Authorities have detained a person for questioning over the kidnapping of the 84-year-old mother of US TV presenter Savannah Guthrie in Arizona.
The arrest came nine days after the woman was reported missing, a US law enforcement official briefed on the case said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department issued a separate statement last night saying that deputies had “detained a subject during a traffic stop” and that the individual was “being questioned in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation”.
The apparent breakthrough came hours after authorities released video and photos of an armed man in a ski mask tampering with the door camera of Nancy Guthrie’s home near Tucson on the morning that she was taken from her residence.
Authorities released video and photos of an armed man in a ski mask tampering with the door camera of Nancy Guthrie’s home
The images released by the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department show the man, also wearing gloves, a backpack and what appears to be a gun in a holster, approaching Nancy Guthrie’s front door.
A law enforcement official said the images recovered from a Google Nest camera on the home’s front doorbell were recorded in the early hours of 1 February, about the time that authorities said Ms Guthrie was presumed to have been kidnapped.
The sheriff’s department has said she was last seen on the night of 31 January, when her family dropped her off at her home after dining with her.
Relatives reported her missing the following day, according to law enforcement, after she failed to show up for Sunday church services.
Sheriff Chris Nanos has said the doorbell camera of Ms Guthrie’s home was disabled in the early hours of 1 February. He said Ms Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnected from her phone about a half an hour later, and she was presumably taken from the house by force.
DNA tests confirmed that traces of blood found on the front porch were from Ms Guthrie, officials said last week.
Savannah Guthrie and her brother and sister have posted several video messages on social media pleading for their mother’s return
Law enforcement and family members have described her as being of limited mobility, in frail health and in need of daily medication to survive.
The video and detention of a suspect marked a major turning point in an investigation that had seemed to stall in recent days. The sheriff’s department and FBI said that they had yet to identify suspects or “persons of interest” in connection with the investigation.
Savannah Guthrie and her brother and sister have posted several video messages on social media 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, a long-time co-presenter of the NBC morning news programme Today, shared the new images on Instagram with the caption, “We believe she is still alive. Bring her home.”
Ms Guthrie’s disappearance has attracted wide attention. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt began her press briefing yesterday by saying she and US President Donald Trump had just reviewed the newly released images in the case.