Suspect approached Nancy Guthrie’s door before the night of her disappearance, source says

A masked man, who is suspected in Nancy Guthrie’s abduction, appears to have been at her front door before her disappearance.

The masked person seen on the doorbell camera footage of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie’s home the morning she is believed to have been kidnapped was also at her doorstep on another night, a source tells CNN.

The photos and video of the masked person on Guthrie’s doorstep — released by the FBI on Feb. 10 — were taken on two different days, rather than just on Feb. 1, when authorities believe she was abducted, the source said. That’s because the masked suspect is not wearing a backpack in one of them, according to the source.

ABC News first reported the suspect appears to have been at her door before Feb. 1.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment and referred CNN to the FBI. CNN reached out to the FBI Phoenix office for comment.

Guthrie disappeared from her home after she was last seen on Jan. 31. Local, state and federal law enforcement surged to the area and have spent over three weeks scouring the unruly desert landscape for Guthrie or any evidence of where she went.

Residents in Guthrie’s neighbourhood were previously asked by the sheriff’s department to submit video as far back as January 1, but specifically focusing on two dates – Jan. 11 between 9 p.m. and midnight, and Jan. 31 between 9:30 and 11. The sheriff’s department specifically requested footage that includes cars, traffic, people or pedestrians, or anything that feels out of the ordinary or important.

The FBI released video and photos of a masked, armed man tampering with Guthrie’s doorbell camera the morning of her disappearance. From that video, investigators were able to identify the man was wearing an Ozark backpack, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, but are still trying to identify other items and where they might have been purchased.

Investigators continue to review “thousands of hours” of video obtained from the greater Tucson area, a law enforcement official familiar with the case told CNN.

They also continue to run lab analysis on DNA found at Guthrie’s house, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Thursday. DNA on gloves found 2 miles from the home did not return any matches in the national database known as CODIS, and doesn’t match DNA found the house, either, Nanos said.

Her children have repeatedly pleaded for her return, taking to social media in an attempt to address purported ransom notes sent to several media outlets, as well as asking the public for help in her search. Despite the reports of the ransom, neither the family nor law enforcement have confirmed if they were real or if they made contact with the sender.