A man detained by authorities and questioned about Nancy Guthrie‘a disappearance has been released and has proclaimed his innocence.
The man — only identified as “Carlos” — was stopped south of Tucson Tuesday afternoon and held by Pima County Sheriff’s deputies until midnight, Mediaite reported.
Carlos spoke exclusively to KNXV-TV upon his release in Arizona.
Nancy Guthrie is the mother of NBC’s Savannah Guthrie.
Carlos said he had never heard of Guthrie before his arrest. Carlos refused the interview at first, then returned to the reporter to answer questions.
“They didn’t even tell me what’s going on until the detectives got here,” he said. “They told me I was being detained for kidnapping, and I asked them, ‘Kidnapping of who?’”
“Nancy Guthrie,” the reporter said.
“Yeah, that’s her,” Carlos replied. “And I told him, I work in Tucson for GLS. I might have delivered a package to your house, but I never kidnapped anybody. They held me from like 4 p.m. to right now.”
He said officers cited limited evidence in their decision to release him. He was told other agencies may want to question him.
“Like, they didn’t have no — it was insufficient evidence. Like, they only had a phone on me. That’s all they had,” he said.
When asked what went through his mind, Carlos responded, “S***, bro. I’m facing life. I’m going to lose everything.”
Deputies eventually told him he was “free to go.”
He said Pima County had “already cleared me,” though “the FBI, they might not or something like that.”
“I’m innocent,” he said. “I’ll let you know that. I didn’t do anything.”
