Criminal Profiler: Neighbors’ Insights Vital to Solving Missing Woman Nancy Guthrie Case

Investigators should use new tips from neighbors to build a fuller picture of missing woman Nancy Guthrie’s routines and recent contacts, criminal profiler Leslie D’Ambrosia said Sunday.

D’Ambrosia emphasized that engaging neighbors could reveal the victim’s daily habits or individuals she may have hired or visited. She noted that Nancy Guthrie, an 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, is considered a low-risk victim.

Her comments followed news that a neighbor reported aerial footage showing her Tucson home with an unusually clean roof.

D’Ambrosia also stressed the importance of identifying everyone the victim interacted with in the days leading up to her disappearance. “I would want to know everybody she’s been in contact with, and that would include anybody who might have worked on her roof at that time,” she said.

When asked about reports of a white, unmarked van seen near the home days before the disappearance, D’Ambrosia stated the abduction likely involved surveillance and planning. “Yes, I do believe in this case that she was probably surveilled prior to being removed from her home,” she added. “There definitely was a plan in advance.”

At the same time, she warned against narrowing public focus on one detail at the expense of other potential leads. “I think we need to be very cautious that although that’s good information, the public needs to be cautious and not just focus on that so that anybody else who may have additional information does not report seeing other suspicious incidents in the area,” she said.

D’Ambrosia praised a video message released by the Guthrie family on Saturday as an effective way to reach whoever is responsible. “I thought that was an excellent message that they were sending,” she said. “They’re trying to engage with whoever’s responsible for this.”

The criminal profiler described the family’s message as conveying both urgency and resolve: “They certainly want their mother back, and they’re going to do anything that they can to get her back.”