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“This Wasn’t a Professional” — Ex-FBI Special Agent Points to Critical Errors in Nancy Guthrie Case

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Nancy Guthrie’s suspected kidnapper made a series of amateurish moves that “boggle the mind,” a former FBI bigwig said early Thursday — calling it proof the masked thug was unlikely “a trained assassin.”

Retired FBI supervisory special agent James Gagliano said the awkward way the suspect was carrying a holstered gun when he was caught on surveillance video outside Savannah Guthrie’s mom’s home was unlike anything he’d seen before.

“It does not look like a trained assassin or somebody who’s been doing this a long time,” he told “Fox & Friends” early Thursday.

Nancy Guthrie seen in an undated photo.
Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her Arizona home on Feb. 1, 2026.Courtesy NBC Universal
“I look at the gun, I’ve never ever seen somebody carry a weapon that way. I carried a weapon in the service of my country for 33 years. I have never seen somebody carry it that way,” the ex-FBI official continued.

“This looks like it was thrown together either last minute or the person got a holster from one person and the weapon from somebody else.”

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Gagliano said he was also stunned that the suspect went to the ailing mom’s heavy front door, where he was caught on her doorcam.

“There are multiple points of entry that you could get into very easily,” he said of the “Today” show host’s mom’s home in Tucson.

Person in a balaclava holding flowers, captured by a Nest camera.
FBI Director Kash Patel released surveillance images Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, of a suspect wanted in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.FBI
“In the back of the house, there is a door that’s got like nine panel window panes in it, and you could have easily broken one panel, reached in your hand, unlocked the door and gone in with nobody noticing.

“So why did this suspect [go] to the front?” he asked.

“It really boggles the mind.”

Here’s the latest on Savannah Guthrie’s missing mom

Investigators ask for month’s worth of Nancy Guthrie footage from before disappearance in latest measure
Savannah Guthrie heartbreakingly posts old home video of a young Nancy with her children: ‘We will never give up’
Key giveaways in Nancy Guthrie case that show suspected kidnapper is not ‘a trained assassin’: former FBI special agent
Arizona authorities received nearly 18,000 tips since Nancy Guthrie was allegedly kidnapped from her home
Mysterious black glove found near Nancy Guthrie’s home could hold crucial DNA evidence: former FBI agent

Gagliano also said that The Post’s photos of a black glove being recovered by authorities on Wednesday could be a “margin of victory” for investigators who have yet to ID a suspect.

“If the gloves come back to this person, if there’s DNA on it and they ultimately be the item that undoes him … who commits a crime, a violent crime, abducts somebody and then drops off clues 1.3 miles from the house?” he said.

Two FBI officers, a woman and a man, investigate a black item, possibly a glove, on the ground in a desert landscape.
FBI agents recovering a glove found on the side of a road in Tucson near Nancy Guthrie’s house.Andy Johnstone for NY Post
The former FBI official said the glove, which resembles the pair worn by the armed perpetrator caught on video, could be “part of the margin of victory” for detectives scrambling to find the missing mom, who needs medication to stay alive.

“And why is that? Well, the DNA aspect. So you can pull off the trace fingerprints, hair, and fiber, any type of body fluids on it,” he said.

What do you think? Post a comment.

The Post spotted at least one member of the FBI Evidence Response team pulling the glove from desert shrubbery in Guthrie’s secluded desert suburb at the edge of Tucson on Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators refused to comment when asked about the potential piece of evidence.

