A former NYPD inspector stunned Fox News hosts this weekend with a grim theory about why the suspected kidnappers of Nancy Guthrie have gone silent on ransom negotiations: They cannot provide proof of life.
“Well, you’re elusive on the communications because you know you’re going to be asked for proof of life that you can’t provide,” retired NYPD Inspector Paul Mauro said on “The Big Weekend Show.”
The comment hit co-hosts Joey Jones and Tomi Lahren hard.
“Emmmm,” Jones groaned off camera. Lahren audibly sighed after hearing the prediction.
“I feel like they’ve been playing games with the details in the house and all of that,” Mauro said. “They probably planned for the idea that they could provide proof of life, and now they find themselves in a spot where, ‘We can’t. And so what do we do? Now we gotta bargain for something else. We gotta bargain to give back something else.’”
“That’s my read with the limited facts we have, hoping against hope I’m wrong.”
He also warned that the entire situation could “all be a hoax.”
“Would you say… that they didn’t mean to hurt her, but something might have gone wrong, and now they’re still trying to get their payday out of this. Is that what I heard you kind of allude to?” Lahren asked.
Mauro said one issue could be that Nancy Guthrie requires certain medication and the kidnappers may not have been able to obtain it without drawing attention.
Federal investigators recenty searched a septic tank at Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home on Sunday, just hours before a reported $6 million ransom deadline set for Monday evening. Deputies were seen using a long pole to probe the tank and shining flashlights inside.
The 84-year-old Arizona resident is the mother of NBC “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie. She disappeared from her home on January 31 after being dropped off following a family. She was reported missing the next day when she missed church service.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Sunday that no suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles have been identified in the case.
Multiple ransom notes have been sent to media outlets demanding payment in Bitcoin. Authorities have not confirmed whether the ransom notes are authentic. At least one person has already been arrested for sending a fake ransom demand earlier in the week.
The Guthrie family responded to the ransom requests with a heartbreaking personal plea. Take a look —