Multiple suspects are possible in Nancy Guthrie's abduction
TUCSON, Ariz. — Investigators looking for the missing mother of "Today" host Savannah Guthrie have not ruled out the possibility that she may have been abducted by more than one person, according to authorities.
"The sheriff has said all along that while investigators are working to identify the person seen on doorbell video, they are not ruling out that that was the only person involved," a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff's Department told Fox News Digital Friday.
Surveillance video recovered from the 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell camera shows a masked man tampering with the camera on her doorstep.
A separate still image also released by the FBI appears to have been taken by the same camera and shows a man wearing similar clothes as the one seen in the video.
However, he does not appear to be carrying a backpack or holster, prompting speculation from experts and web sleuths alike that he may be a second suspect.
"I’ve been wondering about this still picture," said Randy Sutton, a retired Las Vegas police lieutenant and the founder of The Wounded Blue.
The Fox Flight Team also obtained drone video showing what appears to be a pair of smashed floodlights at the back of the home. While it’s unclear when they were broken or if they were disabled in connection with the crime, it could be another indicator of multiple suspects, according to Sutton.
"You would break those floodlights so as not to be silhouette," he told Fox News Digital. "It’s a common thing."
FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X
He also said it would be easier with two people to force or carry the victim out of the home.
"I think that the individual at the front of the house was accompanied by somebody who made entry at the rear of the house, and there was probably a driver involved," he said. "It would be very unwieldy to have just one person."
SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and criminal justice professor at Penn State-Lehigh Valley, said the blood trail on Guthrie’s front steps supports this logic.
"My theory was that they had to have a vehicle around the corner to pick them up," he told Fox News Digital. "That’s why she’s bleeding at the front door. They couldn’t park the vehicle right out front, or it could spook a nosy neighbor."
While cell tower data has so far turned up no known leads, he suggested investigators get creative as the case drags on.
"I was so adamant about checking for a Wi-Fi router — was there any connections at that time?" he added. "Can walkie-talkie devices also be traced somehow?"
LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? FIND MORE ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning.
The FBI has described the suspect seen in surveillance images and video outside Nancy Guthrie's front door around the time she vanished as a male between 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with an average build.
The only officially identified item of clothing he carried was a black, 25-liter "Ozark Trail Hiker Pack" backpack.
Guthrie is believed to have been abducted from her home around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 1. No suspects, persons of interest or vehicles have been publicly identified since then.