A person who was briefly detained for questioning Tuesday evening in Rio Rico, Arizona, in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has been released, authorities said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said deputies detained an individual during a traffic stop south of Tucson, near the U.S.-Mexico border, hours after the FBI released surveillance images of a masked person wearing what appeared to be a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s front door the night she vanished.
The department and the FBI also conducted a court-authorized search at a home in Rio Rico, a community of about 20,000 residents roughly an hour south of Tucson and about 15 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Authorities said Tuesday night the search was expected to take several hours. By Wednesday morning, investigators had left the residence, the scene was cleared, and police tape had been removed.
A man at the home identified himself to Fox News as Carlos Palazuelos. He said he was the person pulled over during the traffic stop and detained for questioning but has since been released and is back at the house.
Palazuelos told Fox News he works in Tucson delivering packages and said he had nothing to do with Guthrie’s disappearance. He said investigators questioned him about his whereabouts and took his phone before ultimately releasing him.
Palazuelos said it was a “possibility” he may have delivered a package to Guthrie’s residence.
He said law enforcement showed one of his in-laws a photo of a masked person seen in surveillance footage on Guthrie’s property and that it “supposedly looked like my eyes.”
“That’s it. That’s all I know,” Palazuelos said.
The FBI on Tuesday released short surveillance clips showing a masked person wearing a backpack and what appeared to be a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s home the night she disappeared. At one point, the individual appears to tilt their head away from a doorbell camera, hold a flashlight in their mouth and attempt to cover the lens with a gloved hand and what looked like part of a plant pulled from the yard.
Investigators have said for more than a week that they believe Guthrie was taken against her will. She was last seen at her home on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the next day. DNA testing determined that blood found on her porch belonged to her, authorities have said.
Guthrie, 84, is the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie. Her disappearance on Feb. 1 has drawn national attention. Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings have released multiple video statements pleading for their mother’s return and indicating a willingness to pay a ransom, while asking for proof that she is alive.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said Nancy Guthrie is mentally sound but has limited mobility and takes several medications, raising concerns about her health if she does not have access to them.
The FBI has begun posting digital billboards in several major cities seeking tips, and officials have urged anyone with information to contact investigators.
