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Nancy Guthrie kidnapping: Who is the man with the backpack FBI wants to speak to amid Tommaso Cioni buzz; ‘looks like…’

The FBI reportedly wants to talk to a man with a backpack seen miles from Nancy Guthrie's home, in video footage, the night of her disappearance. 

Updated on: Feb 13, 2026 7:20 AM IST
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Authorities reportedly want to speak to a man with a backpack seen miles from Nancy Guthrie's home the night she disappeared. Fox News reported that the FBI and Pima County Sheriff's Department are looking to talk to said individual. Video footage of the man has emerged recently as authorities continue to search for the 84-year-old who was reported missing on February 1.

Surveillance image of an armed subject in connection with the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie. (AFP PHOTO / PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT)
Surveillance image of an armed subject in connection with the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie. (AFP PHOTO / PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT)

Footage from Guthrie's home near Tucson, Arizona, had also revealed a potential subject with a backpack. Hence, the new video has given authorities cause to speak to the individual to see if there's any ties to the Guthrie case. Now, they have cleared the individual seen in the video, as per NBC News. “The man seen in the video below has been cleared of being involved in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie by investigators, according to two officials who have been briefed on the matter,” Tom Winter of NBC News wrote on X.

Authorities believe that Guthrie was taken from her home the night before she was reported missing.

Authorities had detained one person but set him loose and for now have not named any suspects. However, FBI director Kash Patel reportedly hinted there were persons of interest in the case. While the official probe continues, there has been a lot of online speculation about Guthrie's son-in-law Tommaso Cioni.

Also Read | Dominic Evans, Tommaso Cioni's bandmate, summoned for questioning in Nancy Guthrie kidnapping? Truth behind viral claim

He was reportedly the last person to see her before she was taken, since Guthrie had had dinner with Cioni's wife and her daughter, Annie, the night she was taken. Cioni had then dropped her off home as per reports. He was also reported to be the suspect by former News Nation journalist Ashleigh Banfield, but authorities quashed her claims. However, they were not able to stop the rumor mills online which kept the speculations rife without providing any proof to back the claims.

Now, with the new video being released many sought to check whether the person looked like Cioni. To be sure, these claims about the new video and Cioni come from unverified profiles, and there is no concrete evidence tying the two together yet.

New video of man with backpack: Reactions

The video shows a man carrying a backpack and wearing one. He appears to be wearing a jacket too. While his face can't be clearly seen the man appears to be aged and does not appear to have hair on his head.

He was seen carrying a backpack and trying to toss it over the wall. The man in the new video was seen trying to enter a locked gate to no avail. TMZ reported that the new clip also showed that the backpack the man was carrying appeared to have reflective straps. This is the same kind of backpack the potential subject seen at Guthrie's door was carrying.

Authorities have now confirmed that the person seen on Guthrie's camera had a Walmart Ozark Trail Hiker bag, as per the publication. However, it is not known if the bag in the new clip is also the same.

TMZ also reported that the new video showed the man left the scene at 1:53am before Guthrie's kidnapping. If he had to reach her place, he had 19 minutes to cover five miles, put on the disguise and head to Guthrie's door, as per the publication.

Meanwhile, the video has drawn a lot of reactions with many trying to see if there were facial similarities to Cioni. “Just because it doesn't look like the guy in the front doesn't mean he didn't go through the back or something and there was more than one person I think,” one person remarked.

Another pointed out the person had no mustache, like the footage at Guthrie's house at showed. “No facial hair at all. Not the same dude,” they said. Yet another claimed “still looks like son in law some people grow beards back fast. i dated a guy it was back in days and his is shorter now.”

  • Shuvrajit Das Biswas
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Shuvrajit Das Biswas

    Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More

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