In the search for Nancy Guthrie, authorities have relied not only on traditional investigative work but also on data trails tied to two of the world’s largest companies.
Google and Walmart have both emerged as significant players in the high-profile investigation, assisting local Arizona law enforcement and the FBI as they work to locate the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie.
Authorities believe that Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her ranch-style home in the Catalina Foothills, just outside Tucson, AZ, nearly three weeks ago.
A major break in the case came more than a week into the elderly woman’s mysterious disappearance, thanks, in part, to the help of Google.
Initially, authorities said they were unable to retrieve any footage from Nancy Guthrie’s Google-owned Nest doorbell camera because she did not have a subscription to store her video feed.
That changed when investigators, working with “private sector partners,” managed to cover some doorbell footage from “residual data located in backend systems,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a previous statement on X.
The footage, released widely to the public by the FBI on February 10, revealed a masked and armed man outside Nancy Guthrie’s home appearing to tamper with the doorbell camera on February 1, the day she vanished.
It took Google engineers several days to recover the footage, CNN has reported, citing a person familiar with the investigation. Google did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
The tech giant is attempting to obtain additional video from Nancy Guthrie’s other home cameras, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told NewsNation in a report published on Wednesday.
“We’ve asked Google, ‘Hey guys, can you do this?’ and they said the very same thing, ‘Sheriff, we don’t think we can get anything, but we’ll try,” Nanos said, adding that investigators remain “hopeful.
Meanwhile, authorities believe the backpack the suspect wore in the doorbell camera footage was a 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker” backpack sold exclusively at Walmart.
A spokeswoman for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said this week that investigators are working with Walmart management to “identify and isolate the individual who purchased the backpack.”
In an interview with CBS News, Nanos described the backpack as “one of the most promising leads” in the case.
The sheriff said investigators have been scouring surveillance footage from local Walmart stores and that the megaretailer has turned over records of all Ozark Trail Hiker backpack purchases from the last several months, the news outlet reported.
A Walmart spokesman declined to comment on the matter.
So far, the only item that has been “positively identified” on the suspect in the doorbell camera footage is the Ozark Trail Hiker packpack, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman said.
“Investigators are working to determine where the other items may have been purchased,” the spokeswoman said.
Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance has gripped the nation. Her famous daughter, Savannah Guthrie, has issued tearful video messages, pleading for her mother’s safe return.
Authorities have not publicly identified any suspects or persons of interest in the case.
DNA found at Nancy Guthrie’s property is being analyzed by investigators, the sheriff’s department said this week.
Earlier this week, Nanos, the sheriff, said the Guthrie family, including all siblings and spouses, has been cleared as possible suspects in the case.
“The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case,” Nanos said.
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