A person has been detained for questioning in connection with the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, citing a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation, Newsmax confirmed Tuesday night.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department, with assistance from the FBI, detained the individual at a location south of Tucson, the official told ABC News.
Law enforcement authorities are preparing to search a location associated with the individual, according to the official.
Calls to law enforcement increased Tuesday after the FBI released doorbell camera footage from outside Nancy Guthrie's home, recorded the night she vanished, showing a masked individual armed with a weapon.
Earlier in the day, "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie shared a new statement from the family saying they believe their mother is still alive.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed later Tuesday that investigators are focusing on multiple "persons of interest."
"Without polluting the investigation, I will say we have made substantial progress in these last 36-48 hours, thanks to the technical capabilities of the FBI and our partnerships," Patel said during a television appearance.
"I do believe we are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest."
Patel said the "armed individual" appeared to "have tampered with the camera." It was not entirely clear whether there was a gun in the holster.
The videos were pulled from data on "back-end systems" after investigators spent days trying to find lost, corrupted, or inaccessible images, Patel said.
"This will get the phone ringing for lots of potential leads," said former FBI agent Katherine Schweit.
"Even when you have a person who appears to be completely covered, they're really not. You can see their girth, the shape of their face, potentially their eyes or mouth."
By Tuesday afternoon, authorities were back near Nancy Guthrie's neighborhood, using vehicles to block her driveway. A few miles away, law enforcement was going door-to-door in the area where daughter Annie Guthrie lives, talking with neighbors as well as walking through a drainage area and examining the inside of a culvert with a flashlight.
Investigators have said for more than a week that they believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will. She was last seen at home Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day. DNA tests showed blood on her porch was hers, authorities said.
She has high blood pressure and issues with mobility and her heart, and she needs daily medication, officials have said.
Until now, authorities have released few details, leaving it unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines already passed were authentic, and whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with whoever took Nancy Guthrie.
Savannah Guthrie posted the new surveillance images on social media Tuesday, saying the family believes Nancy Guthrie is still alive and offering phone numbers for the FBI and county sheriff. Within minutes, the post had thousands of comments.
Investigators had hoped cameras would turn up evidence right away about how Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in a secluded neighborhood.
But the doorbell camera was disconnected early on Feb. 1. While software recorded movement at the home minutes later, Nancy Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had initially said none of the footage could be recovered.
Officials continued working to get the footage.
Heartbreaking messages by Savannah Guthrie and her family shifted from hopeful to bleak as they made pleas for whoever took Nancy Guthrie. In a video just ahead of a purported ransom deadline Monday, Savannah Guthrie appeared alone and spoke directly to the public.
"We are at an hour of desperation," she said. "We need your help."
Much of the nation is closely following the case involving the longtime anchor of NBC's morning show.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump watched the new surveillance footage and was in "pure disgust," encouraging anyone with information to call the FBI.
The FBI this week began posting digital billboards about the case in major cities from Texas to California.
Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said Monday that the agency was not aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie's family and any suspected kidnappers. Authorities also had not identified any suspects, he said.
Three days after the search began, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings sent their first public appeal to whoever took their mother, saying, "We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen."
In the recorded video, Guthrie said her family was aware of media reports about a ransom letter, but they first wanted proof their mother was alive. "Please reach out to us," they said.
The next day, Savannah Guthrie's brother again made a plea, saying, "Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven't heard anything directly."
Then over the past weekend, the family posted another video — one that was more cryptic and generated even more speculation about Nancy Guthrie's fate.
"We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her," said Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her siblings.
"This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay."
The report of an individual being detained came after a bitcoin account tied to Guthrie's expired ransom demand showed new activity Tuesday evening, according to publicly viewable transaction records.
Roughly $152 worth of Bitcoin appeared in the account after a single deposit, totaling about 0.0022 Bitcoin.
The source of the funds remains unknown. Anyone who had access to a copy of the ransom note could have sent money to the account.
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