Nancy Guthrie Likely Knew 'Psychopathic' Kidnapper — As Forensic Expert Plays Down Hopes Missing 84-Year-Old Will Be Found Alive
Nancy Guthrie is likely to be familiar with her kidnapper according to expert, who has played down hopes she will be found alive.
April 17 2026, Published 11:25 a.m. ET
Nancy Guthrie's kidnapper is likely to have been familiar with the missing 84-year-old, a forensics expert has claimed.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Dr. Gary Brucato, who is also a clinical psychologist, also played down hopes Nancy — the mother of Today host Savannah Guthrie — will be found alive during a chilling assessment of her disappearance.
'Passing Relationship With Victim'
Nancy Guthrie, here with daughter Savannah, hasn't been seen since January 31.
Dr. Brucato noted roughly 92 percent of women who are killed in the U.S. know their killer and suggested the suspect demonstrated a "comfort level" that indicated they may have spent time in the home previously.
Appearing on NewsNation, he said: "(The person) who did this probably has some passing relationship, at least, with this victim, and that matches some of the comfort level, potentially spending quite a lot of time in the house and things like that that we see on the (home surveillance video)."
Based on surveillance footage, he described the individual as "way too cool under pressure," which may point to a "psychopathic character structure."
'History Of Criminal Behavior'
Expert says suspect is likely to be known to law enforcement.
He also believes the perpetrator is likely local to the Tucson, Arizona, area and ruled out sexual or typical robbery motives, instead profiling the abduction as "financially driven," possibly involving a group of people.
Dr. Brucato speculated that the suspect likely has a history of inappropriate or criminal behavior that would make them known to law enforcement.
He explained: "A lot of what we’re seeing is somebody who is way too cool under pressure, not even flinching under pressure.
"And that kind of person that when we see that, we start thinking about a person who probably has some psychopathic character structure because even somebody who is frequently committing a crime who isn’t psychopathic is going to look a little nervous."
$1.2Million Reward For Information
The Guthrie family has put up a $1m reward, while the FBI and Crime Stoppers added $100,00 each.
He continued: "The probability is very high that the person has had a long history of either inappropriate behavior that people would remember or criminal behavior.
"So that the individual that is on the camera looks to me like somebody who may very well have come into contact with law enforcement previously."
Nancy has been missing since February 1, and as of now, no serious arrests have been made regarding her disappearance.
The Guthrie family is offering a $1million reward for information leading to the recovery, while the FBI and Crime Stoppers are each offering $100,000, bringing the total reward to $1.2million
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DNA evidence recovered from Nancy home is being tested in FBI lab.
RadarOnline.com recently revealed DNA evidence recovered from Nancy Guthrie’s home is finally being rushed to the FBI's elite lab for cutting-edge analysis after earlier testing failed to crack the case.
Hair, a bedsheet clipping, and other key samples have been sent to the bureau’s Quantico, Virginia, facility in a desperate bid to identify a suspect.
NewsNation’s Brian Entin dropped the bombshell on April 16, revealing that a Florida lab hired by the Pima County Sheriff’s Office has shipped key evidence to the FBI’s Quantico facility for high-tech genetic testing.
The move comes after months of behind-the-scenes tension, with the FBI reportedly pushing to handle the evidence from the start while local authorities stuck with their contracted private lab following Nancy’s February 1 abduction.
