Chilling Detail Emerges in Nancy Guthrie Case as Expert Flags ‘High Health Risk’

It has been more than a month since Nancy Guthrie went missing. While investigators have said that they are inching closer to cracking the case, a medical expert has raised fresh concerns about the 84-year-old woman’s health.

It has already been established that Guthrie had a pacemaker implanted in her heart and needed critical medication. The time of her alleged abduction has now left sleep experts worried. Guthrie disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on February 1, at about 2 a.m.

According to sleep expert Pat Byrne, this is the time when the human brain is usually in deep sleep. Byrne said waking up suddenly from a deep sleep leaves the brain confused and limits an individual’s cognitive abilities.

Byrne appeared on Nancy Grace’s Crime Stories podcast, where he said, “There’s this process, and it’s called sleep inertia. There’s this process of waking up. And that depends partly on how you’re woken up and what sleep stage you’re at.”

“So, at 2 a.m., [Guthrie] was probably either in a very deep sleep or in what’s called REM sleep, which is rapid-eyed movement sleep, which is where we dream. And the interesting thing about that is if she were in a deep sleep, then she would be incredibly confused,” Byrne said.

The sleep expert said that Guthrie’s age and heart condition make her even more vulnerable to sleep inertia. He warned that elderly people have a high risk of suffering from a heart attack if they are woken up violently from a deep sleep.

Byrne said, “That concerned me immediately. The research just shows that elderly people who, even without heart conditions, are at a high risk of heart attacks and being violently woken up from a deep sleep. So that’s what the scientific research shows. And so you add on the fact that she has a pacemaker, which means she has a heart condition, makes it worse.”

Hence, Guthrie might have suffered a medical emergency when the alleged kidnappers entered her home. Surveillance camera footage released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has already showcased a masked man tampering with the Ring camera outside Guthrie’s home at about 2 a.m.

Investigators have not yet determined whether Gurthie experienced a health crisis at the time of her abduction. However, they did notice drops of blood on the front porch of her house. Authorities later confirmed that the blood belonged to Guthrie.

Forensic experts believe that the blood might have come from the nose or mouth, considering the shape of the droplets. Meanwhile, the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Office continue to investigate the case.

Even though the number of agents assigned to the case has been reduced after a month of investigation, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said authorities have already gathered extensive intel, and the case could be solved soon.

Guthrie’s daughter, Today show host Savannah Guthrie, continues to hope and pray for her return. The family has promised a $1 million reward for anyone who comes up with information about Guthrie.