A major development in the search for missing Nancy Guthrie.

Arizona law enforcement say a person has been detained for questioning, marking the first significant break in a case that has gripped the community and sparked nationwide concern.

Details remain limited.
No charges announced — yet.
But investigators say the case is “actively unfolding.”

An Arizona law official says a person is being questioned regarding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie (right). (Supplied: Instagram)

A person is being questioned in connection to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, Arizona law enforcement says.

The 84-year-old mother of American Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie has been missing from her Arizona home for 10 days.

Police believe she was abducted.

In a post on X the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said deputies had detained a subject during a traffic stop south of Tucson, Arizona.

Earlier today the FBI released photos and footage of a person appearing to tamper with a security camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door around the time she disappeared.

The person wearing a backpack and a ski mask can be seen in one of the videos tilting their head down and away from a doorbell camera while nearing an archway at Nancy Guthrie’s home.

The footage shows the person holding a flashlight in their mouth and trying to cover the camera with a gloved hand and part of a plant ripped from Nancy Guthrie’s yard.

The videos — less than a combined minute in length — gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Nancy Guthrie’s home just outside Tucson.

But the images did not show what happened to her or help determine whether the 84-year-old is still alive.

FBI director Kash Patel said the “armed individual” appeared to “have tampered with the camera”.

It was not entirely clear whether there was a gun in the holster.

A video still from the doorbell camera of Nancy Guthrie’s home that has been released by the FBI. (Supplied: FBI)

The videos were pulled from data on “back-end systems” after investigators spent days trying to find lost, corrupted or inaccessible images, Mr Patel said.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen on the night of January 31 when her family dropped her off at her home after dining with her.

Relatives reported her missing the following day, according to the Pima Country Sheriff’s Department, after she failed to show up for Sunday church services.

Sheriff Chris Nanos said the door bell camera of Guthrie’s home was disabled in the early hours of February 1.

He said Ms Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnected from her phone about half an hour later and she was, presumably, taken from the house by force.

DNA tests confirmed that traces of blood found on the front porch were from Ms Guthrie, officials said last week.

Law enforcement and family members have described her as being of limited mobility, in frail health and in need of daily medication to survive.

Major turning points

The video and detention of a suspect marked major turning points in an investigation that had seemed to stall in recent days.

The sheriff’s department and FBI said late on Monday that they had yet to identify suspects or “persons of interest” in the connection with the investigation.

At least two purported ransom notes had surfaced since Nancy Guthrie vanished, both of them delivered initially to news media outlets. But no proof of life is known to have surfaced following her abduction.

Savannah Guthrie, 54, and her brother and sister have posted several video messages on social media pleading for the public to help with tips and for the kidnappers to return their mother or communicate with them directly.

The family has said that they would pay a ransom.