Nancy Guthrie Suspect Video Obtained With Help From Google: Report

The retrieval of security camera footage showing a masked “potential subject” in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie was made possible due in part to technical support from Google.

The 84-year-old mom of NBC star Savannah Guthrie had been missing for over a week when law enforcement released the videos on Tuesday, showing an armed man outside Nancy’s door the night she disappeared. The footage was recovered from Guthrie’s doorbell camera after extensive efforts by Google employees, a person familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Nest, the manufacturer of the camera, is owned by Google, whose operation to retrieve the footage took several days. The process of accessing the videos was so complicated that investigators were not sure if retrieval would ultimately be possible, the source said.

The report from CNN’s Brian Stetler tracks with the explanation given by FBI Director Kash Patel, who first posted the images claiming they were recovered from a “previously inaccessible” security camera with the help of “private sector partners.”

Questions surrounding the doorbell camera previously dogged the investigation, with law enforcement reporting that the camera had been disconnected at 1:47 a.m on the night she was last seen. Prima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said there was “no video available” from the camera because Guthrie did not subscribe to Google’s recording service, though he noted that at 2:12 a.m., software detected a person on camera.

The footage marked a positive step for the investigation, which previously had identified no suspects or persons of interest in the highly publicized case.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump expressed “pure disgust” at the security camera footage on Tuesday, while former deputy director of the FBI Dan Bongino said he believed the agency was “working on this to pick apart everything” in the video to aid in the case.

It is unclear whether law enforcement used a warrant to obtain the footage from Nest, nor has it been explained how the company was able to get these images if Guthrie did not pay for them to be stored.

Nest has not yet commented on the report.

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