Investigators have denied that Nancy Guthrie’s abduction was the result of a robbery.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed in an interview with the Daily Mail that investigators are treating Guthrie’s disappearance as a kidnapping, not a robbery.
“This is a person who disappeared from the face of the earth, and now we have cameras that show the person who did this is here,” Nanos said, referring to new security camera footage of an armed man outside Guthrie’s home the night she went missing more than two weeks ago.
Authorities have not determined a clear motive, and no valuables were missing from Guthrie’s Tucson-area home.
“That’s why we call this a kidnapping,” Nanos said. “The motive is that you are stuck, right?”
“Is it for money? I mean, there was only one thing they asked for money,” he continued. “But is it really about money or revenge for something?”
Nanos’ explanation comes after law enforcement sources told AZFamily there is speculation that Guthrie’s disappearance was the result of a botched robbery.
However, Nanos told Fox News that the robbery theory did not come from his team.
“It didn’t come from us. We have no idea, and even though it’s one of many possibilities, we would never assume anything like that. We’ll leave the motive to the evidence,” he said.
Another source echoed Nanos’ denial, saying, “This is not an actual theory within the force.”
“Nighttime residential burglaries are incredibly rare. Incredibly rare,” the source told Fox.
Savannah Garthy’s 84-year-old mother was last seen on January 31st and was reported missing the next morning.
Her home was immediately determined to be a crime scene after evidence was found showing that she had been taken from her home against her will, including blood stains outside her home.
Shortly thereafter, a ransom note was sent requesting that $6 million in Bitcoin be sent to an address in exchange for Nancy’s release.
Savannah and her brother made it clear that they were willing to pay the ransom, but asked the kidnappers to show signs of life.
Last week, video footage was released of an armed and masked person outside Nancy’s home the night she went missing. Since then, several people have been detained and released, and at least 16 gloves, potentially new evidence, were recovered near Nancy’s home.
However, no suspects were identified in the investigation, and the FBI offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to Nancy’s whereabouts.
