The masked man who is suspected in Nancy Guthrie’s abduction may have approached her Tucson property before the morning she was snatched from her home, according to reports.
Sources close to the investigation told ABC News and NewsNation that they believe the masked intruder, featured in home surveillance video released by the FBI, went to Guthrie’s home sometime before she was taken on Feb. 1.
The sources pointed to a piece of the home security footage, which shows the suspect at Guthrie’s front door — without a backpack in a still image released by the FBI.
That photo was reportedly captured on a different day from when the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie was abducted.
The FBI had also released images of the suspect with the backpack from “the morning of [Guthrie’s] disappearance.”
One theory, the sources told ABC News, was that the suspect approached the door for the first time, but was scared off by the camera, only to return later, where he is seen tampering with the device and obscuring the lens with branches.
But others have also speculated that the man without the backpack is separate from the suspect who blocked the camera.
So far, officials haven’t identified a suspect linked to Guthrie’s disappearance.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department confirmed it was “aware that doorbell images released earlier in the investigation depict a suspect in different stages of attire, including with and without a backpack.”
However, the department noted that “there is no date or time stamp associated with these images,” in a Monday night statement.
“Therefore, any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative,” the statement cautioned. “Speculation, without factual support, does not advance the investigative process.”
The Post reached out to the FBI for more information.
The search for Guthrie entered its third week on Sunday.
A group of frustrated volunteers who decided to take matters into their own hands recovered a suspicious Swiss Gear-brand bag inside a storm drain that doubles as a homeless encampment near Guthrie’s home.
The backpack, though, didn’t appear to match the one worn by the masked perp, which investigators identified that backpack as a black Ozark Trail Hiker, sold exclusively at Walmart.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have made repeated attempts to reach the purported kidnappers, who may have sent ransom notes demanding billions in bitcoin for their mother’s safe return.
Each plea went unanswered. Still, a fourth ransom note was sent to TMZ last week — and the tabloid’s fed-up founder plainly told the sender to share the information with the FBI if they really want their cash.
While the investigation appears to be scaling back, with no real breakthroughs since early February, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department told The Post that between 300 and 400 personnel remain assigned to the case and that staffing levels are the same as when the investigation began.
There are still heaps of evidence that are being investigated, including traces of blood found at Guthrie’s home, but Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos warned that it could take “a year” to analyze the DNA.
