The Nancy Guthrie investigation is approaching its third month, with the victim first reported missing on February 1. Over the intervening weeks, there appears to have been little progress made in the case. Publicly, law enforcement officers have confirmed they were able to collect DNA samples from the scene and released surveillance footage of the masked suspect.
However, they have so far been unable to identify the suspect or locate the victim. That’s despite reports from experts that the person who carried out the crime is likely a repeat offender who has a police record.
Now, another crime expert has weighed in on the investigation and suggested that the kidnapper was probably someone that Nancy Guthrie personally knew.
Psychologist Gary Brucato Explains Why Nancy Guthrie Likely Knew Her Kidnapper
During a discussion with NewsNation’s Brian Entin, which is available to watch on YouTube, Dr. Gary Brucato explained why he believes that Nancy Guthrie likely knew her kidnapper. Brucato, who is a respected clinical psychologist and member of the Cold Case Foundation, revealed that the footage of the suspect indicates that they had enough insider knowledge to stay calm under pressure.[
He said, “[The person] who did this probably has some passing relationship, at least, with this victim and that matches some of the comfort level, potentially spending quite a lot of time in the house and things like that that we see on the (home surveillance video.”
“A lot of what we’re seeing is somebody who is way too cool under pressure, not even flinching under pressure,” Brucato added. “And that kind of person that when we see that, we start thinking about a person who probably has some psychopathic character structure because even somebody who is frequently committing crime who isn’t psychopathic is going to look a little nervous.”
The psychologist continued, “The probability is very high that the person has had a long history of either inappropriate behavior that people would remember or criminal behavior. So that the individual that is on the camera looks to me like somebody who may very well have come into contact with law enforcement previously.”
Former Detective Reveals Why 911 Calls Have Been Withheld From the Public
According to retired detective Bob Gilliam, the officers responsible for investigating the Nancy Guthrie case are likely purposely holding back some evidence in order to help protect the investigation. Gilliam believes that this includes a number of suspicious 911 calls that were made around the time of Guthrie’s disappearance.
Discussing the case on an episode of “The Interview Room“, Gilliam explained that it is common practice for detectives not to publicly reveal all of the information they have on suspects or any evidence they have collected.
“I don’t think we’re going to hear the 911 calls for a while and there could be a myriad of reasons for that. There’s probably some investigative information in there that the detectives don’t want out to the public,” Gilliam said. “So, don’t hold your breath, I think it’s going to be quite a while before we hear anything like that.”