A doorbell camera was disconnected from Nancy Guthrie’s home on the night she was kidnapped, the police said on Thursday, depriving investigators of crucial evidence as they search for the mother of the “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie.
The authorities in Pima County, Ariz., said at a news conference on Thursday that they still had no suspects in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, 84, more than four days after she was taken from her home just outside Tucson. They confirmed that blood spattered on Ms. Guthrie’s front porch was hers.
The new details came a day after Savannah Guthrie and her siblings released an emotional video, in which they said they were ready to listen to ransom offers but first would need proof that their mother was still alive. Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Phoenix office, said at the news conference that agents were reviewing purported ransom notes that had been sent to several news outlets, which demanded a payment by Thursday evening.
Chris Nanos, the Pima County sheriff, has told The New York Times that Ms. Guthrie had dinner at the home of her older daughter, Annie, and son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, and that Mr. Cioni took her home around 9:50 p.m. on Saturday.
At Thursday’s news conference, he said that a doorbell camera at Ms. Guthrie’s home had been disconnected at 1:47 a.m. Sunday, adding that the authorities do not know where the device is.
At 2:12 a.m., a camera on Ms. Guthrie’s property detected motion, but no video was recorded, the sheriff said. Then, at 2:28 a.m., Ms. Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnected from her cellphone, which was later found at the house, suggesting that she may have been taken away around that time. She was reported missing by her family around noon on Sunday after she missed church.
Sheriff Nanos said Thursday that it was too early to rule out anyone — even a relative — as a possible culprit.
“Everybody’s still a suspect in our eyes,” he said.
Ms. Guthrie is mentally sharp but has trouble moving around and needs daily medication, her family has said. Mr. Janke asked her captor to let her go.
“Do the right thing,” he said, adding, “This is an 84-year-old grandma that needs vital medication for her well-being.”
In the video released by the Guthrie family on Wednesday night, Savannah tried to hold back tears as she sat between her older siblings, Annie and Camron, and read from a paper. She said that her family had heard about the purported ransom letters and said that they wanted to hear directly from whoever had abducted her.
“We are ready to talk,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video. “However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know, without a doubt, that she is alive, and that you have her.”
Through tears, Ms. Guthrie emphasized that the situation was growing more dire.
President Trump spoke with Ms. Guthrie by phone on Wednesday, and he said on social media after her video was posted that he had directed all federal law enforcement to be at her and the local police’s disposal.
“The prayers of our Nation are with her and her family,” Mr. Trump wrote. “GOD BLESS AND PROTECT NANCY!”
Annie Guthrie said in the video on Wednesday night that the three siblings were “normal human people” who need their mother.
“Mama, Mama, if you’re listening, we need you to come home,” she said. “We miss you.”
At least three news outlets — the celebrity news website TMZ and local TV stations KGUN and KOLD — said they had received what appeared to be ransom notes and had forwarded them to the authorities.
TMZ said the note that its newsroom received had demanded millions of dollars in Bitcoin and included a description of damage to Nancy Guthrie’s house that presumably occurred during her abduction. It was unclear whether the description was accurate.
Mr. Janke, the F.B.I. agent, said Thursday that the note had mentioned details about an Apple Watch and a floodlight and had given an initial payment deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday. He declined to share more.
Nancy Guthrie, a retired communications professional, has been a stalwart volunteer and was often seen around her Tucson community, those who know her said. She lives in a quiet, wealthy part of the Catalina Foothills, just north of Tucson, but not in a gated community — rather, homes are separated by large lots, cactuses and desert scrub.
At a vigil on Wednesday evening inside a church just down the road from Ms. Guthrie’s house, scores of residents lit candles and prayed for her safe return.
Laura Gargano, who lives behind her, said she has seen neighbors installing security systems in the days since the disappearance.
Ms. Gargano said she met Ms. Guthrie a few times and visited her at her house about a year ago. On Wednesday evening, she lit a candle for her neighbor and stood in the back of the chapel.
“I hope her family is able to find moments of peace and hope,” Ms. Gargano said. “I hope they get some comfort from knowing that so many people are thinking of them and caring about their family.”
Nancy Stanley, a longtime family friend, said neighbors felt helpless about the search. Ms. Stanley worked with Savannah Guthrie for several years at a local television station, KVOA, and knows her and her mother to be people of faith.
Now, she said, “the family’s in this limbo, this horrible hell.”
Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports for The Times on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice.
The post Camera Was Disconnected From Nancy Guthrie’s Home Shortly Before Disappearance appeared first on New York Times.
