Nancy Guthrie’s suspected kidnapper made a grave error when breaking into the elder’s Tucson, Ariz., home on Feb. 1, according to an expert.
On Tuesday, the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department released images and videos taken on a Nest camera located just outside the 84-year-old’s front door.
The pictures and clips showed an unknown, masked and armed individual — who was also carrying a backpack — approaching the front door and fidgeting with the camera.
The individual turned back around to grab a handful of foliage on the ground, which they then used to try to cover the camera.
“Over the last eight days, the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been working closely with our private sector partners to continue to recover any images or video footage from Nancy Guthrie’s home that may have been lost, corrupted or inaccessible due to a variety of factors — including the removal of recording devices,” a statement authorities released to the press on Tuesday explained, noting that the footage “was recovered from residual data located in backend systems.”
“Working with our partners — as of this morning, law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance.”
Longtime private investigator Andy Kay subsequently explained to Page Six that the “private sector partner” was “most probably” Nest.
The Kay & Associates founder went on to share how investigators were likely able to recover the footage.
“The cameras will record to the servers as long as they have internet. According to Nest, without a subscription, usually they are quickly overwritten by next images. But if the camera is disconnected, there should be nothing to overwrite on the server,” he told us.
Essentially, if someone does not have a subscription to the service, it’s almost like a livestream being sent to the server: new images override previous images. But because this was the last image before the kidnapper disconnected the camera, it’s the last thing that was sent to the server and therefore able to be recovered.
Investigators have previously said that Nancy had a Nest camera but did not subscribe to the service. The device was notably taken during her abduction.
Kay branded the suspected kidnapper, whose weapon appeared to be holstered to their pants incorrectly, a “rookie.”
Reps for Nest did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
This is a developing story…
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