Former FBI Deputy: Nancy Guthrie Case May Not Be a Planned Kidnapping

As the world continues to hope for the safe return of Savannah Guthrie'smother, Nancy Guthrie, the public has been tracking every clue in her disappearance. With images of the potential kidnapping suspect now released, it is fascinating to consider what experts think about what could have happened. Before the images surfaced, a former FBI Deputy Director, who never worked on the case, suggested a theory that the disappearance may not have been a planned kidnapping at all.

Why a Former FBI Official Questioned Whether Nancy Guthrie Was Really Kidnapped

In a Fox News interview that can be viewed on YouTube, the former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino shared his take on Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. Speaking as an outside observer with expertise, he questioned why Savannah Guthrie's mom has gone missing, saying, "Maybe this was not a kidnapping."

Bongino outlined three possibilities without picking a favorite: a planned ransom kidnapping, a crime gone wrong, or perhaps a medical emergency. Now that images of the suspect have been released, his medical emergency theory seems unlikely. But the former FBI director spoke at length about why he thought that Nancy's disappearance may not have been planned.

When he first suggested it could be a crime gone wrong, Bongino said the following. "The second possibility would be that this was just a crime that went awry. Someone was at the house. Maybe it was a burglary. Something went wrong. And that you've got some bad actors committing another crime unrelated, in other words, requesting a ransom for something you didn't do just to take advantage of a situation like this."

Related: History of Celebrities Who Paid Kidnappers

Later in the conversation, Bongino expanded on the "crime that went awry" idea, suggesting Nancy could have been taken by someone familiar, like a service worker, after things spiraled badly.

"I believe that was scenario number two I discussed, that this was an incident that went bad. Someone who knew the person. Like you said, landscaper, electrician. We had a case in Florida like this before I was in the FBI, way before. But a woman had led a handyman in the house. They found the woman in the septic system. I mean, you have to consider that it was someone in the inner circle, as well, that it was a horrible crime. We don't know what happened, and that the distraction may be, in fact, a request for ransom later on to get people off the trail."

Bongino made it clear that he wasn't pushing any one explanation. Still, he explained why he questioned Nancy being taken as part of a planned kidnapping. "I'm not telling you that's what happened, but again, when the story doesn't pan out after a couple of days... I know the assets that get deployed. If you don't find them within the first couple of days, there's something about the story that's not right."