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RIO RICO, Ariz. — <\/span>A person was detained for questioning Tuesday in the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, hours after the FBI released surveillance videos of a masked person wearing a handgun holster outside Guthrie\u2019s front door the night she vanished from her Arizona home.<\/p>\n Deputies detained the person during a traffic stop south of Tucson, according to the Pima County Sheriff\u2019s Department. <\/p>\n The department and the FBI were conducting a court-authorized search Tuesday night at a location in Rio Rico, about an hour\u2019s drive south of Tucson, the department said in a statement. It was expected to take several hours.<\/p>\n The department did not immediately provide details about the person or the location. The FBI referred questions to the sheriff’s office.<\/p>\n Guthrie disappeared on Feb. 1 and since then the case has gripped the nation<\/a>. Until Tuesday, it seemed authorities were making little headway in determining what happened to the 84-year-old mother of \u201cToday\u201d show host Savannah Guthrie<\/a> or finding who was responsible.<\/p>\n Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings have released a series of video statements pleading for the return of their mother and indicating a willingness to pay a ransom. Authorities have described Nancy Guthrie as mentally sound but with limited mobility. She takes several medications and there was concern from the start that she could die without them, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said repeatedly.<\/p>\n The community of Rio Rico \u2014 population 20,000 \u2014 is roughly an hour’s drive from Guthrie’s home and about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border. <\/p>\n The videos released earlier Tuesday show a person wearing a ski mask and a backpack. At one point, they tilt their head down and away from a doorbell camera while approaching Guthrie’s front door. The footage also shows the person holding a flashlight in their mouth and trying to cover the camera with a gloved hand and part of a plant ripped from the yard.<\/p>\n The videos \u2014 less than a combined minute in length \u2014 gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Guthrie’s home in the foothills outside Tucson. But the images did not show what happened to her<\/a> or help determine whether she is still alive.<\/p>\n FBI Director Kash Patel said the \u201carmed individual\u201d appeared to “have tampered with the camera.” It was not entirely clear whether there was a gun in the holster.<\/p>\n The videos were pulled from data on “back-end systems\u201d after investigators spent days trying to find lost, corrupted or inaccessible images, Patel said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will get the phone ringing for lots of potential leads,\u201d said former FBI agent Katherine Schweit. \u201cEven when you have a person who appears to be completely covered, they\u2019re really not. You can see their girth, the shape of their face, potentially their eyes or mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n Tuesday afternoon, authorities were back near Guthrie\u2019s neighborhood, using vehicles to block her driveway. A few miles away, law enforcement was going door-to-door in the area where daughter Annie Guthrie lives, talking with neighbors as well as walking through a drainage area and examining the inside of a culvert with a flashlight. <\/p>\n Investigators have said for more than a week that they believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will<\/a>. She was last seen at home Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day. DNA tests showed blood on her porch was hers, authorities said.<\/p>\n Until now, authorities have released few details, leaving it unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines already passed were authentic, and whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with whoever took Guthrie.<\/p>\n Savannah Guthrie posted the new surveillance images on social media Tuesday, saying the family believes their mother is still alive and offering phone numbers for the FBI and county sheriff. Within minutes, the post had thousands of comments.<\/p>\n Investigators had hoped cameras would turn up evidence right away about how Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in an secluded neighborhood. <\/p>\n But the doorbell camera was disconnected early on Feb. 1. While software recorded movement at the home minutes later, Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had initially said none of the footage could be recovered. Officials continued working to get the footage.<\/p>\n Heartbreaking messages<\/a> by Savannah Guthrie and her family shifted from hopeful to bleak as they made pleas for whoever took Nancy Guthrie. In a video just ahead of a purported ransom deadline Monday, Savannah Guthrie appeared alone and spoke directly to the public.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are at an hour of desperation,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need your help.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of the nation is closely following the case involving the longtime anchor<\/a> of NBC\u2019s morning show.<\/p>\n White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump watched the new surveillance footage and was in \u201cpure disgust,\u201d encouraging anyone with information to call the FBI.<\/p>\n The FBI this week began posting digital billboards about the case in major cities from Texas to California.<\/p>\n Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said Monday that the agency was not aware of ongoing communication<\/a> between Guthrie\u2019s family and any suspected kidnappers. Authorities also had not identified any suspects, he said.<\/p>\n Three days after the search began, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings sent their first public appeal<\/a> to whoever took their mother, saying, \u201cWe want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n In the recorded video, Guthrie said her family was aware of media reports about a ransom letter, but they first wanted proof their mother was alive. <\/p>\n “Please reach out to us,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n The next day, Savannah Guthrie\u2019s brother again made a plea<\/a>, saying, \u201cWhoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven\u2019t heard anything directly.”<\/p>\n Then over the past weekend, the family posted another video<\/a> \u2014 one that was more cryptic and generated even more speculation<\/a> about Nancy Guthrie’s fate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,\u201d said Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her siblings. \u201cThis is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Golden reported from Seattle and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporters Darlene Superville in Washington, Ed White in Detroit, and Mike Balsamo, Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n