Authorities try to find breakthrough with deadline nearing in Guthrie kidnapping

(TNND) — Authorities are still searching for a suspect in the apparent kidnapping of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie more than a week after she was reported missing in Arizona and running into an alleged ransom deadline with concerns about her health and safety mounting as the pursuit drags on.

Investigators returned to one of her daughter’s residences over the weekend and have returned to Guthrie’s home multiple times over the last week in search of hints that may have been missed. Law enforcement has also spent days analyzing notes from people claiming to be her kidnapper seeking payment, including one that demanded millions in Bitcoin.

Savannah Guthrie and her family said in a video posted on social media on Saturday that the family was prepared to pay for their mother’s safe return. Authorities said the video was in response to a message sent to a television station in Tucson on Friday.

“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted on social media along with her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

The random note didn’t include proof Guthrie was alive, only saying that she was “safe but scared.” Authorities have not confirmed the authenticity of the note but said they were investigating it seriously. In the social media video, the family asked for a way to communicate and definitive proof of life “in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated.”

As investigators analyze messages that have not included proof Guthrie is alive, experts say a lack of communication adds to the challenges investigators are facing.

“You’re looking for the perpetrators to communicate on a regular basis. You’re looking for them to make a mistake somewhere along the way with that communication — and we really haven’t seen proof of life,” said Robert McDonald, an assistant professor of practice in criminal justice at New Haven University and a former Secret Service supervisory agent. “It gets stale the farther we move along.”

Authorities are also growing increasingly concerned about Guthrie’s health because she needs daily medication and has a pacemaker. An app on her phone disconnected from her pacemaker at 2:28 a.m. the night she was taken, police have said. The FBI is offering a $50,000 award for information leading to her recovery.

“To anyone that may be involved: Do the right thing,” Heith Janke, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix office, said during a briefing. “This is an 84-year-old grandma that needs vital medication for her well-being. You still have the time to do the right thing before this becomes a much worse scenario for you. Please return Nancy home.”

It also gets harder for investigators to find new leads or her location as time passes. Officers are still poring over images, videos captured on surveillance cameras and other pieces of evidence picked up over the last week of searching.

The FBI is involved in the investigation and President Donald Trump has spoken with the family. He told reporters aboard Air Force One over the weekend “we could have some answers coming up fairly soon,” but officials have not announced any signs of progress.

Guthrie has not been seen since having dinner and playing games at her daughter’s home on Jan. 31. Her son-in-law drove her home that evening and watched her make it safely inside, authorities said.

But what came next has been a mystery that has so far flummoxed investigators still in search of a suspect or motive in the apparent kidnapping.

“We’ve got a lot of moving parts going on. The troubling part is we have an 84-year-old woman,” McDonald said. “As we move along farther away from the inception of her being reported as missing or reported as abducted, things don’t tend to move in a very positive direction.”

Overnight, the camera at Guthrie’s front door was connected from the home’s security system. Around 25 minutes later, another camera on the property detected motion but didn’t record video because she didn’t have an active subscription to the service provider in a setback for investigators.

“I wish technology was as easy as we believe it is, that here’s a picture, here’s your bad guy. But it’s not,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told The Associated Press. “There are pieces of information that come to us from these tech groups that say, ‘this is what we have and we can’t get anymore.’”

Police were called after the family was alerted Nancy Guthrie didn’t come to church that Sunday and wasn’t at her home when they went to check on her. Upon arrival, officers found the mount missing her doorbell camera and blood that DNA tests later matched to Guthrie. Officers sprawled across the area on foot with rescue and K-9 teams with the help of neighbors while drones and helicopters circled the skies looking for a trace of her.

Repeated searches of her and the families’ homes have not yet resulted in any breakthroughs leading police to her captor or a motive.