Who's Carlos Palazuelos? The man FBI detained, questioned & released in Nancy Guthrie case
Carlos Palazuelos was taken into custody for questioning during a traffic stop in Rio Rico, which is located about an hour's drive south of Tucson
February 11, 2026
As the search for the missing mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie enters into day 11, the FBI late on Tuesday, February 10, confirmed to have detained a ‘person of interest.’
In a major development in the Nancy Guthrie case, the man the FBI detained has been identified as Carlos Palazuelos, who was released early morning on Wednesday, February 11, 2026.
Palazuelos was taken into custody for questioning during a traffic stop in Rio Rico, which is located about an hour's drive south of Tucson near the US-Mexico border.
After the arrest was made, the authorities also combed the residence in the area while looking into leads connecting dots to Guthrie’s disappearance.
Nancy Guthrie has been missing since 11 days after she was abducted from her $1 million home located outside of Tucson, Arizona, in the early hours of February 1, 2026.
The arrest was made after the FBI released images and videos of a possible suspect, who was recorded outside Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera.
Who is Carlos Palazuelos?
The mother-in-law of the man detained, Josefina Maddox, confirmed that her son is Carlos Palazuelos and said he was at her home in Rio Rico, Arizona, during the time Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her home.
She detailed Carlos as a “good guy” with no criminal history.
Separately, multiple media reports have claimed that suspicious transaction activity has been recorded in the Bitcoin account address that was mentioned in the alleged ‘ransom note’ sent to various US media outlets.
