A former Arizona SWAT commander has poured cold water on a “highly improbable” theory that Nancy Guthrie was abducted via rugged terrain at the back of her home, insisting whoever was responsible for her disappearance “clearly had to go out the front.”
Authorities have repeatedly scoured the remote terrain behind Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mom’s Tucson home since Nancy was first reported missing on Feb. 1 — fueling initial speculation that her kidnapper could have used a remote track to flee undetected.
But Bob Krieger, a former lieutenant who spent nearly 30 years with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, took News Nation’s Brian Entin on a tour of the area to show just why the theory is so unlikely.
“There’s no way they’re bringing her back this way. If they got there that way, they clearly had to go out the front,” Krieger said in an interview that aired Tuesday.
“You can’t even see her house necessarily, there’s just so much brush and trees back here,” he added of the Catalina Foothills where Nancy’s home is located.
The ex-SWAT commander was filmed traipsing through the terrain in search of Nancy’s home — arguing it was proof those responsible would have struggled among the maze of brush, cacti and trees.
“Just based on her size and weight of carrying someone and getting over walls…I don’t think the back way would be practical at all,” Krieger said.
“It’s not going to be quick, and it’s going to be loud. You’re going to get more attention at one o’clock in the morning in an area like this, than you are walking up to someone’s front door.”
In the unlikely event the person — or people — who targeted Nancy did flee out the back, Krieger stressed they would have spent a considerable amount of timing scoping the area to ensure a swift getaway.
“If someone used it back here, they would have had to come out a couple of times, they would have to be really familiar with wherever they parked, to get through here, to get back to wherever they parked,” he said.
“Unless you know exactly where you’re coming and going, you’re already kind of… you probably already lost your sense of direction in just a few seconds back here,” Krieger added.
Nancy is believed to have been snatched from her Tucson home during the early hours of Feb. 1.
Chilling security footage later recovered from her doorbell camera captured a masked man loitering around her doorstep the night police believe she was kidnapped.
Blood spatters were later discovered on her front door step.
As the search for the grandmother entered its second month, investigators still hadn’t determined any credible leads or suspects in the case.
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