Neural Newscast | Transcript: Google engineers find masked gunman footage in Nancy Guthrie case

Google engineers find masked gunman footage in Nancy Guthrie case

February 11, 2026 / 02:04/E904

Google engineers have successfully recovered deleted Nest camera footage in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, providing investigators with the first images of a masked, armed suspect. The 84-year-old mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home on February 1. While the Pima County Sheriff originally stated no video existed due to a lack of subscription, Google experts located residual data in backend cloud servers. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the recovery was a joint effort with the private sector. The images show a person in a mask outside the home on the night of the abduction. This breakthrough comes as the FBI investigates ransom notes demanding Bitcoin. A person of interest was detained Tuesday night, though motives remain unclear. Savannah Guthrie has made public appeals for her mother’s safe return, citing her mother's fragile health and need for daily medication. Authorities are now utilizing this new visual evidence to track the suspect across different storage components and data layers.

[00:00] Maya Kim: From Neural Newscast, I'm Maya Kim.
[00:03] Michael Turner: And I'm Michael Turner.
[00:05] Maya Kim: Today, we have a major technical breakthrough in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
[00:10] Maya Kim: Google Engineers have recovered deleted security footage.
[00:14] Maya Kim: It shows a masked intruder.
[00:16] Michael Turner: We will also look at the latest from the FBI regarding a Bitcoin ransom note, plus the detention of a person of interest in Tucson.
[00:25] Maya Kim: The search for the 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie has taken a dramatic turn.
[00:31] Maya Kim: This is thanks to technical expertise at Google and Nest.
[00:35] Michael Turner: Investigators originally thought no video existed.
[00:39] Michael Turner: Guthrie did not have a cloud subscription.
[00:42] Michael Turner: However, engineers found residual data deep within back-end server pipelines.
[00:48] Maya Kim: The recovered images show a person wearing a mask.
[00:52] Maya Kim: They are holding a weapon outside the door.
[00:55] Maya Kim: FBI Director Cash Patel says the Bureau released these images immediately.
[01:00] Michael Turner: Experts say data moves through layers of compression and rendering.
[01:05] Michael Turner: Even if a file is slated for deletion, it can exist until new data overrides it.
[01:10] Maya Kim: Turning now to the investigation on the ground,
[01:13] Maya Kim: Pima County officials confirmed a person of interest was detained on Tuesday night.
[01:19] Michael Turner: This comes as authorities analyze a ransom note that demands payment in Bitcoin.
[01:24] Michael Turner: A second deadline in that note passed this past Monday.
[01:28] Maya Kim: Nancy Guthrie has limited mobility.
[01:31] Maya Kim: She relies on daily medication for her heart.
[01:34] Maya Kim: Savannah Guthrie has been making public appeals.
[01:37] Maya Kim: She says her mother's health is extremely fragile.
[01:40] Michael Turner: The FBI is now offering a $50,000 reward for information.
[01:45] Michael Turner: Local teams in Arizona are following up on leads as the search continues into a second week.
[01:51] Maya Kim: I'm Maya Kim.
[01:52] Michael Turner: And I'm Michael Turner.
[01:54] Maya Kim: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed.
[01:58] Maya Kim: View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com.

Google engineers find masked gunman footage in Nancy Guthrie case

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