Guthrie suspect may have returned to scene to move evidence
RETURN SOONER IF THEY REACH AN AGREEMENT TO VOTE ON. TIFFANY TODD, THANK YOU. AUTHORITIES HAVE RECEIVED NEARLY 20,000 TIPS FROM THE PUBLIC EVER SINCE NANCY GUTHRIE DISAPPEARED. AND NOW THE FBI IS SAYING THAT THEY HOPE THIS SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE SUSPECT WILL NARROW DOWN PUBLIC INFORMATION THAT THEY’RE RECEIVING. THE ABDUCTION IS SO UNUSUAL THAT EXPERIENCED INVESTIGATORS SAY IT MAY NOT BE A KIDNAPING AT ALL. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER TERRI PARKER SPOKE TO A FORMER FBI AGENT WHO HAS WORKED ON MANY ABDUCTIONS AND TERRI. HE HAS SOME THEORIES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED. HE DOES TIFFANY BASED ON THE VIDEO OF THE SUSPECT, WHICH WE NOW HAVE ALL SEEN THIS EXPERIENCE, FBI CRIME SOLVERS SAYS THIS MAY HAVE STARTED AS AN ATTEMPTED ROBBERY OR HOME INVASION, AND THE SUSPECT MAY HAVE COME TO THE HOUSE TWICE. AND I DO WARN YOU, THIS THEORY MAY BE DISTURBING. THE RECOVERED NEST DOORBELL CAMERA VIDEO IS A GOLD MINE, ACCORDING TO RETIRED LONGTIME FBI AGENT JOHN MCVEIGH. BUT IT’S PUZZLING IN MANY WAYS THAT MAKES MCVEIGH THINK THIS COULD BE A RETURN VISIT. IT COULD BE ANYTHING. I MEAN, HE HE COULD BE JUST APPROACHING FOR THE FIRST TIME. OR MAYBE HE WAS THERE EARLIER AND GOT AN ALTERCATION WITH HER, KILLED HER, AND THEN PANICKED AND SAID, OH, I BETTER COME BACK LATER BECAUSE I GOT TO DO SOMETHING WITH THE BODY. I CAN’T LEAVE IT. MCVEIGH SAYS THE BACKPACK IS PARTICULARLY SUSPICIOUS BECAUSE THAT BACKPACK IS PRETTY FULL. I MEAN, YOU SEE THIS A LOT OF IT’S NOT LIKE IT JUST, YOU KNOW, FLOPPY BACKPACK WHERE HE’S GOT SOME DUCT TAPE AND, YOU KNOW, ROPE OR HANDCUFFS OR SOMETHING. I MEAN, THAT THING LOOKS PRETTY FULL, SO, YOU KNOW, DOES HE HAVE A TARP IN THERE? DOES HE HAVE A BAG? DOES HE HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO PUT HER IN TO GET HER OUT OF THE HOUSE IF SHE’S DEAD? OR IF HE WAS PLANNING ON KILLING HER? MCVEIGH SAYS THERE ARE SOME OBVIOUS CLUES THAT MAKES HIM THINK THIS VIDEO COULD BE THE SECOND TIME THE SUSPECT WAS AT THE HOUSE, INCLUDING A STILL SHOT OF THE SUSPECT WITHOUT THE BACKPACK AND GUN, MCVEIGH SAYS HE COULD HAVE BEEN SURVEILLING THE HOUSE FIRST WITHOUT THE GEAR, NOTICED THE CAMERA AND THEN COME BACK MORE PREPARED TO GET RID OF EVIDENCE. AND AS I REPORTED MONDAY, MCVEIGH SAYS ONE PIECE OF CRUCIAL EVIDENCE IS NANCY’S APPLE WATCH, FOUND INSIDE HER HOME WITH HER PHONE. THE WATCH CONNECTS TO APPLE’S HEALTH APP ON THE IPHONE AND TRACKS MOVEMENT AND MUCH MORE. AND THE HEALTH APP IS GOING TO GIVE YOU STEPS. IT’S GOING TO GIVE YOU, YOU KNOW, DID SHE GO UPSTAIRS? DID SHE GO DOWNSTAIRS? YOU KNOW, DID SHE RUN UP. DID SHE YOU KNOW, WAS HER HEARTBEAT GOING UP? YOU KNOW, BLOOD PRESSURE GOING UP, THINGS LIKE THAT THAT, THAT IT MONITORS. SO YOU’RE GOING TO FIND OUT ONCE SHE GOT DROPPED OFF, WHAT HAPPENED, YOU KNOW, WAS THERE AN ALTERCATION? AND FORMER AGENT MCVEIGH TELLS ME THE FBI HAS A PROGRAM TO GET INTO IPHONES THAT DOESN’T REQUIRE A PASSCODE. HE SPECULATES, JUST AS HE HAS DONE IN OTHER CASES. THE FBI HAS ALREADY GOTTEN THOSE CLUES OUT OF THE IWATCH AND OUT OF THE HEALTH APP. THEY ARE STILL ASKING FOR THE PUBLIC’S HELP AND HAVE DOUBLED THE REWA
FBI agent: Guthrie suspect may have returned to scene after attack to move evidence
A retired FBI agent says doorbell video raises disturbing new possibilities, including a robbery or home invasion gone wrong
Updated: 7:14 PM EST Feb 13, 2026
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The abduction of Nancy Guthrie remains so unusual that a former FBI agent says investigators should keep an open mind about what it really was.Retired FBI agent John MacVeigh, who has worked numerous abduction investigations, told WPBF 25 Investigates the recovered Nest doorbell video is a “goldmine,” but also deeply puzzling in ways that could point to more than one encounter at the home.”I mean, he could be just approaching for the first time, or maybe he was there earlier and got into an altercation with her, killed her, and then panicked and said, ‘Oh, I’d better come back later because I got to do something with the body. I can’t leave it,'” MacVeigh said.MacVeigh said one detail stands out to him immediately: the suspect’s backpack.”Because that backpack’s pretty full,” McVeigh said. “I mean, you see this, it’s not like a just floppy backpack where he’s got some duct tape and rope or handcuffs or something. I mean, that