Rio Rico man Carlos Palazuelos, who was picked up by law enforcement officials for questioning into Nancy Guthrie missing case, shared that his detention on Tuesday “felt like being kidnapped” after being released.
Palazuelos said that, at the moment, all he knew was that his in-law had been shown a photo of someone wearing a mask who was said to resemble him, concerning the images the FBI recovered from Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera on the morning she went missing, according to fox10.
“Terrifying. Something I didn’t do for something I would like. I felt like I was being kidnapped. They didn’t tell me anything in the beginning, the report quoted Carlos as saying.
Palazuelos said he opted to respond to the questions, referring to inquiries about his location and activities during work hours. He summarized it as, “The time where my whereabouts were at our work, where was I and all that.”
When questioned about whether he had been to Nancy Guthrie’s home, he told authorities, “might have been a possibility? Don’t know. Yeah”. Palazuelos explained that his uncertainty is due to his work as a delivery driver, but emphasized that he did not know Nancy Guthrie personally.
Palazuelos was detained on the same day the photos and videos were made public.
Nancy Guthrie disappeared on Feb. 1, and the case has since drawn nationwide attention.
Nancy Guthrie missing case
The footage released on Tuesday shows a person wearing a ski mask and carrying a backpack. At one point, the individual lowers their head and turns away from the doorbell camera while approaching Guthrie’s front door. The video also shows them holding a flashlight in their mouth and using a gloved hand along with a plant pulled from the yard to try to block the camera.
The clips, which run less than a minute in total, provided investigators and the public with their first view of someone outside Guthrie’s home in the Tucson foothills. However, the footage did not indicate what happened to her or whether she is still alive.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the “armed individual” seemed to have “tampered with the camera,” though it remains unclear if the holster actually contained a firearm.
Patel added that the videos were retrieved from “back-end systems” after investigators spent several days trying to recover footage that had been lost, corrupted, or otherwise inaccessible.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt opened a media briefing by noting that she and President Donald Trump had just reviewed the newly released footage.
The FBI confirmed that the Guthrie family has received ransom letters demanding payment.
In Instagram videos, Savannah, Cameron, and Annie Guthrie addressed media reports about a ransom letter. The family has pleaded for their mother’s safe return, requesting proof of life and contact with whoever abducted her, and in one video, they indicated they would pay.
The FBI stated it was not aware of any ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and the alleged kidnappers. Savannah Guthrie shared images and video of the masked individual and urged the public to contact law enforcement with any information.
