The chilling videos of a masked man outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in Arizona before she vanished show just glimpses of the suspect, but for investigators they hold a mountain of clues.
And those images — from the suspect's gloves to his flashlight — could be what's needed to break the case.
“There’s a tremendous amount of information that this guy left,” said former FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt.
The FBI already has analyzed the videos from Guthrie's doorbell
camera to identify the suspect's backpack, posting an alert on Thursday with a photo of the brand and model in hopes of narrowing down tips flooding the agency.
It has been nearly two weeks since the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie was believed to have been abducted.
Former criminal investigators say it's almost certain that authorities are building a physical and psychological profile of the suspect, using the footage released publicly on Tuesday that totals less than a minute.
Whether authorities recovered more footage isn't known, but technology will allow them to see more than meets the eye.
“Every single thing that is in the video is being digitally enhanced. Everything from the mask to backpack to the jacket,” said Ed Davis, the former Boston police commissioner during the marathon bombing and manhunt in 2013.
Here's what was captured in the footage and what clues each might yield:
It probably didn't take long to pinpoint the type of backpack the suspect was wearing, Davis said.
Technology available today allows investigators to break down photos and videos to the pixel, he said, giving them images of the stitching and maybe the manufacturer or brand name.
The FBI described the backpack as a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack.”
The FBI says the man on Nancy Guthrie's porch was armed.
But the video shows he had an unusual holster setup, hanging over the middle of his waist and not on the side. It might be an indication that whoever it was has little experience with firearms.
“I've never seen anything like that,” Davis said.
The footage gives a close-up view of the suspect trying to cover Guthrie's doorbell camera, first with a gloved hand and then with part of a plant ripped from the yard.
The black gloves appear to be thicker than most and shimmered in the light.
“I spend a lot of time in Home Depot, and I've never seen those gloves,” Davis said. “They're not very common.”
The suspect's zip-up jacket, pants, shoes and mask don't immediately stand out. But identifying one or more of those items could be a key.
Because once that happens, investigators can start looking at where those items are sold and combing through receipts and store surveillance cameras, starting with stores in the Tucson area closest to Guthrie's home, said Van Zandt, who spent 25 years with the FBI.
Going through mounds of receipts and footage will take time and isn't something that would be done on most cases, but there's no shortage of people assigned to this one, he said. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department earlier this week said several hundred detective and agents have been assigned to the case.
“If all of the stars line up properly — and they rarely do — I find someone who was in there two weeks prior who bought the jacket, the shoes, the backpack all at the same time,” Van Zandt said.
In one of the videos, the suspect appeared to be holding a small flashlight in his mouth while in front of Guthrie's door.
Figuring out the type of flashlight might be difficult, but there's something else to look at there, said David Lyons, a former homicide detective and police commander in Lexington, Kentucky.
Not many people instinctively hold a flashlight in their mouth, but those who work in the trades might — such as an electrician or a plumber, he said.
“That’s a small thing,” he said. “But at the same time, down the road, it could be something.”
Every step and movement the suspect made on the porch is worth a close look — from the way he walked, to how he seemed unhurried and how he grabbed the plant from the yard, Lyons said.
All of that will likely be used by behavioral analysts to create a profile of the suspect, he said.
“That’s what this will come down to,” Lyons said. “Those small aspects added all together.”
