBI, and we hope that this case will come to a positive resolution as soon as possible," she said.

Leavitt said the president has urged anyone with information to contact federal authorities.

She added that anyone responsible for the apparent abduction should face the “fullest extent of the law.”

The family of Nancy Guthrie has told investigators they do not recognize the individual captured in newly released surveillance images from outside her Arizona home, NBC News reported.

According to authorities, both the Guthrie family and law enforcement were unable to identify the masked person seen in the footage shared by the FBI earlier this week.

The black and white images released by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, 10 days after Guthrie was last seen, show a masked, “armed” individual who appeared to have tampered with Guthrie’s doorbell camera.

Because no one close to the case could identify the person, federal officials decided to make the photos and video public. Investigators are hoping that wider exposure will help someone recognize the individual and provide information that could help the investigation.