Residents near the home of missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie say a suspicious white van was seen parked on their street in the days before her disappearance, fueling concerns that the abduction was deliberate and planned.
Police have not identified a suspect, but a $50,000 reward is now being offered for information as the investigation stretches into its second week.
Neighbor Brett McIntire said the unmarked vehicle caught his attention enough that he contacted authorities.
“It was somewhere on that street. It was a white van, full-sized, with no printing on the sides. It was parked on the street,” McIntire said.
McIntire, who lived directly across from the Guthrie residence, told the New York Post the van didn’t fit the neighborhood.
“Normally people that are coming to work on your home will have a company vehicle or if they’re independent something written on it,” he said.
Former special agent Tracy Walder said the circumstances point to a targeted crime rather than a random act.
“I feel that this was targeted,” Walder told the New York Post.
She said the property itself would have made Guthrie an unlikely victim of opportunity.
“Her house is set pretty far back… It’s almost on an acre of land. This isn’t a place where the houses are really close together and people are looking for whatever’s an easy opportunity,” Walder said.
Walder also rejected the theory that the abduction was tied to a failed theft.
“I don’t think [it’s] some kind of botched robbery, because if it’s robbery, you don’t want to burden yourself with a person that you’re taking out,” she said.
Similar assessments were shared by Lynden Blake on Human Events Daily, who said Guthrie’s kidnapping did not “seem like a target of opportunity.” Blake said the layout of the area suggested the abductor knew the terrain and moved with purpose.
Walder believes the suspect may have monitored Guthrie’s routine ahead of time.
“I think this is someone who probably established a pattern of life for Nancy,” she said. “Sat in her neighborhood, figured out her comings and goings. Was this [Saturday] dinner a thing she always did? It’s known that she had staff who helped her because of her mobility issues. It sounds like she doesn’t have staff 24 hours a day. So when do they leave? When do they come?”
She added that investigators are likely casting a wider net as the search continues.
Walder said agents are likely “expanding out the search, particularly all the way towards the border.” Tucson, where Guthrie lives, sits close to the Mexico border, and the suspect may have had at least a nine-hour head start before her disappearance was reported.
Guthrie has now been missing for nearly a week. Her family, including Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie, have issued public pleas urging her captors to show mercy and allow her to return home safely.
