A new perspective is emerging in the case of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, as Brian Martin, a detective with the Fort Wayne police department, suggests Guthrie’s kidnappers may have underestimated her health in the days surrounding her disappearance. The insight adds another layer of complexity to an already troubling investigation, raising questions about whether those responsible fully understood her condition—and how that may have impacted what happened next.
During a sit-down with NewsNation’s Brian Entin, Martin shared his take on what he thinks likely happened—and the motive behind the apparent kidnapping.
“What really bothers me is we’re dealing with an elderly female, who’s not living, by all accounts, she’s not living an at risk lifestyle. It would appear to me that this is potentially driven by something monetary. They were hoping to get some kind of monetary reward or gain from doing this. That bothers me,” Martin told Entin.
“And what really bothers me is that they underestimated Ms. Guthrie’s health,” Martin continued. He goes on to speculate that the kidnappers probably thought they’d hold on to Guthrie for a couple of days, get their money, and then “leave her in a Walmart parking lot.”
Martin says that what “scares” him is that Guthrie had some sort of health-related emergency during the “incredibly stressful” ordeal.
Guthrie, 84, has been missing since Sunday, Feb. 1. Her family has said that she wasn’t in great health. Guthrie had a pacemaker and took blood pressure medication as part of her daily routine.
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