FBI Starts ‘Extensive’ New Search for Savannah Guthrie’s Missing Mom Nancy in Area Surrounding her Arizona Home

The FBI has announced that it is conducting an "extensive" new search for Savannah Guthrie's missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, in the area surrounding her Arizona home—one day after authorities released a video of a masked, armed intruder outside the front door of the property.

"This morning, numerous FBI agents are conducting an extensive search along multiple roadways in the Catalina Foothills area related to the Nancy Guthrie investigation," a statement posted by the agency read.

Anyone in the area is asked to "remain especially cautious when passing law enforcement personnel near the roadways."

The Pima County Sheriff's Department noted that it has received close to 18,000 calls about Nancy's case in the last few days, noting that "several hundred detectives and agents" have been assigned to assist with the ongoing investigation.

"You will continue to see increased law enforcement activity throughout Pima County as the investigation expands," a spokesperson noted.

This comes shortly after entertainment outlet TMZ claimed that it had received a "bizarre letter" pertaining to the abduction of 84-year-old Nancy, alleging that the message was sent by a person who claimed to have knowledge of the person or persons responsible for kidnapping the mother of three from her home.

TMZ's founder, Harvey Levin, spoke to Fox News about the unverified note—which was sent days after the outlet received another unverified message, this time demanding millions of dollars in Bitcoin be sent to secure Nancy's safe return.

Anyone with any information about Nancy Guthrie's case should call 1-800-CALL-FBI, 520-351-4900, 88-CRIME, or visit https://tips.fbi.gov/.

However, Levin stated that the latest message—which has been passed on directly to the FBI—was not sent by someone claiming to have been involved in Nancy's disappearance, but rather by someone claiming to know the identity of the person or persons who took her.

He alleged that the person who sent the note said that they would give information about the alleged kidnappers in return for one Bitcoin, which is currently worth about $67,000, according to Crypto.com.

"They are not saying they are the kidnappers. They are saying they know who the kidnapper is and will give that information up for one Bitcoin," Levin said.

"They said they want one Bitcoin sent to a Bitcoin address that we have confirmed is active, a real address. And as they put it, time is ‘more than relevant.'"

Levin's claims come hours after a man who was detained for questioning in the ongoing investigation into the disappearance spoke out to insist he had "never" heard of her—or her "Today" show host daughter—until he was taken into custody.

Delivery driver Carlos Palazuelos identified himself as the person who was questioned by officials on Tuesday night, speaking to reporters outside of his home in Rio Rico, AZ, which is located about an hour north of Nancy's Tucson area property.

Speaking to Telemundo, Palazuelos said that agents had arrived at his home with a warrant to search the property, having taken him in for questioning, claiming that authorities "held [him] against [his] will."

"They held me against my will," the 36-year-old stated. "They didn't even read me my rights until two hours later."

Recalling what ran through his head during the questioning, Palazuelos said he thought: "What the f--k am I doing here? I didn’t do anything, to be honest, I’m innocent."

The delivery worker said that agents told him he resembled a person seen in security camera footage that was retrieved from a Nest device that was taken from Nancy's home on the night of her abduction.

"Until right now, all I know is that they showed my in-law a picture of somebody wearing a mask, or something, and they supposedly looked like my eyes," he added to Fox News.

While Palazuelos works as a delivery driver, he said he does not know whether he has ever delivered anything to Nancy's house.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department confirmed on Tuesday night that a search of a property in Rio Rico had been conducted and concluded, noting that the investigation into Nancy's disappearance is still ongoing.

Palazuelos' detainment came just hours after the FBI released video footage and photos of a masked, armed intruder outside of Nancy's home on the night she was abducted. It marked the first time since Nancy was reported missing on Feb. 1 that any image of video of a suspect has been released.

Footage, along with four screenshots, taken from a Nest camera that was removed from Nancy's doorway were released to the public, more than a week after the mother of three was abducted from the property.

Two videos, taken back to back, show an armed person wearing a knitted balaclava or ski mask, a backpack, and large leather gloves approaching the front door of Nancy's home, before raising a fist to the camera in an apparent attempt to block the lens.

The person is seen wearing what appears to be a gun in a holster around their waist, and it appears as though they have a flashlight in their mouth. Only their eyes and mouth are visible throughout the entirety of the footage.

They then turn away from the camera and bend over, before ripping up a handful of greenery from a planter bed in front of the porch. The person returns to the camera and holds the leaves over the lens. At this point, the footage ends.

