Camilla Jessen
Ex-FBI profiler weighs in on Nancy Guthrie disappearance.
Weeks after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Arizona home, authorities are still working to identify a suspect.
Nancy, the mother of NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing on February 1 from her residence outside Tucson. Investigators believe she was abducted.
The FBI has described a person of interest as standing about 5ft 9in or 5ft 10in with an average build. Doorbell camera footage from Nancy’s porch showed an individual wearing a ski mask, gloves and carrying a black 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.
Federal authorities have increased the reward for information from $50,000 to $100,000 as the case remains unsolved.
Profiling the suspect
Retired FBI agent Gregg McCrary, described as one of the early architects of modern criminal profiling, discussed the case on the true crime podcast Surviving the Survivor with host Joel Waldman.
Referring to the suspect description, McCrary suggested the details may help keep public attention focused on the investigation. He noted that the physical traits outlined by the FBI could match many individuals in the Tucson area.
Gregg said the height and “average build” would apply to a “lot of people in Tucson” and that is why “behavioral things” are crucial in the case, as he opened up about the suspect’s likely “pre-abduction” conduct.
He said: “I mentioned, you know, driving by and casing and recon, but also could have been if it is more celebrity focused, or in that case, it would be someone who would be kind of fixated or obsessed with the Guthries in general, perhaps, or Savannah or her mother.
“And so that would be someone who would be talking about them and a little bit obsessed about them prior to the abduction. So that’s another factor to keep in mind.”
Possible fixation
He continued: “If somebody fits that physical description, seem to have some fixation on the Guthries prior to this, and now has kind of disappeared or his normal routine is gone. Those things start stacking up. That’s the kind of lead that really needs to be reported.”
When Waldman asked whether the suspect could resemble a stalker with what he called a distorted sense of reality, McCrary agreed.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about, the stalker type of personality, some psychopathology at work, has some perceived relationship between them that doesn’t actually exist, and but it does in his mind.”
He added that in such cases, understanding motive can be difficult because it is “not based in reality” beyond the suspect’s own thinking.
The FBI investigation remains ongoing.
Sources: Surviving the Survivor podcast, FBI, The Express
