Nancy Guthrie's neighbor claims multiple people behind her disappearance

One of Nancy Guthrie’s neighbors believes the security gate at the front of the 84-year-old woman’s property offers a potential clue into her disappearance, suggesting that more than one person might have been involved in the kidnapping. 

The neighbor, only identified as Laura, said in an interview this week with NewsNation’s Brian Entin, that the security gate at her home is similar to the one at Nancy Guthrie’s residence. Laura surmised that it's highly unlikely someone managed to force their way through if the gate was locked. 

“If you have a gate like that, a security gate on the front door, you're not getting into that. You're never going to break into that security gate,” the neighbor said. 

At the time of reporting, Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, has now been missing for over six weeks. The woman was last seen on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day after she failed to attend a virtual church service that morning.

On Feb. 10, investigators released footage captured by a doorbell camera that shows a masked man at Nancy Guthrie’s front door on the day of her disappearance. The man in the video appears to be tampering with the camera. 

The FBI described the suspect in a Feb. 12 post on social media as a man with an average build who is estimated to be about 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall.

During the interview with Entin, Laura explained that the door at Nancy Guthrie’s house has glass on both sides. The neighbor speculated that the suspect might've been trying to look inside. 

“He was trying to look in to see what was going on,” Nancy Guthrie’s neighbor said about the suspect seen in the video. “And also, because you have a security gate, the door, the wooden door, if that’s open, it’s hard to see inside if it’s dark. Because I have one of those.” 

“You can't really see if the door is open or not,” she explained. “So I think he was standing there waiting for someone to come out.” 

The neighbor added that she suspects at least two or three individuals are responsible for Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. Laura believes that an accomplice or accomplices entered the home through another access point while the man, caught on the doorbell camera, waited for them to open the door so he could assist in bringing the 84-year-old out through the front of the house. 

Laura also doubted that one person could have carried Nancy Guthrie away on the day of her disappearance. She recalled caring for her own mother and how challenging it was to help her up three or four flights of stairs, even though her mom only weighed about 120 pounds. 

“It's hard when someone is not wanting to be moved or is not able to move,” she said. “So the thought that one person could move, you know, a 140, 150 pound woman who's maybe not wanting to move is not, for me, reasonable to think that it would just be one person.” 

Authorities have yet to name a person of interest or announce an arrest, but they have ruled out the Guthrie family as suspects. Last month, Savannah Guthrie announced on her Instagram that she and her family are offering a $1 million reward for any information that leads to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery.

Earlier this month, Savannah Guthrie shared a photo on Instagram of the flowers people have left outside of her mother’s home. 

“[We] feel the love and prayers from our neighbors, from the Tucson community and from around the country,” she wrote, adding, “please don’t stop praying and hoping with us. [Bring] her home.”