Nancy Guthrie: Man detained, released by law enforcement speaks out

TUCSON, Ariz. – A man was detained in Rio Rico on Feb. 10, located south of Tucson, in regard to the Nancy Guthrie investigation. 

Hours later, he was released and spoke to reporters. That man was identified as Carlos Palazuelos.

What He’s Saying:

“Right now. All I know is that they show my in-law a picture of somebody wearing a mask or something, and they supposedly look like my eyes,” Palazuelos said, referring to the images the FBI recovered from Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera on the morning she disappeared.

“At the car was being questioned, but they only asked me for my first name, my last name, date of birth and my social,” he said. 

Palazuelos was detained the same day the photos and videos were released.

The Experts:

Attorney Ben Taylor says— know your rights. 

“To call his attorney, ask to speak to an attorney, to not say anything, to say I am innocent. I like to speak to my attorney,” Taylor said. “Law enforcement has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to pull a person over, they’re allowed to pull a person over. However, the suspect also has a Fourth Amendment rights to say, ‘I don’t want my car, my person is searched, and you will need a warrant in order to search my vehicle or to search myself.’

Also, they have what you call Fifth Amendment rights to self-incrimination, meaning that there’s no obligation to speak to law enforcement. This suspect could speak to law enforcement if they want to, but there’s no obligation to speak to law enforcement, even if it’s local or federal law enforcement.”

Dig deeper:

Palazuelos said he chose to answer questions. 

“The time where my whereabouts were at our work, where was I and all that.” 

When he was asked if he had been to Nancy Guthrie’s home, he told authorities, “might have been a possibility? Don’t know. Yeah.”

Palazuelos says that’s because he’s a delivery driver but said he didn’t know her. 

“Terrifying. Something I didn’t do for something I would be like. I felt like I was being kidnapped,” he said. “They didn’t tell me anything in the beginning.”

Why you should care:

Taylor advises against answering, no matter the intentions. 

“A lot of times a person could be a totally innocent,” Taylor said. “But their questions and their questioning, they’re nervous. They might say something to incriminate themselves just for the fact that they were at the scene at the time.”

Timeline:

Palazuelos was released, but the FBI and sheriffs department haven’t commented about the release. 

“The fact that he was released,” Taylor said. “Law enforcement must believe that he’s not the suspect, or they must believe that they need more information to gather in order to prove he’s a suspect or there’s another suspect out there.”

As part of the search warrant served, Palazuelos said law enforcement took his cell phone.