The investigation into the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, has taken a new turn after authorities retracted an earlier request for security footage of Nancy's neighbors dating back to January 11.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, has been missing since February 1 after she was believed to have been taken from her home in Tucson, Arizona.
Investigators earlier this month had urged residents of the area to review surveillance footage from as early as January 11, suggesting the suspect may have scoped the area weeks before the disappearance.
However, officials later walked back that request, citing uncertainty over the date linked to a key piece of evidence.
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Why was January 11 surveillance footage requested from Nancy's neighbors?
According to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, the request for January 11 footage was zeroed on due to a Nest doorbell image believed to show a potential suspect near the home.
Earlier footage released by the FBI showed a masked individual tampering with a doorbell camera outside Nancy Guthrie’s residence in the early hours of February 1. Her home's doorbell video footage appears to show the suspect tinkering with the gadget at around two in the morning.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier footage released by the FBI showed a masked individual tampering with a doorbell camera outside Nancy Guthrie’s residence in the early hours of February 1. Her home's doorbell video footage appears to show the suspect tinkering with the gadget at around two in the morning.
{{/usCountry}}Investigators believe the individual seen in the video might have gone to Nancy's house before February 1. Hence, authorities had earlier requested camera footage from households between 9 p.m. and midnight on January 11 and between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. on January 31.
Savannah Guthrie and her family also brought up the date of January 11 when requesting assistance from Tucsonans in gathering evidence for the case in a statement made public on Sunday, March 22. "No detail is too small. It may be the key," the statement said.
However, no new leads from pursuing the footage had emerged or had been confirmed by the Pima County Sheriff or the FBI.
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Confusion over surveillance footage timeline
In an interview with NBC News' Liz Kreutz on Monday, Nanos revealed that the team later retracked the investigation towards January 11 footage.
In an Instagram post, Kreutz recounted Nanos's words and explained that Investigators contacted Google, the company that owns Nest, in an attempt to retrieve video from Nancy's Nest camera. Google initially informed Nanos that one of the surveillance photos, which featured the suspect without a backpack, was taken on January 11.
However, Google later indicated that the timestamp on the image could not be verified, prompting authorities to retract the earlier appeal.