Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on February 1, and authorities believe she was taken from her home the night before. It has been three months since, and no suspect has been publicly named in the case. The 84-year-old mother of TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie is yet to be found.
Amid this, an expert shared insights about who might be behind the kidnapping. Dr. Gary Brucato – a member of the Cold Case Foundation – was speaking to NewsNation’s Brian Entin, when he shared his expert views.
Brucato is a clinical psychologist, researcher and author in the areas of psychotic illness and violence, as per his bio on the Cold Case Foundation page. The foundation describes itself as being ‘dedicated to stopping the deadly compounding effect of cold cases and providing hope and resources to families affected by violent crime,’ on its LinkedIn profile.
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Entin, meanwhile, has covered the Guthrie case from on-ground in Tucson, after the octogenarian was taken from her Catalina Foothills home, in Arizona.
Nancy Guthrie case: What expert said on kidnapping suspect
Brucato, speaking about the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping, turned his focus to the masked individual seen at the elderly woman’s home. This is the closest to the suspect information that the FBI has released to the public. They are assisting the Pima County Sheriff’s Department on the case, and the visuals of the masked man has sparked many theories.
The expert, however, seemed to indicate that the masked man was not the mastermind in the case. He hinted at a ‘spiderweb’ that might lead to someone way more sinister. “When he is caught, if he’s alive, he will lead down the spiderweb to the center where you will find somebody who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” the expert noted.
He was referring to the instance that the masked man is taken in alive by the law, if and when they track down Guthrie’s whereabouts. Brucato also indicated that there was someone at the ‘center’ or behind the scenes, who was pulling the strings in the entire case. The expert described this person as a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’.
Notably, the phrase refers to ‘someone or something that seems to be good but is actually not good at all,’ as per the Cambridge Dictionary. While Brucato did not explicitly mention if the suspect might be close to the family, his choice of phrase indicates that it would be someone the family was not likely to suspect. Thus, the individual might just be close to them, though Brucato did not spell this out when he spoke to Entin.
Many appeared to agree with Brucato’s analysis of the situation. The person who shared the post wrote “I 100% agree with this.” Others chipped in, writing “Agree,” and “Same.” Notably, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has already cleared family members, saying they’re not suspects. This came amid scrutiny directed towards daughter Annie Guthrie and her husband Tommaso Cioni, because they were among the last to see Guthrie before she was taken.
