A person of interest detained in connection with the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, who disappeared in Arizona 10 days ago, has been released, according to reports.
In a statement on social media, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said deputies on Tuesday “detained a subject during a traffic stop south of Tucson,” but they stopped short of providing further details. Local authorities, with the help of federal investigators, also searched a property in Rio Rico, Arizona in connection with the case.
Speaking outside his home – the same site of the police search – Carlos Palazuelos told reporters on Wednesday that he was the person authorities had questioned in connection with Guthrie’s suspected kidnapping. He maintained his innocence and called the experience “terrifying,” per NBC News.
“I felt like I was being kidnapped, bro,” he said. “They didn’t tell me anything.”
Palazuelos, a 27-year-old delivery driver, said he was working when he was suddenly pulled over by law enforcement in Tucson. He believes he was questioned because of his resemblance to images and video released by the FBI ahead of his detainment on Tuesday. The media features someone wearing a mask, gloves, a backpack and armed with a holstered handgun at the front door of Guthrie’s Tucson-area home around the time investigators suspect she was abducted.
“All I know is they showed my in-law a picture of somebody wearing a mask or something and it supposedly looked like my eyes,” Palazuelos said.
Law enforcement has not confirmed the release nor the identity of the person questioned.
Authorities believe Guthrie’s daughter, Annie Guthrie, was the last person to see her prior to her disappearance. She said she they went out to dinner the night of January 31, and she told Arizona authorities her mother did not show – any red flags – before they dropped her off back home.
Guthrie was reported missing the following day, around noon on February 1, after she failed to show up for church. In the days since, several purported ransom notes have come in, one of which had a deadline pass on Monday evening.
Guthrie’s children, including “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, have repeatedly called on the public for help finding their missing mother. They’ve also directly addressed their mother’s captor in videos shared on social media, offering to pay ransom for her return.
“We received your message and we understand,” Savannah Guthrie said in an Instagram video over the weekend. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
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