The FBI’s Phoenix office released an updated description of the person seen in doorbell camera images recovered in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie and increased the reward for information to $100,000.
The individual is described as a man between 5 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall with an average build wearing a black 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack, CNN reported.
“We hope this updated description will help concentrate the public tips we are receiving,” the FBI Phoenix office said.
The FBI said it has received more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it has received nearly 18,000 calls related to the case.
The FBI doubled the reward from $50,000 to $100,000 for information leading to Guthrie’s whereabouts or the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her disappearance.
A source familiar with the investigation said additional details about the individual on video were released in part to reduce tips from across the country that investigators believe are unrelated to the case. The source said authorities have received outreach from psychics, mystics, and clairvoyants offering assistance.
Nearly two weeks have passed since the 84-year-old was reported missing on Feb. 1.
Authorities are asking neighbors within a two-mile radius of Guthrie’s home to submit doorbell or surveillance footage showing vehicles or individuals from approximately four weeks before she went missing.
Investigators are particularly interested in footage from Jan. 11 between 9 p.m. and midnight and Jan. 31 between 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Authorities also asked residents to flag any suspicious vehicles in the area around 10 a.m.
Law enforcement officials familiar with the case told CNN that at least one unconfirmed tip involves a white van.
“Bringing Nancy home is our priority,” FBI Phoenix Public Affairs Officer Connor Hagan said.
Investigators have recovered several items of evidence, including multiple gloves.
One glove was reportedly found about a mile and a half from Guthrie’s home.
CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller said investigators could use multiple forensic methods to process the glove for evidence.
“Whether it’s the people who fume it or scan it for latent fingerprints on the outside, to the people who will be looking for DNA traces on the outside, to the people who will be turning it inside out and looking for hair fiber transfers, DNA on the inside, they’re going to check this thing every possible scientific way for anything that can bring them to a clue or a person,” Miller told CNN.
Investigators said the person connected to any DNA evidence could potentially be identified if they have a criminal record in the system.
“And of course, we have to remind ourselves, there’s always a possibility that the glove has nothing to do with it, but the fact that it is found along the road, that it looks similar to the one in the video, is very promising,” Miller added.
A man who was briefly detained and questioned by law enforcement in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie maintains he is innocent.
The Arizona man, Carlos Palazuelos, 36, was taken into custody earlier this week outside of Tucson and questioned by investigators as part of the ongoing probe into the 84-year-old’s disappearance.
In comments to reporters after his release, the man said he cooperated with authorities and reaffirmed his innocence.
“They didn’t even tell me what’s going on until the detectives got here … They told me I was being detained for kidnapping, and I asked them, ‘Kidnapping of who?’” Carlos told ABC15.
When told it was in connection with Nancy Guthrie, he replied, “Yeah, that’s her. And I told him, I work in Tucson for GLS. I might have delivered a package to your house, but I never kidnapped anybody. They held me from like 4 pm (local time) to right now.”