The ongoing search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, has intensified as investigators continue to track down her alleged abductor. An Arizona delivery driver associated with the DoorDash platform who was arrested Tuesday night in connection with the case was released after several hours in custody.
Speaking to reporters, the man – Carlos Palazeulos – reportedly said his “wrist was left swollen from the handcuffs” and that he was being held against his will.
“They held me against my will,” the 36-year-old van driver told reporters outside his home. “They didn’t even read me my rights until two hours later,” the New York Post quoted the driver as saying.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, after being driven home by a family member. When she didn’t show up to church Sunday morning, another churchgoer alerted the family, prompting a Social Security check and a 911 call around noon.
What the delivery driver said
Palazeulos told reporters that he was riding in a car with his wife when they noticed police vehicles following them. They decided to stop and Carlos jumped out of the car.
He said he works in Tucson for a delivery service but doesn’t remember meeting Guthrie.
DoorDash responds
After news of the arrest of a delivery driver in connection with the Nancy Guthrie case, DoorDash said it has reached out to law enforcement.
“We are urgently investigating reports that the individual arrested in connection with the Nancy Guthrie case was a delivery driver. We have reached out to law enforcement and stand ready to support their critical investigation in any way we can. Like tens of millions around the world, our hearts go out to the Guthrie family during this heartbreaking time,” DoorDash said in a post on X.
More details about the delivery driver appear
Carlos’s nationality is unknown. New York Post senior reporter and columnist Paul Sperry wrote in the X post that Carlos “delivers packages on a contract ‘for UPS'” and drives a white van.
On Tuesday, February 3, former NewsNation anchor Ashleigh Banfield claimed that the NBC anchor’s brother-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, had been identified as a person of interest. magazine.
To date, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings have released several video appeals, pleading for their mother’s safe return and signaling a willingness to pay a ransom.
Officials described Nancy Guthrie as mentally alert but with limited mobility. She relies on several medications, and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has repeatedly expressed concern that she could face life-threatening consequences without them.