Nancy Guthrie disappearance highlights limitations of police technology to solve crimes, experts say

The apparent kidnapping of "Today" host Savannah Guthrie's mother more than a week ago from her Arizona home has proved vexing for law enforcement trying to solve the mystery of what happened to the 84-year-old. 

While many of the tried-and-true methods of modern crime-solving that police use on a daily basis — surveillance cameras, cellphone tracking, license plate readers — have not led to any arrests nearly two weeks after she went missing, a new doorbell camera video of a person of interest publicly released Tuesday by the FBI breathed new life into the investigation. The video showed a masked, apparently armed person wearing gloves and toting a backpack, tampering with the camera on the morning Nancy Guthrie disappeared, authorities said.

 A person has been detained for questioning in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, according to two people familiar with the matter The Associated Press reported late Tuesday.

The people said the person was detained in an area south of Tucson on Tuesday. They did not immediately provide additional details. The people were not authorized to discuss details of an ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. 

The case has highlighted some of the limitations of law enforcement in an era when police rely on technology like cellphone tower triangulation and surveillance cameras to solve crimes.

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the relatively secluded area from which Nancy Guthrie disappeared leaves law enforcement with fewer investigative clues than it would generally have if a similar crime happened on Long Island, a heavily populated region with an abundance of cellphone towers and other technology that police use to solve crimes.

"In the desert, there's no cell towers, there's no license plate readers, there's fewer houses with surveillance cameras or a camera that's on top of the Walmart," Ryder said.

Ryder is  doubtful that whoever is sending the ransom notes — which have reportedly asked for millions of dollars to be deposited to a bitcoin account — has Nancy Guthrie, saying that he thinks it's "a scam" to make money.

"That's why bitcoin is the choice of fraudsters because it's a lot easier and faster to get things out and through bitcoin without it being traced," he said.

The unusual and rare nature of the case has transfixed the public, including amateur sleuths and true crime enthusiasts.

"Everybody wants answers yesterday," Ryder said. "But the truth of the matter is, what the FBI knows and the local agency knows, has to be kept under a lid. ... You don't want to educate the kidnapper on what you know."

Authorities had previously said there was no video footage from the home’s doorbell camera, because it had been disconnected and removed just before the kidnapping, representing a major handicap for investigators. 

"It's one of the most baffling cases I've seen," said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD detective sergeant who now teaches at Pennsylvania State University-Lehigh Valley. He said in addition to technology, police probably talked to everybody close to the victim in hopes of finding clues.

Someone claiming to be the kidnapper transmitted to local news stations and TMZ multiple emails demanding millions in bitcoin ransom money in exchange for her safe return, according to reports.

While police can typically trace email through a network connection’s IP address, in this case, the purported ransom letters were untraceable, reports said.

"If this is in fact a real ransom note, you need to catch them and teach everybody else who was planning on doing this and teach them a lesson, because if they don't, you have opened the door to celebrities having their families kidnapped all across the country," Giacalone said.

In a video posted on Instagram Monday afternoon, Savannah Guthrie thanked the public for their prayers and asked for anyone who could have information on her mother's whereabouts to contact police.

"I'm coming on just to ask you, not just for your prayers — but no matter where you are, even if you're far from Tucson — if you see anything, if you hear anything, if there's anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement. We are at an hour of desperation and we need your help," she said.

Authorities have said they believe that Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her home outside Tucson, Arizona, where she was last seen on Jan. 31, when she was dropped off by family following dinner. She was reported missing the next day after she missed church.

Her blood was found on her home's front porch, authorities have said.

Reported deadlines for the family to pay the ransom have passed. Although Savannah Guthrie had said in an earlier video that the family would pay the ransom, it’s unclear whether that has occurred.

Few cases draw a parallel. But back in 1974, a kidnapping on Long Island saw the perpetrators request a $750,000 ransom.

Jack Teich, a married father of two, was abducted by two men from his Kings Point driveway and held for seven days handcuffed and chained inside a Bronx closet. His eyes were covered by medical bandages. His family paid a $750,000 ransom and he was released. Most of the money was never recovered. 

Perhaps the most infamous kidnapping on Long Island was of Katie Beers, who was abducted in December 1992 and held in an underground bunker in Bay Shore for 17 days.

Family friend John Esposito pleaded guilty to kidnapping Beers in exchange for a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. He died in his prison cell in 2013, hours after appearing in front of the state parole board.

With The Associated Press

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.