Rio Rico man Carlos Palazuelos, who was detained by police for questioning in the missing Nancy Guthrie case, said his detention Tuesday “felt like a kidnapping” after he was released.
Palazuelos said all he knew at this point was that his father-in-law was shown a photo of someone wearing a mask who he said looked like him, related to footage the FBI obtained from Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera the morning she went missing, according to Fox10.
“Horrifying. Something I didn’t do for something I was happy to do. I felt like I was kidnapped. They didn’t tell me anything at first,” the report quoted Carlos as saying.
Palazuelos said he chose to answer the questions by referring to inquiries about his location and activities during work hours. He summed it up like this: “The time I was in our work, where I was and so on.
When asked if he was at Nancy Guthrie’s house, he told authorities, “Maybe that was a possibility? I don’t know. Yeah.” Palazuelos explained that his insecurity stems from his work as a delivery driver, but stressed that he does not know Nancy Guthrie personally.
Read also | Nancy Guthrie case: Expert points to suspect’s doorbell camera error
Palazuelos was arrested the same day the photos and videos were released.
Nancy Guthrie disappeared on February 1st, and the case has drawn national attention ever since.
Nancy Guthrie missing case
Footage released on Tuesday shows a person wearing a ski mask and backpack. At one point, the individual lowers his head and turns away from the doorbell camera as he approaches Guthrie’s front door. The video also shows him holding a flashlight in his mouth and using his gloved hand along with a plant pulled from the yard to try to block the camera.
The clips, totaling less than a minute, gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of someone outside Guthrie’s home in the Tucson foothills. However, it was not clear from the footage what happened to her or whether she is still alive.
FBI Director Kash Patel said an “armed individual” appeared to be “tampering with the camera,” though it’s unclear whether the holster actually contained a firearm.
Patel added that the videos were retrieved from “back-end systems” after investigators spent several days trying to recover footage that had been lost, damaged or otherwise unavailable.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt opened the media briefing by noting that she and President Donald Trump had just reviewed the newly released footage.
The FBI confirmed that the Guthrie family received a ransom note demanding payment.
In Instagram videos, Savannah, Camron and Annie Guthrie addressed media reports about the ransom note. The family pleaded for their mother’s safe return, asking for proof of life and contact with her abductor and hinting in one video that they would pay.
The FBI said it was unaware of any ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and the alleged kidnappers. Savannah Guthrie shared images and video of the masked individual and urged the public to contact police with any information.