Nancy Guthrie is yet to be found after the 84-year-old was reported missing by her family on February 1. Authorities believe she was taken from her Catalina Foothills home, near Tucson, Arizona, the night before. However, it has been over a month since her disappearance and Guthrie has not been found yet.
In the time since, her family members – daughter Annie Guthrie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni, were subjected to public speculation. This came after former NewsNation journalist Ashleigh Banfield reported that Cioni might be a suspect in the case. He was also reportedly the last to see Guthrie before her disappearance, since he dropped her home after dinner with Annie. The two also reportedly live close to Guthrie’s place. Amid social media scrutiny, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, whose department has the lead on the case, with assistance from the FBI, made it clear that none of the family members were suspects.
Also Read | Nancy Guthrie case: Police share update after woman found dead alongside canal in Phoenix, Arizona
After this, Annie and Cioni were seen in public along with their already famous sibling, TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie. The three placed flowers at a shrine for Guthrie. However, the next day the flowers were allegedly scattered all over the street, sparking questions.
Did kidnapper return to crime scene?
Jonathan Lee Riches who is covering the case from on-ground there, said on X “People in my chat think the perp came back to the crime scene after Savannah / Annie / Tommaso layed flowers.”
He continued “Next day flowers were scattered all over the street. FBI back in the neighborhood today. Where’s Nancy Guthrie?”.
The post was made a couple of days back and coincided with the FBI search in Guthrie’s neighborhood. However, no announcement came from law enforcement about any direct result of the search.
Instead, several people interacted on Riches’ post, asking about whether the person was caught on camera and if the flowers specifically left for Guthrie had been scattered. Many also wondered ‘did the kidnapper return to the crime scene’.
However, there is nothing concrete to indicate that the kidnapper returned to the scene of the crime. Neither the Pima County Sheriff’s Office nor the FBI indicated anything of the sort, and if they believed it was possible, they would have had an officer stationed to monitor movement at the house.
Many also disagreed on JLR’s post itself. “I disagree with that theory. It’s common for a murderer, I know that is hard to hear but that is the end result here, a murderer who takes the body will stash it until they determine where the final resting place will be,” one person said.
“It was important for the police to put dogs on and around vacant buildings, motels and storage units immediately once it was determined that she was taken. I don’t think that they did any of that. If they were going to “come back” it would be to the body location not the house,” they added.
Another stated “It may have been the wind. It’s windy here all the time.”
However, Betsy Brantner Smith, a spokesperson for the National Police Association and a retired police sergeant told Fox News Digital “They (abductors) could [have eyes on the memorial], we’re just not seeing it. They could be keeping track of it, but we’re not seeing the cameras.”
“Potentially, that is the type of person that could come back to the memorial, look at the memorial, even take photos of the memorial and add to the memorial themselves,” the expert added, and continued “Sometimes the offender will come back to the scene of the crime. So, in that vein, they would come to the memorial, and they may have left their own note, their own flowers.”