Nancy Guthrie Had ‘One Chance’ to Escape Kidnapper — Chilling Video Reveals Missed Opportunity

A few days ago, a video of Nancy Guthrie’s bedroom surfaced online. The clip was captured in 2013 when the woman appeared on her daughter Savannah Guthrie’s, NBC show, Today. Sharing the video, journalist Megyn Kelly expressed worry that Nancy Guthrie's kidnappers could have watched the clip to understand the layout of her home and plan the abduction.

Another expert has now analyzed the same video to deduce that Guthrie's bedroom setup could have given her an opportunity to escape when the abductor allegedly entered her home on the night of February 1.

Legal expert Chad D. Cummings said that, based on the bedroom’s layout, Guthrie could have accessed a wooden nightstand or a table lamp when the perpetrator approached her. “The wood nightstand and the table lamp were the two objects within arm's reach that Nancy could have used to defend herself,” Cummings said in a statement to The Irish Star.

The expert added that, given Guthrie’s age, she was unlikely to fight off the attacker but could have thrown the lamp down to create noise and alert her neighbors. “An 84-year-old woman waking to an intruder in darkness has one chance to create noise, not to win a physical contest,” Cummings said.

However, there have been no reports of any neighbor hearing loud noises from Guthrie’s home on the night of her kidnapping. Cummings said this could happen in two scenarios. “The fact that no neighbor reported hearing a disturbance suggests either that the abductor controlled the situation before Nancy reached full consciousness or that the FBI has not been entirely transparent in the course of events,” he said.

Kelly had earlier noted that the Today show video may also have been used by ransom seekers who sent notes to media organizations shortly after Nancy Guthrie went missing. Cummings echoed similar thoughts in his interview.

“Whoever wrote those notes described the interior of the bedroom with specificity that the bureau treated as evidence of access (i.e., they assumed whoever wrote the note had actually been in the house). But that same detail was available to anyone who watched NBC's own broadcast,” Cummings said.

The legal expert added that the ransom notes may have diverted the FBI’s attention because the agency spent valuable time trying to identify the ransom seekers. Despite the early notes and a promised $1 million reward, no suspect has provided proof of life for Nancy so far.

The investigation continues in its second month, and the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office are relying on clues gathered from surveillance cameras and DNA evidence to identify the culprit. Pima County Sheriff said the investigators are inching closer to solving the case every day, but no suspects have been named and no arrests have been made as of now.