Investigators are questioning Nancy Guthrie’s neighbors about internet disruptions on the night she disappeared
Neighbors of Nancy Guthrie are being asked an unusual question – did their internet suddenly stop working on the night she vanished?
Guthrie, mother of NBC’s “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, has been missing for more than a month after she was abducted from her home outside of Tucson, Arizona. The 84-year-old is frail and needs medication but police have said they believe she is still alive.
Three homeowners in Guthrie’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood told NBC News that FBI investigators and Pima County sheriff’s deputies went door-to-door Thursday, asking residents whether they experienced any glitches or interruptions to internet service around the time she disappeared.
Multiple people in the area had reported possible disruptions that night, according to investigators. But the homeowners couldn’t speak to internet issues because they were either not home or asleep at the time, they told NBC.
Another couple, who live near Guthrie, said there was a glitch with one of their Ring home security cameras that night. Footage was “not available” from the camera closest to Guthrie’s home, the couple said, while the other Ring devices were fine.
There are also questions about an antenna-like device that was seen in the pocket of the person captured by Guthrie’s doorbell camera on the night of her disappearance, and whether this was possibly a signal jammer, NewsNation reported.
The Independent has contacted the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for comment.
Earlier this week, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos was asked by NBC about whether investigators were looking into the possibility that a suspect used a device capable of interfering with Wi-Fi signals.
“I’ve not looked at that closely, but yeah, I know that my team has looked at it with the FBI every angle,” he replied.
As the search for her mother continues, Savannah Guthrie was seen at the “Today” show studios Thursday, where she hugged dozens of colleagues and thanked them for their support and for “caring about my mom as much as I do.”
“I wanted you to know that I’m still standing, and I still have hope, and I’m still me,” she said, according to People. “And I don’t know what version of me that will be, but it will be. I’m holding onto my faith. I still believe. And as my mom would say, ‘where else would I go?’
“I have every intention of coming back,” Guthrie added. “I don’t know how to come back, but I don’t know how not to. You’re my family. And, I would like to try.”
The veteran newscaster last appeared on-air during the show’s February 2 episode. Hoda Kotb has returned to the show, more than a year after her retirement, to fill in for Guthrie.
Guthrie plans to return to the air at some point but “remains focused right now supporting her family and working to help bring Nancy home.” The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of their mother.
Investigators have not publicly named any suspects or persons of interest in the case.
Last week, the FBI moved its investigation command post for the case from Tucson to Phoenix. A task force including some agents, sheriff’s detectives and a sergeant will remain at the FBI office in Tucson.
Guthrie was last seen around 9:45 p.m. on January 31 after having dinner with her daughter, Annie Guthrie. She was reported missing the following day after failing to show up at a friend’s home in Tucson to watch a live-streamed church service, a weekly routine.
Last month, the FBI released doorbell camera footage showing an armed, masked man wearing gloves outside Guthrie’s home in the early hours of the day she disappeared.
During a search of the property, a glove was found in a field near the side of a road about two miles from the home. On Wednesday, police identified the owner, but the individual has no ties to the disappearance.
“There was some talk and discussion that it was police officers out in the field just discarding them, that is so far from the truth,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told KVOA.
“We knew that at that time, we believed wholeheartedly that those gloves belonged to a restaurant and guess what? The owner of the glove, we found working at a restaurant across the street. It has nothing to do with the case.”
Nanos has sent another pair of gloves to a lab for analysis. “It’s a challenge because we know we have DNA but now we have to deal with that mixture and how we’re going to separate it,” the sheriff said.
The sheriff told NBC News this week that investigators are “definitely closer” to tracking down a suspect, or suspects.
The sheriff’s department asks community members to continue to submit relevant footage online here.
