Man Detained in Nancy Guthrie Disappearance Speaks Out Moments After He’s Released: ‘I’m Innocent!’

A man detained by Arizona authorities in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has spoken out after being released, insisting he is innocent and describing hours of confusion during what he says was a wrongful detention.

The individual, who identified himself only as “Carlos,” was stopped south of Tucson on Tuesday afternoon and held by Pima County Sheriff’s deputies until midnight. Authorities confirmed earlier that a man had been detained during a traffic stop as part of the investigation into Guthrie’s disappearance and that a search of a location linked to him was being prepared, which Carlos revealed was his “in-laws’ house.”

Speaking exclusively to ABC15 shortly after midnight, upon his release, Carlos told reporter Ford Hatchett he had never heard of Guthrie before his arrest. At first, Carlos refused the interview before returning to Hatchett to answer some questions.

“They didn’t even tell me what’s going on until the detectives got here … They told me I was being detained for kidnapping, and I asked them, ‘Kidnapping of who?’”

“Nancy Guthrie,” Hatchett said.

Carlos replied: “Yeah, that’s her. And I told him, I work in Tucson for GLS. I might have delivered a package to your house, but I never kidnapped anybody. They held me from like 4 p.m. [local time] to right now.”

He added that officers cited limited evidence in their decision to release him, but warned that other agencies involved in the search may want to question him.

“Like, they didn’t have no – it was insufficient evidence. Like, they only had a phone on me. That’s all they had,” he said.

Asked what went through his mind, Carlos said: “Sh*t, bro. I’m facing life. I’m going to lose everything.”

By the end of the night, he said, deputies told him he was “free to go.” He claimed Pima County had “already cleared me,” though “the FBI, they might not or something like that.”

“I’m innocent,” he insisted. “I’ll let you know that. I didn’t do anything.”

Read the interview below:

HATCHETT: So, Carlos, so, walk me through it. They had you here. I know you just said it. Had you heard of Nancy Guthrie before tonight?

CARLOS: Never until today.

HATCHETT: Never until today?

CARLOS: I watched the news and I googled her number or her name. And they couldn’t prove it to me. Like, they didn’t have no – it was insufficient evidence. Like, they only had a phone on me. That’s all they had. And supposedly I was at her house, but like I said, I work delivering packages to GLS. I might have delivered a package to your house.

HATCHETT: But didn’t kidnap anybody?

CARLOS: No. [laughs]

HATCHETT: So what’s going through your head when they’re telling you you kidnapped somebody?

CARLOS: Sh*t bro. I’m facing life. I’m going to lose everything.

HATCHETT: And so they have all this. They detain you. You’re here for hours. And what did they just tell you?

CARLOS: That I’m free to go.

HATCHETT: Free to go.

CARLOS: Yeah. And Pima County, they already cleared me, but the FBI, they might not or something like that. I don’t know. I’m still like –

HATCHETT: So Pima County has let you go. They said the FBI may be in contact with you or something?

CARLOS: The detective in charge right here – I don’t remember his name – he told me that they’re not looking into me no more, but somebody else might.

HATCHETT: Okay. Obviously you said you hadn’t followed this news. This is big major news. It’s Nancy Guthrie who’s the – her daughter is Savannah Guthrie who hosts the Today Show on NBC. So, it’s been big news. She’s been missing for more than a week. So, they have put out, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, put out that they had detained a person of interest. And I guess that’s you.

CARLOS: I guess so. [laughter]

HATCHETT: How do you feel about that? People are watching this all over.

CARLOS: I’m not happy about it.

[HATCHETT offered to then show CARLOS the Pima County announcement.]

CARLOS: I was just stopped at south of Tucson.

HATCHETT: So I guess south of Tucson is where you are here in Rio Rico.

CARLOS: I guess so.

HATCHETT: And so yeah, that went out everywhere. And you see, you know, they got all sorts of people talking about it.

CARLOS: Yeah. No. Well, I’m innocent. I’ll let you know that. I didn’t do anything. Like I said, I didn’t even know what was going on until the FBI and the Pima County detective arrived and they told me, “Well, you’re being detained for kidnapping.” And all of a sudden, they read me my Miranda rights. Now you’re being under arrest. I’m like, “What the is going on?”

HATCHETT: And now free to go.

CARLOS: Yeah. Now I’m free to go.

HATCHETT: Oh man, what a night, huh?

CARLOS: Bro, tell me about it.

HATCHETT: Your family’s doing all right? You got to see them?

CARLOS: Well, they broke into my in-laws house. Now we got to go.

Watch the interview above via ABC15.

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