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Eleven days aft the parent of “Today” amusement big Savannah Guthrie vanished from her location successful the foothills extracurricular Tucson, Arizona, investigators had yet to place a fishy oregon adjacent a idiosyncratic of involvement Wednesday.
What seemed similar a large interruption Tuesday — erstwhile authorities detained a idiosyncratic for questioning — fizzled erstwhile the antheral was released hours later. The detainment followed different imaginable interruption earlier successful the time erstwhile investigators released video footage showing a masked and seemingly equipped antheral astatine Nancy Guthrie ’s doorstep the nighttime of her disappearance.
The wide deficiency of advancement has generated unit and questions for section and national investigators who haven’t held a quality league successful days. From the outside, it mightiness look similar solving the lawsuit and uncovering the 84-year-old Guthrie is increasing unlikely, but investigators whitethorn beryllium further on than they fto on.
It's not uncommon for cases to look dormant successful the h2o astatine the outset and inactive yet get solved, said Mary Ellen O’Toole, a erstwhile FBI profiler who worked connected the yearslong hunt for the “Unabomber.”
So however bash investigators tackle cases similar this?
The masked fig and the Unabomber
Surveillance footage released Tuesday showed a idiosyncratic connected Guthrie's structure wearing a skis mask, backpack and what looked similar a holstered handgun.
It offered the champion accidental yet for the nationalist to assistance place the suspect, said O'Toole, reasoning backmost to the hunt for Ted Kaczynski, known arsenic the “Unabomber," who was caught successful 1996 aft a yearslong search.
Kaczynski, who carried retired a 17-year bombing run that killed 3 radical and injured 23 others, wrote a manifesto that was published successful The New York Times and The Washington Post earlier helium was caught.
His member recognized Kaczynski's code successful the screed, tipped disconnected the FBI, and Kaczynski was arrested successful a compartment extracurricular Lincoln, Montana.
Similarly, Luigi Mangione, who allegedly changeable the CEO of UnitedHealthcare successful New York, was arrested 5 days aboriginal erstwhile idiosyncratic recognized him astatine a McDonald's and called successful a tip.
In Guthrie's case, the merchandise of the surveillance footage and Savannah Guthrie's plea for the public's assistance is the aforesaid strategy, O'Toole said.
Someone who knows the fishy whitethorn person noticed them acting unusual, specified arsenic not going to work, pursuing the quality intimately oregon making offhand comments astir the case.
If they admit thing acquainted astir the masked idiosyncratic connected camera, that could corroborate their suspicions and pb them to extremity disconnected investigators, O'Toole said.
DNA and the University of Idaho murders
Investigators said DNA from humor connected Guthrie's structure matched her, and O’Toole said investigators volition inactive beryllium casing the country for DNA from a imaginable suspect, including hairsbreadth oregon fingerprints, which person helped lick different cases.
Bryan Kohberger, the criminology pupil who sneaked into a location and stabbed 4 University of Idaho students to decease successful 2022, was arrested aft hint DNA was recovered connected a weapon sheath near connected 1 of the victim's bed.
That DNA didn’t output immoderate results from modular instrumentality enforcement databases, truthful investigators turned to publically disposable genealogy services, searching for imaginable relatives.
After homing successful connected Kohberger by tracking his car utilizing surveillance footage adjacent the transgression scene, investigators got a Q-tip from the trash extracurricular his family's location and tested the DNA.
It matched the begetter of the idiosyncratic whose DNA was connected the weapon sheath.
Strange encounters and the Brown University shooting
In the days aft a shooter killed 2 radical astatine Brown University successful 2025, investigators didn't look immoderate person to identifying the suspect.
When constabulary yet shared images of a idiosyncratic of interest, a antheral started posting connected Reddit that helium recognized the idiosyncratic and that constabulary should look into a grey Nissan.
The source, named lone arsenic “John” successful a constabulary affidavit, told investigators that he'd bumped into a antheral successful the bath and thought his covering was “inappropriate and inadequate for the weather." John saw him again extracurricular acting tense and jumpy adjacent the Nissan.
John's extremity astir the car helped place the shooter, Claudio Neves Valente, six days later, starring investigators to a retention portion wherever helium was recovered dormant from suicide.
It's unclear if John took the $50,000 reward for accusation that was offered successful the case. The FBI is offering the aforesaid magnitude for accusation successful Guthrie's evident abduction and hoping a tipster similar John whitethorn travel forward. The Pima County Sheriff's Department said Wednesday that they person received astir 18,000 calls since the time Guthrie was reported missing.
Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said successful a erstwhile statement: “Someone has that 1 portion of accusation that tin assistance america bring Nancy home."
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
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