thing looks pretty full.”He then lays out a disturbing set of possibilities investigators may be weighing.”So, you know, does he have a tarp in there? Does he have a bag? Does he have something else to put her in to get her out of the house if she’s dead? Or if he was planning on killing her?” MacVeigh said.MacVeigh also points to what he calls obvious clues that could suggest this video shows a return trip, not a first approach.He referenced a still image that appears to show the suspect without a backpack and without a gun, raising the possibility that the person first came to the home to watch it, noticed the camera, and returned later, better equipped to destroy evidence or carry out a crime.As previously reported by Investigative Reporter Terri Parker, MacVeigh says another piece of evidence could provide crucial answers: Guthrie’s Apple Watch, found inside the home along with her phone.The watch can sync with Apple’s Health app and may reveal movement and physiological changes that help reconstruct what happened inside the house.”And the Health app is going to give you steps. It’s going to give you, you know, did she go upstairs? Did she go downstairs? You know, did she run? Did she, was her heartbeat going up? You know, blood pressure going up, things like that, that it monitors,” McVeigh said. “So you’re going to find out once she got dropped off, what happened — was there an altercation?”McVeigh told Parker the FBI has tools that can access iPhones without a passcode. He speculated that, as in other cases he has worked, investigators may already have extracted information from the watch and Health app data.Investigators are still asking for the public’s help. The reward has been doubled to $100,000.
The abduction of Nancy Guthrie remains so unusual that a former FBI agent says investigators should keep an open mind about what it really was.
Retired FBI agent John MacVeigh, who has worked numerous abduction investigations, told WPBF 25 Investigates the recovered Nest doorbell video is a “goldmine,” but also deeply puzzling in ways that could point to more than one encounter at the home.
“I mean, he could be just approaching for the first time, or maybe he was there earlier and got into an altercation with her, killed her, and then panicked and said, ‘Oh, I’d better come back later because I got to do something with the body. I can’t leave it,'” MacVeigh said.
MacVeigh said one detail stands out to him immediately: the suspect’s backpack.
“Because that backpack’s pretty full,” McVeigh said. “I mean, you see this, it’s not like a just floppy backpack where he’s got some duct tape and rope or handcuffs or something. I mean, that thing looks pretty full.”
He then lays out a disturbing set of possibilities investigators may be weighing.
“So, you know, does he have a tarp in there? Does he have a bag? Does he have something else to put her in to get her out of the house if she’s dead? Or if he was planning on killing her?” MacVeigh said.
MacVeigh also points to what he calls obvious clues that could suggest this video shows a return trip, not a first approach.
He referenced a still image that appears to show the suspect without a backpack and without a gun, raising the possibility that the person first came to the home to watch it, noticed the camera, and returned later, better equipped to destroy evidence or carry out a crime.
As previously reported by Investigative Reporter Terri Parker, MacVeigh says another piece of evidence could provide crucial answers: Guthrie’s Apple Watch, found inside the home along with her phone.
The watch can sync with Apple’s Health app and may reveal movement and physiological changes that help reconstruct what happened inside the house.
“And the Health app is going to give you steps. It’s going to give you, you know, did she go upstairs? Did she go downstairs? You know, did she run? Did she, was her heartbeat going up? You know, blood pressure going up, things like that, that it monitors,” McVeigh said. “So you’re going to find out once she got dropped off, what happened — was there an altercation?”
McVeigh told Parker the FBI has tools that can access iPhones without a passcode. He speculated that, as in other cases he has worked, investigators may already have extracted information from the watch and Health app data.
Investigators are still asking for the public’s help. The reward has been doubled to $100,000.
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