Masked suspect seen at Nancy Guthrie's home three weeks before her abduction, sources say
Three weeks before Nancy Guthrie's apparent abduction from her home in Tucson, Arizona, a masked man resembling the one suspected of taking her was seen on her front steps, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to have been abducted against her will in the early hours of Feb. 1, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
On Feb. 10, the FBI released surveillance images recovered from her Nest doorbell camera. As Fox News Digital previously reported, one of those pictures was taken on a different date than the others, according to another source with knowledge of the investigation.
Authorities have, at different times, asked for neighbors to check their home security systems for the entire month of January, the night of Jan. 11, and the hours surrounding Guthrie’s disappearance, between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2.
Jan. 24 has also emerged as a date of interest, News Nation reported last week, citing a neighbor who said she was asked for video from then, too.
"We don't know what that indicates, obviously, but the most hopeful read on it is that they're looking at somebody and that they're trying to place that person or persons in the vicinity at that hour on those dates to see if in fact, they can begin to work backwards," retired NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor said on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday morning. "Less hopeful, is let's say they have something in the forensics…that shows some kind of unusual activity that they're trying to hone in on."
The masked suspect remains unidentified. According to FBI analysts, he is around 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall and has a medium build. Authorities said he was wearing a 25-liter, black Ozark Trail backpack.
WATCH: Nancy Guthrie's Nest doorbell cam records masked suspect
Other items have not been officially identified, but he appears to be wearing a holstered pistol near his groin.
The Jan. 11 date is both when residents using the Ring Neighbors app were asked to check video early in the case — and when two law enforcement sources say the masked man was pictured without the holster or the backpack.
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A post on the app from a neighbor said investigators were seeking video from 9 p.m. to midnight on Jan. 11 and also mentioned a "suspicious vehicle" spotted on Via Entrada, a street near Guthrie's home, around 10 a.m. on Jan. 31. Pima County authorities noted that it was not an official post from their department.
"Please check your recordings before they are overwritten," the post reads. "Footage of vehicle traffic is particularly helpful."
There was no description given for the vehicle.
Separately, a neighbor said she saw a strange man walking in the neighborhood in mid-January.
"He didn’t have your typical walking gear on, and he had his hat pulled really far over his eyes," local homeowner Aldine Meister told Fox News Digital in February.
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She told Fox News Digital that she knew it was after Jan. 8, when she had visitors in town, and at least three weeks before Guthrie’s abduction.
"It could’ve been the 11th," Meister said.
Michele Young, another longtime resident of the Catalina Foothills area said investigators came to her house a total of five times.
"On that last visit, when I was talking to the FBI and the sheriff together, they did mention the 11th," Young said. "I had mentioned that the sheriff’s department came back for additional footage, and they mentioned something about a different date."
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The Pima County Sheriff's Department has declined to discuss that date specifically, publicly asking for local residents to submit video of any suspicious activity, people or vehicles recorded between Jan. 1 and Feb. 2.
There's still a question about whether the masked suspect had any help.
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"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 department spokesperson said last month.
At least two men were detained and released without charges in the investigation. Police have not publicly named any suspects, persons of interest or vehicles connected to the case.
There is a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information that leads to Nancy's recovery.
Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.