Retired Cop Explains Why It Took So Long To Get The Footage From Nancy Guthrie’s Ring Camera
lev radin | Shutterstock It's been more than a week since Nancy Guthrie, news anchor Savannah Guthrie's mom, was reported missing from her Arizona home. Investigators, including both local authorities and the FBI, have been diligently working all leads and searching for the missing 84-year-old woman, who they believe was abducted from her home in the middle of the night on February 1.
The latest developments in the case have featured the release of footage from Nancy's Ring camera showing a suspect approaching her front door right before she was taken. Many critics were shocked at the timeline and how long it took to actually get the footage.
In a TikTok video, a retired cop named Mike explained why it seemed to take so long for authorities to obtain the footage and release it to the public, amid initial public confusion and questions about it.
A retired cop explained why it took so long to get the footage from Nancy Guthrie's Ring camera.
A viewer asked Mike, "Why do you think it took so long to release the video?" His response was straightforward. "TV and movies tell us that it just takes a few minutes to back engineer things. Are they dealing with a broken camera or a stolen camera? Broken camera left on scene... now you're playing Frankenstein."
Mike explained that if authorities are working with a broken camera at the scene of the crime, they have to make replacement parts and they also have to make sure that they're not contaminating the original evidence, which is usually the hardest part.
Some retired agents have admitted that getting DNA often takes a couple of days. Just like recovering footage from a Ring camera, it often takes extra time and energy.
"I'd love to look through all the doorbell cameras in the neighborhood, but you gotta ask everybody, or you have to have a search warrant. That takes time," Mike continued. "As a detective, the first thing I would do is send preservation letters to everybody and their mother. This letter says you will hold this evidence for ninety days."
Most companies will often dump old footage from people's Ring cameras rather than keep it.
Mike insisted that authorities often have to send these companies a letter telling them not to dump out old footage. But Mike also pointed out that they could've been holding back for some other reason.
"Maybe just trying to get it through the deadline. And it keeps people like us talking about it," Mike added. Many people have been coming up with their own theories as to why it took so long for the FBI to get the footage and release it to the public.
In a post to X, one person theorized that the FBI might've had this footage all along and just didn't want to tip off the suspect that they had it. "The FBI didn’t want the suspect knowing they had footage of him when there was still a chance of getting Nancy back (which is why this has been released AFTER the deadline)."
They continued, "And GOOGLE don’t want people knowing that footage is still accessible for those who don’t have a subscription as people would unsubscribe."
Authorities previously said that Nancy Guthrie's camera had been disconnected.
According to NBC News, Pima County, Arizona, Sheriff Chris Nanos explained that a camera attached to her door had been disconnected, that she did not have a subscription that would have saved video, and that investigators were trying to work with a tech company on the forensic task of recovering any video.
But against all odds, they successfully recovered the footage. The footage showed an unidentified man in a mask and gloves, carrying a backpack and a gun, approaching Guthrie’s home just before she disappeared.
"Over the last eight days, the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been working closely with our private sector partners to continue to recover any images or video footage from Nancy Guthrie’s home that may have been lost, corrupted, or inaccessible due to a variety of factors — including the removal of recording devices. The video was recovered from residual data located in backend systems," wrote FBI director Kash Patel on X.
There's no doubt that law enforcement and the FBI are working diligently to find Nancy and bring her home safe. It's easy to get swept up in the drama and speculation surrounding the case, but it's important to remember that we don't always know the inner workings of how investigations are conducted within the justice system.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
