A former senior FBI official has said missing Arizona grandmotherNancy Guthrie was most likely targeted by someone local to Tucson, where she vanished from her home nearly three months ago. According to reports includingOK!, John Miller said onThe Fairfax Files podcastthat he believed "the answer is in Tucson", suggesting whoever abducted her understood both her vulnerabilities and her connection to US television host Savannah Guthrie.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, the mother of Today starSavannah Guthrie, was last seen by relatives at her upscale home in Tucson's Catalina Foothills on the evening of 31 January. The following day, blood later confirmed to be hers was found outside her front door, and she has not been seen since.
Local police and the FBI have treated the case as a suspected kidnapping, though no suspect has been publicly identified. As the investigation continues, Miller's remarks have added fresh attention to the theory that the person responsible may have known the area, the property and the family.
In the episode of The Fairfax Files, Miller said investigators should be looking close to home. 'I think the answer is in Tucson,' he told host Michael Hershman, adding that he believed the Guthrie family felt the same way.
He described the likely thinking of the person or people involved as a cold, calculated assessment of risk and reward. According to Miller, the abduction 'was probably something hatched locally by someone who thought, "Here's an individual who is relatively defenceless, lives alone, is vulnerable, unable to put up a lot of resistance".'
Miller also said those behind the alleged abduction would likely have known Savannah Guthrie was her daughter. He suggested they may have assumed the family had financial resources, making Nancy Guthrie appear to be a profitable target.
The former assistant director said that, in many cases, kidnappings are carried out bysomeone with some prior connection to the victim. That can include an employee, former worker or contractor who has had access to the home and enough familiarity to observe routines and security.
There has been no official confirmation that investigators share Miller's theory. His comments are based on experience, but they remain outside analysis rather than an established fact in the case.
The clearest physical clue remains the blood found on Guthrie's front porch on 1 February. That discovery transformed concern for an elderly woman living alone into an urgent criminal investigation.
The case appeared to grow even more serious after reports that several media outlets received messages described as ransom notes demanding millions in bitcoin. Miller referred to those communications on the podcast as part of what he believes may have been the kidnappers' plan.
Source: International Business Times UK
