The search for Nancy Guthrie took a surprising turn Tuesday night as a 36-year-old Arizona delivery driver, who says he was detained as a possible person of interest in the 84-year-old’s abduction, was released. He had been in custody for several hours.
Reports suggest he told reporters outside his Rio Rico home, “What (…) am I doing here? I didn’t do anything… I’m innocent.”
Nancy Guthrie is the mother of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, who has been missing since February 1, 2o26. Authorities believe she was abducted from her Tucson home in the middle of the night.
On Tuesday, the FBI released images of a masked person outside her home and then deputies detained a man during a traffic stop south of Tucson.
However, the man, named Carlos Palazuelos, denied having any connection to the missing case. “They held me against my will,” Palazuelos alleged.
He also claimed his rights weren’t laid out to him until two hours after being taken into custody. The man said he was stopped while he was in a car with his wife, and law enforcement vehicles started trailing them.
The couple pulled over, and he stepped out. From there, Palazuelos says, he was held from 4 p.m. until late into the night.
This is Carlos, the DoorDash driver who Pima County detained in the Nancy Guthrie investigation while he was delivering food. He was released. Unbelievable pic.twitter.com/kq2922jo9h
— Lunar Surfer (@TheLunarSurfer) February 11, 2026
According to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, deputies did question an individual in connection with the investigation. But they have not confirmed if Palazuelos was the person detained.
Two law enforcement sources told CBS News that local and federal authorities conducted a court-authorized search at a residence in Rio Rico (about 12 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border), which may be connected to the person of interest.
Palazuelos said officials searched the house he shares with his wife, children and in-laws. He has also claimed that authorities broke down the front and garage doors while executing the warrant. “Look what they put my family through,” he said.
His mother-in-law told reporters that investigators confiscated cellphones and the family car. She said authorities have also shown her surveillance footage released by the FBI to see if she recognized the masked person captured on video.
“She said he (…) doesn’t have anything that comes in the video,” local outlets say. Palazuelos further insisted he didn’t even know who Nancy Guthrie was before Tuesday.
“I told them, I work in Tucson for GLS, I might have delivered a package to her house but I never kidnapped anybody,” he told ABC15. “I’ve never heard of her or her daughter. I don’t watch the news.”
Nancy Guthrie is still missing. A person was detained and questioned last night but that person has been released. Where is Nancy Guthrie?!#nancyguthrie pic.twitter.com/Y64j3k51JC
— Bold American (@boldamericanpod) February 11, 2026
Meanwhile, Nancy Guthrie remains missing. On Tuesday, the FBI released photos and video of a person wearing a ski mask and gloves outside her Tucson home the night she disappeared.
The individual appeared to have a handgun at the front of their pants and at one point was seen tampering with a doorbell camera and putting flowers in front of the lens.
As of Wednesday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said there were no signs of Nancy Guthrie, and her whereabouts remain unknown. Palazuelos, on the other hand, wants his name to be cleared. “They better (…) find the suspect .”