Soon after the footage was released, the FBI launched a webpage dedicated to Nancy's case, which features details about the ongoing investigation, clips from the videos, and information about her health.

"She is considered to be a vulnerable adult who has difficulty walking, has a pacemaker, and needs daily medication for a heart condition," the page notes.

Of the video footage and images, the webpage states: "The images above show an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie's front door the morning of her disappearance.  The FBI seeks information that will lead to the identity of this individual."

The video and images were originally shared by the the Pima County Sheriff's Department and FBI Director Kash Patel, who posted the visuals on his X account.

A third clip taken moments before the other two shows the person making their initial approach to the front door, bowing their head down in an apparent attempt to hide their masked face.

No specific timeframe been shared, although officials previously revealed that Nancy's security camera had been disconnected at around 1:47 a.m. local time on Feb. 1.

During an appearance on Sean Hannity's Fox News show on Tuesday night, FBI Director Patel said that he believes authorities have made "substantial progress" in their investigation, noting that they were looking at several "persons of interest" in the case.

"Without polluting the investigation, I will say we have made substantial progress in these last 36 to 48 hours, thanks to the technical capabilities of the FBI and our partnerships, and I do believe we are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest," he said.

"As you know, with any investigation, you're a person of interest until you're either eliminated or you're actually found to be the culprit or the culprits involved, and that's the stage we're at right now."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed soon after the footage was released that it had been reviewed by President Donald Trump, saying: "The president encourages any American across the country with any knowledge of the suspect to please call the FBI, who continue to assist state and local authorities who are leading this investigation on the ground.

"The prayers of this entire White House are with Savannah and her family at this time. We hope that this person is found soon and that her mother is brought home safely."

The White House's official X account also reshared the image post from Patel.

Savannah also quickly reposted the images taken from the videos on her Instagram account, along with the caption: "We believe she is still alive. Bring her home."

She added a second post featuring the footage of the suspect, writing: "Someone out there recognizes this person."

According to NBC, Savannah and her family reviewed the footage and images before they were released to the public—a decision that was taken after Nancy's relatives and authorities failed to spot anything recognizable in the visuals.

The outlet also reported that Patel visited the Tucson "command center" where the Guthrie case is being managed on Monday during an unrelated trip to Arizona.

"Patel had separate travel on another subject that had been on his schedule for some time. While in the area, the director spent time with the team working the case," NBC reported.

Why did it take so long for footage of a suspect in the Nancy Guthrie case to be released?

Authorities had previously stated that they were unable to retrieve any footage from the Nest camera that was taken from the doorway of Nancy's property because she did not have a subscription that enables archival video to be stored.

However, the Pima County Sheriff's Department revealed in a statement issued on Tuesday that the video was ultimately "recovered from residual data located in backend systems."

"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 statement read.

"The video was recovered from residual data located in backend systems. 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."

Authorities further stated that they have no other information to share about the suspect at this time, nor are any additional press briefings planned.

What is the full timeline of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance?

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos noted during a media briefing on Feb. 5 that, while times are approximate, his team has pieced together several pieces of evidence that indicate Nancy's movements—and the timeline of her apparent abduction.

Nancy, 84, was reported missing at around 12 p.m. local time on Feb. 1, around 14 hours after she was dropped off at the property following a family dinner. When she failed to turn up at her usual church gathering on Sunday, her friends alerted her family, who found her home was empty.

SATURDAY, JAN. 31

5:32 p.m. Nancy travels to Annie's house in an Uber for "dinner and playing games with the family."

9:48 p.m. A garage door at Nancy's house opens when she was dropped off at the property by her daughter.

9:50 p.m. The garage door closes, indicating that Nancy was inside the home.

SUNDAY, FEB. 1

1:47 a.m. Nancy's doorbell security camera is disconnected.

2:12 a.m. Movement is detected on a security camera at the home. No footage of this is currently available.

2:28 a.m. Nancy's pacemaker app indicates that the device has been disconnected from her phone.

11:00 a.m. Nancy fails to arrive at the home of a friend, where she had been due to watch a church service livestream.

11:56 a.m. Nancy's family travels to her home to check on her and finds the property empty.

12:03 p.m. The family calls 911 to report Nancy missing.

12:14 p.m. Police officers arrive at Nancy's home.

While no footage is available from the cameras, Nanos noted that the security camera alerts lead them to believe that a person or persons may have been inside Nancy's home between 2:12 a.m., when movement was detected, and 2:28 a.m., when her pacemaker stopped syncing with her Apple devices.