Nancy Guthrie case: Ring's 'Neighbors' app becomes tool in search for missing 84-year-old, expert says

A cybersecurity expert said that the Ring ‘Neighbors’ app could be a valuable tool for investigators as they continue searching for missing Nancy Guthrie.

Someone living in Nancy Guthrie's neighborhood told Fox News she received an alert from her Ring Neighbors app on February 11 that went to a post stating that investigators were requesting video surveillance footage from two separate timeframes, which include January 11 between 9:00 p.m. and midnight, as well as January 31 between 9:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The alert claimed that a "suspicious vehicle" was spotted in the area around 10 a.m. on January 1.

Investigators continue to search for Nancy Guthrie as she has been missing for over two weeks. 

Guthrie was forcibly taken from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early morning hours of Feb. 1 and didn't leave on her own, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos previously said.

The Pima County Sheriff's Office told Fox News that the alert on the Ring Neighbors app didn't come from them, but was made by a resident who lives in Nancy Guthrie's area.

NANCY GUTHRIE CASE: FBI PREPARES FOR 'PARALLEL REALITIES' WHILE AWAITING DNA RESULTS

"Please check your recordings before they are overwritten; footage of vehicle traffic is particularly helpful. When submitting, please include your address along with the specific date and time of the video. Hopefully, we can piece this together," the individual wrote in the Neighbors app post.

While the Neighbors app post wasn't made by the Pima County Sheriff's Office, the agency made their own post on the mobile application asking for any video footage that includes anything deemed "out of the ordinary" from January 1 to February 2.

Eric O'Neill, a cybersecurity expert and former FBI operative, told Fox News Digital that the Ring Neighbors app allows people within a neighborhood to share information with each other. For example, O'Neill, who uses the app, said people will often share information about a crime that happened in his neighborhood.

"What people do often is share information about a crime that happened. Sometimes they will capture somebody trying to break into their car. Or God forbid their home, and they will publish the footage as a warning to neighbors," O'Neill said. "It is a way for neighbors in a neighborhood to collaborate on security."

According to Ring, the Neighbors app uses an individual's location, and they will receive any alerts sent by neighbors or government sources, such as law enforcement.

TIMELINE: NBC HOST SAVANNAH GUTHRIE’S MOTHER DISAPPEARS, FAMILY RULED OUT AS SUSPECTS

"If you share an alert on the app about a crime or safety issue in your radius, your neighbors will also get a notification on their phones and tablets. You can then comment on these alerts to provide additional information about local issues, give tips to avoid affected areas, share photos or videos to help neighbors stay on the lookout, etc," the Ring website states.

After someone living in Nancy Guthrie's area shared a Neighbors alert asking for people to submit video footage from specific timeframes, the Pima County Sheriff's Department made a post of their own on the application. 

Sources told Fox News Digital that the FBI was canvassing Nancy Guthrie's area and asked for security video footage from Jan. 11 between 9 p.m. and midnight. The FBI didn't respond to a request for comment, and it's unclear why investigators are interested in the specific timeframe.

"If you are receiving this alert, the Pima County Sheriff's Department is urgently requesting your assistance in locating Nancy Guthrie, 84, who was last seen on the evening of January 31, 2026, at her residence near East Skyline Drive and North Campbell Avenue," the sheriff's department wrote. "We are requesting all video footage that includes vehicles, vehicle traffic, people/ pedestrians, and anything you deem out of the ordinary or important to our investigation from January 1st, 2026, through February 2nd, 2026."

The sheriff's department included a link on the Neighbors app post where residents in Nancy Guthrie's area can submit video that may be relevant to the investigation.

NANCY GUTHRIE ONCE PLAYED ALONG IN STAGED CHILDHOOD 'KIDNAPPING' TRADITION, DAUGHTER'S BOOK SAYS

A spokesperson for Ring told Fox News Digital that the application has a Community Requests feature that allows law enforcement agencies "to publicly post requests for videos from Ring camera owners within a designated area to support a specific investigation."

"The goal is to provide Ring camera owners with a way to help their community when something happens in their neighborhood, furthering Ring’s mission of making neighborhoods safer," the spokesperson said.

O'Neill said that law enforcement can use the Ring Neighbors app in several ways to help solve crimes.

"One, there could be a message that law enforcement has Ring send out on their behalf onto the app that here, like in the Nancy Guthrie case, provides a link," he said. "Ring can also request footage from people in the neighborhood, collate that information directly in Ring's cloud, and then hand that over to law enforcement or give law enforcement access."

"I suspect here, both things are happening," O'Neill said. 

Fox News' Sarah Alegre contributed to this report.