Crime Experts to Newsmax: Guthrie Case Shows No Usual Signs

The disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie in Arizona shows none of the usual signs of a robbery or a kidnapping for ransom, as the lack of stolen items and the absence of proof-of-life contact suggest something more deliberate, crime experts Brian Foley and Rob Chadwick told Newsmax on Saturday.

"It doesn't feel like a robbery gone bad, and that there's nothing stolen, nothing missing, or personal items, pocketbooks. Nothing's stolen," Foley, a retired Hartford, Connecticut, deputy police chief and former chief of detectives, said on "The Count."

"So it certainly does not feel like that," he added, pointing out that the evidence discussed so far behind Guthrie's disappearance, the mother of NBC "Today" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, "feels much more well-planned."

Foley also said that the evidence discussed so far does not match a robbery scenario or resemble a ransom situation.

"Looking at it from my experience, this does not feel like a ransom type of situation at all to me," he said. "All they have to do is provide proof of life and they have their money; they would get that money."

That means, Foley added, that "at least a negotiation would start and get pretty quick [but] we're not seeing that at all."

Instead, "It feels like some sort of close to her homicide," he said, adding it could involve "someone who had access to the home, someone access to the neighborhood, close to her type of homicide."

He also noted that investigators generally try to tightly control what information becomes public.

"In any homicide investigation, the homicide detectives don't want anything leaked up to command staff and out to the public unless they specifically want it out there," Foley said. "Unfortunately, sometimes that kind of information gets out."

Former FBI supervisory special agent Rob Chadwick agreed that the case does not track with a ransom kidnapping.

"This does not look at all like a kidnapping for ransom," Chadwick said. "It just doesn't coincide with that. The fact pattern is completely off."

Chadwick cautioned against singling out relatives while acknowledging what investigators often examine.

"I would absolutely never speculate about a family member," he said. "However, statistically we always look at family members close, you know, friends, people who are close to this person just because of historical precedent."

Chadwick also said he believes the ransom notes are meant to mislead investigators.

"I think these ransom notes are complete red herrings," he said. "They make no sense whatsoever. And I do believe they're meant to at least throw the investigators off track to waste resources and that sort of thing."

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information, and Attorney General Pam Bondi said authorities are working with local agencies.

The victim's family has also publicly pleaded for contact. Nancy Guthrie's son, Camron Guthrie, posted a video urging whoever has his mother to reach out, and stressed that she has a heart condition requiring medication.

"She does have a pacemaker, which disconnected," he said, adding it has "been a week."

Foley said time is critical.

"My thoughts would be that this is likely going to have a very grim outcome," he said, adding the family is "grasping at whatever they can in any hope that they have, that she's alive."

Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI or the Pima County Sheriff's Office.

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