Nancy Guthrie’s Neighbor Mentions Possible Connection
As the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie intensifies under the joint leadership of the FBI and local authorities, new details are emerging from neighbors, investigators, and media outlets — all pointing to a case that has shaken a quiet Arizona community.
Laura Gargano, who has lived next door to Guthrie for more than a decade, said she carefully reviewed doorbell footage released by investigators showing a masked individual outside Guthrie’s home around the time of her disappearance.
In an interview with CNN’s OutFront, Gargano explained that her first instinct was not panic — but recognition.
“It’s not out of the ordinary for the same yard service to be on three or four different properties. I immediately went to assessing the physique of this person. I immediately could see the physique — the size of the head, the shape of the legs, the approximate weight — just to see if he looked familiar,” Gargano told CNN “OutFront” host Erin Burnett.
“I assumed it was a male. And I immediately started running through the list of people that I’ve worked with here,” Gargano added.
She emphasized that shared service providers are common in the Catalina Foothills area.
“A lot of times people share service people in the area. It’s not out of the ordinary for the same yard service, to be on three or four different properties, to give referrals to your neighbors or roofers or electricians,” Gargano said.
Rather than reacting with fear, she described a momentary sense of cautious optimism.
“I just immediately looked to see if the shape looked familiar to me and and immediately did that more so than being fearful, but also hopeful, because now we have an image to go by. So momentarily I pulled out some hope,” Gargano added.
That image — released by the FBI earlier this week — shows a masked person wearing gloves and appearing to tamper with the camera at Guthrie’s front door on February 1. The footage had previously been “inaccessible,” according to authorities.
On Wednesday evening, investigators discovered a pair of gloves near Guthrie’s residence. It remains unclear whether they match the gloves seen in the surveillance video.
According to KVOA, investigators are now urging residents in the Catalina Foothills area with Ring doorbell cameras to submit footage from two specific timeframes: January 11 between 9 p.m. and midnight, and January 31 between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Authorities are reportedly examining a potentially suspicious vehicle seen in the area during those windows.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos indicated that additional arrests may be forthcoming as investigators continue to sift through evidence.
On Wednesday, Nanos told 13 News that law enforcement officials are processing thousands of tips and messages. A day earlier, authorities arrested Carlos Palazuelos in connection with the case after a traffic stop, holding him for several hours while his residence was searched. He was later released.
Nanos stated that more than a single tip led to Palazuelos’ detention but declined to elaborate further.
Meanwhile, the case has taken an even more troubling turn.
TMZ founder Harvey Levin revealed Wednesday that his outlet received a third alleged letter tied to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.
“An hour and a half ago, we got, kind of a bizarre letter, an email from somebody who says they know who the kidnapper is and that they have tried reaching Savannah’s sister Annie and Savannah’s brother, to no avail. And they said they want one Bitcoin sent to a Bitcoin address that we have confirmed is active. It’s a real Bitcoin address, and as they put it, time is more than relevant. So we have no idea whether this is real or not. But they are making a demand,” Levin said during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom.”
Levin noted that the message included a name and email address and suggested that investigators believe the individual behind the communications may be local.
“Law enforcement has told me they are operating under the theory that this person lives in the Tucson television area, and that’s why they’ve had so much contact with the local television stations there,” Levin said in reference to alleged ransom notes that have been sent to local networks.
“Reading that first note, I think it is intelligent person. I think it is a tech-savvy person because we were on the phone with the FBI a couple of hours after we got the letter and everybody was trying, including my IT team, trying to figure out something about who sent it, and we hit a dead end,” he added.
FBI Director Kash Patel previously confirmed that multiple individuals are being examined as persons of interest as federal agents deploy advanced technical resources in coordination with local authorities.
As President Donald J. Trump’s administration continues to emphasize law-and-order priorities and robust federal-state cooperation, the case stands as a sobering reminder of the evil that can strike even the most peaceful communities.
For now, investigators remain tight-lipped about key evidence, urging the public to come forward with credible information. The gloves, the masked figure, the alleged ransom letters — all remain pieces of a complex puzzle.
And until that puzzle is solved, a family waits.