Law enforcement officials have released surveillance photos and a video showing a masked and "armed individual" in the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
The photos, labeled in the upper right corner "Nest," a name of the security camera company, appear to show a masked male with a mustache, wearing a backpack and a holstered firearm.
Patel posted a subsequent batch of images, including videos from which the first photos appear to be taken from in screen shots.
"Additional recovered images from the same camera at Nancy Guthrie's front door the morning of her disappearance, including two videos of the individual," he wrote. "Anyone with information, please contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit."
In a third post, Patel included a video of the masked individual walking up to the front door of Guthrie's home.
"Additional recovered footage, from the same camera – at the same timeline the morning of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance," Patel wrote. "This footage is just before the original video shared, with the individual approaching Nancy Guthrie’s front door. 1-800-CALL-FBI or https://tips.fbi.gov."
The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to Guthrie's recovery and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance. The FBI Most Wanted X account updated its missing person poster of Guthrie with photos of the masked individual.
Newsmax has reached out to the FBI's National Press Office for comment.
Josh Schirard, a former SWAT commander and police captain, told CNN that the "universal nylon-style holster" the masked individual was wearing is not the type someone who regularly carries a gun would use. He also questioned why the gun was secured in a front-mounted holster.
"Was it out of convenience? Obviously, the intent wasn't to conceal it," he said. "So was the intent to make sure it was displayed in order to be threatening when he went into that house? Or to be quickly accessed when he went into that house? Or in case anyone came across him?"
"We believe she is still alive," "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie wrote on Instagram. "Bring her home.
"Anyone with information, please contact 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department 520-351-4900."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt led with the breaking news at the start of her daily press briefing Tuesday.
"The prayers of this entire White House are with Savannah and her family at this time, and we hope this person is found soon and that her mother is brought home safely," she said.
Investigators had been hopeful that cameras at the home would turn up some evidence about how she disappeared, but the doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday. And although software data recorded movement at the home minutes later, Nancy Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so none of the footage could be recovered, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had said.
The announcement comes as heartbreaking messages made by Savannah Guthrie and her family have shifted from hopeful to desperate as they plead with the apparent kidnappers to hand over their mother.
It is also unclear whether ransom notes demanding money with deadlines that have already passed were authentic, or whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with the abductors.
Guthrie and her family have posted a series of videos over the past week, each striking a different tone. The latest message from Savannah Guthrie, in which she appeared alone, was bleaker.
"We are at an hour of desperation," she said Monday, telling the public: "We need your help."
Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her house just outside Tucson. She was last seen there on Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day after not attending church. DNA tests showed blood on Nancy Guthrie's front porch was a match to her, and a doorbell camera was disconnected in the early hours of Sunday morning, the sheriff has said.
Authorities said Nancy Guthrie needs daily medication because she is said to have high blood pressure and heart issues, including a pacemaker.
Investigators were in her neighborhood several times over the past few days and plan to keep working Tuesday as they expand the search and follow up on new leads, the sheriff's department said.
Three days after the search began, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings sent their first public appeal to the kidnappers, telling them, "We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen."
In the recorded video, Guthrie said her family was aware of media reports about a ransom letter, but they first wanted proof their mother was alive. "Please reach out to us," they said.
Law enforcement officials declined to say whether the letters sent to several media outlets were credible but said all tips were being investigated seriously.
The next day, Savannah Guthrie's brother again told the kidnappers to reach out "so we can move forward."
"Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven't heard anything directly," Camron Guthrie said.
Then over the past weekend the family posted another video — one that was more cryptic and generated even more speculation about Nancy Guthrie's fate.
"We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her," said Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her siblings. "This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay."
Up to that point, the family's first three videos addressed the kidnappers directly.
But just ahead of Monday's deadline spelled out in a purported note, Savannah Guthrie urged people nationwide to be on the lookout "no matter where you are, even if you're far from Tucson, if you see anything, if you hear anything."
Her turn to the public comes as much of the nation is closely following the dramatic twists and turns involving the longtime anchor of NBC's morning show.
The FBI this week began posting digital billboards in major cities from Texas to California.
Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said Monday that the agency wasn't aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie's family and the suspected kidnappers. Authorities also had not identified any suspects or persons of interest, he said.
"Someone has that one piece of information that can help us bring Nancy home," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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