The FBI has detained a person in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
Just hours after CCTV footage emerged of a masked, armed man on 84-year-old Mrs Guthrie’s doorstep, police and Bureau agents caught an individual for questioning.
ABC News reported that the person was detained in a location south of Tucson, Arizona – where she lives – with officers preparing to search a location associated with the individual.
But there is no indication yet that the person detained is the mystery man seen in the footage.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, UK time, TMZ revealed it had seen “activity” in the Bitcoin account listed in a $6million ransom note for the elderly woman.
The outlet said it would not immediately disclose the exact amount of money moving around in the account.
A law enforcement source involved in the investigation went onto tell the website the person detained is not a member of the Guthrie family.
The kidnapper had promised to return the missing woman to Tucson within 12 hours of receiving the money, which onlookers said placed them within a 700-mile radius of the city.
PICTURED: Nancy and Savannah Guthrie on the Today show set | GETTY
On Tuesday, officials released images of the suspect in her kidnapping for the very first time | FBI VIA REUTERS
Just hours before the breakthrough, former FBI agent Michael Harrigan told GB News the “kidnapper’s” mistakes on camera would serve as “important signs” that behavioural analysts investigating the case will look at to try to figure out what this person’s background was.
“This could be an individual who potentially was hired to do a kidnapping by somebody who may not be well versed in this,” he said.
“There are professional kidnappers out there in the United States… You see some of them down in Mexico and other countries where they are professionals because they kidnap, in series, multiple people for monetary gain, to obtain ransom.
“It’s a business,” he added.
