The Arizona Police Department received more than 4,000 calls within 24 hours after the incident Release videos Of a masked person on Nancy Guthrie’s balcony. Many tips will be worthless. Others can have merit. Experts say one thing is certain: they can’t be ignored.
Tips can solve crimes — big or small — and chilling photos of a mystery man covered from head to toe were the most important pieces of evidence shared with the public during Guthrie’s nearly two-week disappearance in the Tucson area.
“It’s a tremendous amount of work,” said Roberto Villasenor, former Tucson police chief.
“In a situation like this, you can’t do what was done without public advice and input,” he said. “They’ve processed the scene. But once that’s done and exhausted, it’s difficult to move forward without additional information coming in.”
Pima County Sheriff and FBI announced Phone numbers And a Website To offer advice about the apparent kidnapping of Guthrie, the mother of the 84-year-old NBC “Today” show co-anchor. Savannah Guthrie. The Sheriff’s Department said several hundred detectives and agents have been assigned to the case.
The FBI said it has collected more than 13,000 tips since February 1, the day Guthrie was reported missing. Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Department said it received at least 18,000 calls.
“Each tip is reviewed for credibility, relevance, and information that can be acted upon by law enforcement,” the FBI said Thursday on X, adding that the effort takes 24 hours. She would not comment on the advice she received.
Major American crimes have been eradicated for years using classified information. In 1995, Ted Kaczynski’s brother and sister-in-law recognized certain overtones in a widely published anonymous anti-technology manifesto. Kaczynski was known by the FBI as the “Unabomber.” She was found living in a shack In the state of Montana, he later confessed to committing 16 bombings over a period of 17 years, which resulted in the deaths of three people.
The 1989 murder of an Ohio woman and two teenage daughters in Florida was solved three years later when St. Petersburg police asked the public if they recognized handwriting found in the victims’ car. A former neighbor led investigators to Oba Chandler.
Ira Todd, a retired Detroit homicide detective, recalls how gas station camera images revealed the disappearance and death of a three-month-old baby — and prevented authorities from going after the wrong person in 2001. “This guy’s niece saw that on TV and said, ‘That’s my uncle,'” he said.
The killing of four University of Idaho students in 2022 generated nearly 40,000 tips for state and federal authorities. None of them had a direct role in Brian Kohberger’s arrest, but public involvement nonetheless was “absolutely” important, Idaho State Police Lt. Darren Gilbertson said.
“That’s one of the things that kept us going for weeks,” he said, while authorities waited for DNA and other evidence.
Most of the early audits were conducted by the FBI, Gilbertson said. He said the agents and analysts who were examining the tips had a good understanding of what information could be leaked and what needed to be turned over to lead investigators. Some tips arrived by regular mail.
“Foreigners who tolerate crazy conspiratorial ideas — they don’t even pass that up,” Gilbertson said.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31 and was reported missing the next day. Hours before her family learned she was gone, a porch camera recorded video of a person carrying a backpack and wearing a ski mask, long pants, a jacket and gloves — images the FBI released along with a public plea for help. The person, who they now consider a suspect, is a male approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall with a medium build, the FBI said Thursday. The agency also named the brand and model of the backpack.
The Sheriff’s Department has not said whether any information linked to the videos has advanced the investigation.
“I’m optimistic,” said Villaseñor, the former Tucson president. “I’ve seen cases where simpler, less detailed information has helped identify someone. Maybe someone will recognize clothing, or maybe a bag. You never know what someone is going to open.”