{"id":9304,"date":"2026-04-02T16:24:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/?p=9304"},"modified":"2026-04-02T16:24:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:24:26","slug":"nancy-guthrie-updates-secret-methods-bryan-kohberger-digital-forensics-expert-who-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/?p=9304","title":{"rendered":"Nancy Guthrie updates: SECRET METHODS Bryan Kohberger digital forensics expert who\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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INVESTIGATORS are likely working behind the scenes on digital forensics \u2013 including AI chat logs \u2013 that could nail Nancy Guthrie\u2019s kidnapper, an expert has claimed. Today Show host Savannah Guthrie\u2019s mom Nancy, 84, was taken from her Arizona home in the early morning hours of February 1.<\/p>\n

She has been missing ever since and authorities are struggling to identify a masked, armed man seen on disturbing doorbell footage on the night of the kidnapping. Heather Barnhart, Senior Director of Forensic Research at Cellebrite, feels not all hope is lost when it comes to finding Nancy\u2019s kidnapper[s].She previously worked on the case against Bryan Kohberger in the 2022 killings of four University of Idaho students.<\/p>\n

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Her role focused on analyzing cellphone and device data, including location history and phone activity patterns, to help reconstruct Kohberger\u2019s movements before and after the murders .She has since been following the Nancy Guthrie case and feels digital data could solve the case. Speaking exclusively to The U.S. Sun, she said, \u201cI believe there are [data] forensic experts involved and helping out.<\/p>\n

\"\"Savannah Guthrie and another woman stand together in a TV studio.<\/p>\n

Savannah Guthrie and her mom Nancy Guthrie on The Today Show before the kidnappingCredit: NBC\/Nathan Congleton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom law enforcement perspective, chasing email. So, looking at that email address and reversing it back to where it originated, could be huge in finding these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also believes police and the FBI could subpoena the likes of Chat GPT and Google for anyone using the specific wording in the notes, and if they searched Nancy\u2019s name before the kidnapping.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf the person writing the ransom note used open AI in any way, those logs are completely available on servers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo law enforcement could scan for AI chat logs with those exact words from those random notes and potentially tie it back to an IP address leading to someone\u2019s home, which I think could be really unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than three weeks and her family are desperate to have her returned home<\/p>\n

I think every criminal makes a mistake.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She said her gut instinct is that the first ransom note was real but believes there were many copycats torturing the family.<\/p>\n

Alleged abductors initially demanded a $6million ransom in Bitcoin and set deadlines but when the family agreed they didn\u2019t send more information.<\/p>\n

Heather said, \u201cI learned a lot about Bitcoin, and I was asked to not educate the public on how the FBI actually traces the Bitcoin. But you have to have some form of activity occurring.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the second someone makes that choice, I don\u2019t want to call it an error, makes that choice, it activates a whole new investigation \u2026 is a good way of saying it.<\/p>\n

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Heather Barnhart, Senior Director of Forensic Research at Cellebrite, feels not all hope is lost when it comes to finding Nancy\u2019s kidnapper[s]Credit: Supplied<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBut I think people initially wanted Bitcoin instead of just getting paid by the FBI, that amount, the award, they thought it would help them remain anonymous.<\/p>\n

\u201cDNA is absolutely a fabulous forensic artifact that leads to people of interest. Digital evidence is what seals the case. And it takes a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think anything like that, they probably shouldn\u2019t give the public too much information on, just because what if another ransom note is coming? I also don\u2019t want to overeducate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think that\u2019s why it\u2019s important that they do bring in experts in different fields because one person cannot do it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if you have an agency where I say, \u2018Hi, I\u2019m Heather, and I can do all of these things for you\u2019, that\u2019s dangerous. So you need a lot of hands in the investigation, but the key is communication and not battling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Heather Barnhart also worked on the Bryan Kohberger case, helping bring him to justice for murdering four students in their beds in Idaho (pictured in court)Credit: Associated Press<\/p>\n

Heather went on, \u201cI think what will really solve this is any person of interest or suspect that they obtain, when they get their phone data, that phone will tell the truth of why it was done, how it was done, was it planned? It\u2019ll paint the picture.<\/p>\n

New surveillance footage<\/h4>\n

\u201cI think every criminal makes a mistake. They do. There is not a perfect crime. There is going to be a hair, a trace of DNA, a digital footprint, a camera that caught you, something will be left behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut every single digital trace has to be looked at by investigators, because you never know, again, what that one thread is that will unravel the entire investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in the Catalina Foothills and investigators believe she was taken against her will.<\/p>\n

The Pima County Sheriff\u2019s Department and the FBI have led an ongoing search, treating her disappearance as a suspected kidnapping, but as of now no confirmed suspect has been publicly identified.<\/p>\n

Authorities have scaled back daily public updates, saying they will share new information only when warranted.<\/p>\n

\"\"A masked person was seen in front of Nancy\u2019s home on the night she was takenCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Law enforcement recently returned Nancy\u2019s home to her family after a thorough sweep, signaling that much of the forensic work at the property may be done.<\/p>\n

Neighbors have shared new surveillance footage from the night of her disappearance showing several vehicles driving near her home, which police are reviewing as part of the investigation.<\/p>\n

Nancy\u2019s TV host daughter Savannah is set to return to work on the Today Show after spending weeks helping with the search and publicizing appeals for information.<\/p>\n

Investigators recovered DNA evidence from Nancy\u2019s home and nearby areas, including gloves found about two miles away that match those worn by a masked man seen on video the night she disappeared.<\/p>\n

However, lab tests show that these samples do not match any profiles in the FBI\u2019s CODIS database and are also different from DNA found inside her home.<\/p>\n

Some of the samples are described as low\u2011level, meaning there may not be enough material yet for a clear profile.<\/p>\n

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Savannah Guthrie and another woman stand together in a TV studio.
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\nSavannah Guthrie and her mom Nancy Guthrie on The Today Show before the kidnappingCredit: NBC\/Nathan Congleton\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INVESTIGATORS are likely working behind the scenes on digital forensics \u2013 including AI chat logs \u2013 that could nail Nancy Guthrie\u2019s kidnapper, an expert has claimed. Today Show host Savannah … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9308,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9304\/revisions\/9308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}