Masked person sought over kidnap of US TV anchor's 84-year-old mother

New images released by the FBI on Tuesday show a person in a full-face balaclava apparently tampering with a front-door camera outside the home of the mother of a US TV host who has been missing for 10 days.

The six photographs and three videos posted by FBI Director Kash Patel on his X account show an individual on a deserted doorstep in the dark, in eerie black-and-white imagery.

The person is described as an "armed individual."

Nancy Guthrie, 84, mother of NBC News "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on the night of January 31 or in the early hours of February 1, sparking a massive hunt in a case that has gripped the country.

The images date to "the morning of her disappearance," Patel said on X, adding that authorities had worked to recover them from "residual data."

The subject seen in the images released Tuesday is armed, carrying what appears to be a pistol in a holster at the waist. Some experts said the holster and its placement – at the individual’s groin area – suggest this person lacks proficiency with firearms.

“In my opinion, this is not someone, first of all, who was ever trained to carry a gun,” said CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI.

“No person with law enforcement or military training would ever carry a firearm in a holster like that, right where that is at almost the center of his body, hanging off of his belt there,” he said. “It’s not very tactically sound for a lot of reasons.”

"As of this morning, law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie's front door the morning of her disappearance," Patel wrote.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt began a media briefing by saying she and President Donald Trump had just reviewed the newly released imagery.

"The president encourages any American across the country with any knowledge of the suspect to please call the FBI," she said.

Nancy Guthrie's family has received ransom letters with payment demands, the FBI has said.

Footage shows the individual approaching Guthrie's front door, head down, clad in long pants, a zip-up jacket, hat and gloves, and carrying a backpack.

The person's hands loom over the camera for several seconds before he or she turns, looking for something on the ground, then stepping outside the entryway and pulling up some plants. 

Subsequent footage appears to show the person pushing the plants against the camera.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos last week stated that the doorbell camera outside Nancy Guthrie's home was disconnected at 1:47 am on Sunday, February 1.

At 2:12 am, "software detects a person on a camera, but there's no video available," he said. 

Savannah Guthrie on Monday released the latest video appeal for public help in tracking down her ailing mother, who suffers from heart problems and needs regular medication.

"As we enter into another week of this nightmare... thank you so much for all of the prayers and the love that we have felt," an emotional Guthrie said on Instagram.

"Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock trying to bring her home, trying to find where she was taken, and we don't know where.

"We believe our mom is still out there. We need your help.

"If you see anything, you hear anything, if there's anything at all that seems strange to you... report to law enforcement. We are at an hour of desperation."

Nancy Guthrie's disappearance has garnered wall-to-wall coverage in US media, with dozens of reporters and camera crews descending on the quiet Arizona suburb where she lives.

Authorities said they believed the missing woman was still alive, and said blood discovered on her doorstep belonged to her.