Retired French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis had just two words for her former partner’s gold medal win at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Papadakis, 30, skated with Guillaume Cizeron for years, and the two even won gold together in 2022. But earlier this year, she accused Cizeron, 31, of being “controlling” and “demanding” in the pages of her memoir So as Not to Disappear. So when Cizeron, 31, took home yet another free dance gold with his new partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry on Feb. 11, Papadakis responded with an Instagram post featuring two well-known stress relievers: a glass of wine and a pack of cigarettes. “Logging off xxx,” she captioned the post. Cizeron has denied Papadakis’s claims against him, telling Reuters in a statement that he was the target of a “smear campaign” and would be pursuing legal action. But Papadakis has continued to defend her decision to speak out, writing in a Feb. 8 Instagram post that she was choosing to share her experiences in the sport “because I believe in a sport where young athletes don’t have to endure what I did in order to achieve their dreams.” Related Stories French Ice Dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron Win Gold amid Ongoing Controversy France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry (L) and France’s Guillaume Cizeron warm up before the figure skating ice dance-free dance final during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Gabriel BOUYS / AFP via Getty Images) Why French Ice Dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron Are at the Center of Olympic Controversy Laurence Fournier Beaudry and France’s Guillaume Cizeron compete in the figure skating team event ice dance-rhythm dance during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 9, 2026 in Milan, Italy. “It is however incredibly difficult to make sport safer when survivors’ voices are still being silenced. I had to end my competitive career because I could no longer tolerate abuse. And now, as a result of speaking up about it I’ve lost my job,” she wrote. “I don’t single myself out as a victim. I use my experience to highlight a reality: as long as survivors are punished for speaking out, the sport cannot truly change or become safer. As the Winter Olympics unfold, I encourage you to engage critically with the spectacle. Spectators have power, and the way we choose to watch, support, question, or look away helps shape the culture of the sport.” Papadakis was hired as an NBC commentator for the Milan Cortina Games, but was fired from the gig amid the release of her book, as the network felt it was a conflict of interest with Cizeron competing. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of Team France skate during the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance on day eight of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital Indoor Stadium on February 12, 2022 in Beijing, China. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Matthew Stockman/Getty “We respect Gabriella’s right to tell the story of her life and career. At the same time, her new book creates a clear conflict of interest,” NBC told The New York Times in a statement in January. “Our responsibility is to deliver coverage that our audience can trust to be free of bias — whether actual or perceived — and we regret that is no longer possible given the circumstances.” In a recent conversation with USA Today Sports’ Christine Brennan, Papadakis said she understands why survivors of abuse don’t speak out. “I think it’s a bigger societal issue because we often wonder why survivors don’t speak out about abuse and why things don’t change, and this is because it has tremendous negative impact on the survivors’ lives,” she said. “And as long as a society we don’t do anything to change that, things won’t change and ignoring the problems doesn’t make them go away.” Our new app is here! Free, fun and full of exclusives. Scan to download now! Cizeron’s new partner has also dealt with scandal. Beaudry paired up with him in March after her boyfriend and former skating partner Nikolaj Sørensen was suspended from the sport following a sexual assault allegation leveled by a coach and former skater. He has denied the allegation, according to CBC, and his six-year suspension was overturned in June. To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.
Retired French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis had just two words for her former partner’s gold medal win at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Papadakis, 30, skated with Guillaume Cizeron for years, and the two even won gold together in 2022. But earlier this year, she accused Cizeron, 31, of being “controlling” and “demanding” in the pages of her memoir So as Not to Disappear. So when Cizeron, 31, took home yet another free dance gold with his new partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry on Feb. 11, Papadakis responded with an Instagram post featuring two well-known stress relievers: a glass of wine and a pack of cigarettes. “Logging off xxx,” she captioned the post. Cizeron has denied Papadakis’s claims against him, telling Reuters in a statement that he was the target of a “smear campaign” and would be pursuing legal action. But Papadakis has continued to defend her decision to speak out, writing in a Feb. 8 Instagram post that she was choosing to share her experiences in the sport “because I believe in a sport where young athletes don’t have to endure what I did in order to achieve their dreams.” Related Stories French Ice Dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron Win Gold amid Ongoing Controversy France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry (L) and France’s Guillaume Cizeron warm up before the figure skating ice dance-free dance final during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Gabriel BOUYS / AFP via Getty Images) Why French Ice Dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron Are at the Center of Olympic Controversy Laurence Fournier Beaudry and France’s Guillaume Cizeron compete in the figure skating team event ice dance-rhythm dance during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 9, 2026 in Milan, Italy. “It is however incredibly difficult to make sport safer when survivors’ voices are still being silenced. I had to end my competitive career because I could no longer tolerate abuse. And now, as a result of speaking up about it I’ve lost my job,” she wrote. “I don’t single myself out as a victim. I use my experience to highlight a reality: as long as survivors are punished for speaking out, the sport cannot truly change or become safer. As the Winter Olympics unfold, I encourage you to engage critically with the spectacle. Spectators have power, and the way we choose to watch, support, question, or look away helps shape the culture of the sport.” Papadakis was hired as an NBC commentator for the Milan Cortina Games, but was fired from the gig amid the release of her book, as the network felt it was a conflict of interest with Cizeron competing. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of Team France skate during the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance on day eight of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital Indoor Stadium on February 12, 2022 in Beijing, China. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Matthew Stockman/Getty “We respect Gabriella’s right to tell the story of her life and career. At the same time, her new book creates a clear conflict of interest,” NBC told The New York Times in a statement in January. “Our responsibility is to deliver coverage that our audience can trust to be free of bias — whether actual or perceived — and we regret that is no longer possible given the circumstances.” In a recent conversation with USA Today Sports’ Christine Brennan, Papadakis said she understands why survivors of abuse don’t speak out. “I think it’s a bigger societal issue because we often wonder why survivors don’t speak out about abuse and why things don’t change, and this is because it has tremendous negative impact on the survivors’ lives,” she said. “And as long as a society we don’t do anything to change that, things won’t change and ignoring the problems doesn’t make them go away.” Our new app is here! Free, fun and full of exclusives. Scan to download now! Cizeron’s new partner has also dealt with scandal. Beaudry paired up with him in March after her boyfriend and former skating partner Nikolaj Sørensen was suspended from the sport following a sexual assault allegation leveled by a coach and former skater. He has denied the allegation, according to CBC, and his six-year suspension was overturned in June. To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.

Gabriella Papadakis won gold with Cizeron in the same event in 2022, four years before she accused him…