By Erica Stapleton and Jana Winter
TUCSON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Authorities on Tuesday released images of a masked and armed person appearing to tamper with the door camera at the home of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of television host Savannah Guthrie who was abducted about 10 days ago.
The photos and video released by the FBI and Pima County Sheriff's Department show a person wearing a face mask, gloves, backpack and what appears to be a gun holster.
A law enforcement official said the images
were recovered from a Google Nest camera on Guthrie's front doorbell. At one point in the video, the person appears to try to block the camera with foliage gathered nearby then appears to damage it. Police have said the camera was disabled in the early hours of February 1.
Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home hours after relatives dropped her there on January 31, and law enforcement officials have said they had no breakthroughs in the case.
Guthrie's pacemaker disconnected from her phone in the pre-dawn hours of February 1, when she presumably was kidnapped.
"...Law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie's front door the morning of her disappearance," FBI Director Kash Patel wrote in an X post accompanying the images.
At least two ransom notes purporting to be from the abducters were delivered initially to news media.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have made several videos pleading for the public to help with tips and for the kidnappers to return their mother or communicate with them directly. The family has said that they would pay a ransom.
Savannah Guthrie shared the new images on Instagram on Tuesday with the caption: "We believe she is still alive. Bring her home."
According to officials, a family member dropped Guthrie at home after dining with her. Relatives reported her missing the following day when she failed to show up as expected for Sunday church services.
(Reporting by Erica Stapleton in Tucson and Jana Winter in Washington; Writing by Helen Coster; editing by Donna Bryson and Cynthia Osterman)
