Person of interest in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance detained for questioning in Arizona

A spokesperson says the FBI’s Evidence Response Team is assisting the Pima County Sheriff’s Department with a court-authorized search of a location in Rio Rico, Arizona. They said the search is related to the Nancy Guthrie investigation and that law enforcement will be at the location for several hours. 

Rio Rio is located south of Tucson and about 12 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

A senior Trump administration official told CBS News late Tuesday night that the White House is monitoring the situation in Tucson closely. 

Earlier Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had told reporters that she and President had been reviewing the latest surveillance video and photos, and that Mr. Trump’s initial reaction to the situation was “pure disgust.” 

Deputies from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department “detained a subject during a traffic stop south of Tucson,” and that person was being questioned in connection with Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, the office said. 

It did not specify if the person detained Tuesday night was the same subject seen in the surveillance video released earlier in the day.

Details of the operation to detain a person of interest in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie were scant, but the person was apparently taken into custody quickly on Tuesday night. It was not clear what brought law enforcement to the location or the person of interest.

A person of interest has been detained in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, two law enforcement sources told CBS News. The were detained in a city south of Tucson, the sources said.

It was not immediately clear if the person detained was the same person seen in surveillance video and images released by the FBI earlier Tuesday.

There was also no immediate word on the whereabouts or condition of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, who has been missing for 10 days and was without medication her family said she needed to take daily.

Earlier Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel shared images and videos of a subject in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. The images, which were recovered from the home security carmera, showed a person wearing a ski mask and gloves. The person was carrying a backpack and appeared to also possibly have a gun holstered on their belt.

The FBI and the sheriff’s department said the images were recovered from “residual data located in backend systems.” Two law enforcement sources told CBS News the FBI worked with Google to get the Nest camera video

After those images were released, search and rescue teams, along with the FBI, began canvassing the nearby neighborhood where Nancy Guthrie’s other daughter, Annie Guthrie, lives. 

It was not immediately clear if the subject seen in the videos was the person who was detained Tuesday night.

Members of the regional SWAT were activated to work with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday night, Oro Valley Police told CBS News.