SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, is in its fifth day.
"We believe Nancy is still out there,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said.
Investigators in Arizona believe Guthrie was taken from her home against her will.
As the investigation continues in Tucson, we’re getting an inside look at what goes into figuring out who could be involved in Guthrie’s disappearance.
"This is a very arrogant crime,” Mary Ellen O'Toole, a retired FBI Agent & Profiler, said.
O’Toole worked cases like the Unabomber and the Zodiac killer prior to her retirement in 2009. ABC 10News asked her if this case is uncommon to hear of something like this in the era of so much digital tracking and technology.
"In the case of the traditional kidnapping, yes, it has waned, and in part I think because of the ability of law enforcement to track the money, to track the phone call, to track the cell phone,” O’Toole said. “So, eventually, it does lead to the identification of the offender, not always. But in a lot of cases, it does."
She told ABC 10News that when building a profile of a possible suspect, investigators will look at the victim’s surroundings and day-to-day schedule.
"You start to look at the victimology. Who is the victim, and where did the crime occur? The more we know about the victim, the more we know about the offender. That's kind of our mantra,” O’Toole said.
Law enforcement in Arizona said no suspects or persons of interest have been identified at this time.
"And so by the time, they finish putting all these pieces together, knowledge of cell phones and cell phone towers, knowledge of cryptocurrency, they'll bring all that in because that a lot about the offender or the primary offender's personality,” O’Toole said. “There could be two people, but we always profile the primary offender."
Recently, the Guthrie family shared their own message to the public.
O’Toole said she's worked with families in the past, saying these can be crafted to relay a particular message.
"It was a two-pronged appeal: humanize the victim and then appeal to the kidnapper. This is what has to happen if you want your money,” O’Toole said.
