By Jack Phillips

FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday that the bureau is investigating “persons of interest” in connection with the disappearance of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, went missing on Jan. 31. Officials have said that a “crime scene” was discovered in her Tucson, Arizona-area home. On Monday, the FBI released images and video from a doorbell security camera at the house that showed a masked man tampering with the camera.

Authorities have said that her blood was found on the front porch. Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets. Two deadlines for paying have passed, with the most recent on Monday.

“We were able to exploit information pursuant to our private sector partner engagements that showed us that there might be persons of interest in and around the area related to this event,” Patel told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday evening.

“First and foremost, our priority is to find Nancy Guthrie,” he said. “And, of course, right behind that is to find anyone and any others involved in this kidnapping case to make sure they’re brought to justice. And that’s what we’re doing, protecting the integrity of the investigation, but we’re also being very public.”

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department confirmed on Tuesday that a person was detained in a traffic stop for questioning in connection with the disappearance. Local news station ABC15 interviewed a man identified as Carlos, who said he was detained during a traffic stop in connection to the case before being released several hours later.

Patel added that the law enforcement bureau made “substantial progress” over the past several days due to the “technical capabilities of the FBI” and its partners. “And I do believe we are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest,” he added.

“We are going to interview and interrogate absolutely every single person that we think is involved with this or has information related to this,” he said.

The Guthrie family has posted multiple videos pleading for their mom’s return. At first, they primarily asked the abductor or abductors to get in contact and expressed a willingness to pay. But since then, Savannah Guthrie has shifted to asking the public for any information, and on Tuesday asked for help identifying the person in the new surveillance video.

Videos released by the FBI earlier Tuesday show a person wearing a backpack and a gun holster attached to the front waist area walking up to Nancy Guthrie’s door. The person’s gloved hand uses plants to try to block the camera’s view.

The images show “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” Patel said in a social media statement earlier on Tuesday.

Video images show a masked person outside the home of Nancy Guthrie in Catalina Foothills, Ariz. FBI via The Epoch Times

Shortly after the announcement, Savannah Guthrie posted several snapshots of the surveillance images with the FBI and sheriff’s phone numbers and the caption: “We believe she is still alive. Bring her home.” Within minutes, the post had thousands of comments.

In his interview with Hannity, Patel urged the public and viewers to be patient as investigators work.

“The FBI is making advancements, and I don’t want the people out there to have a false hope of what we are putting forward, but we have made significant steps in executing this investigation, like we do when we deploy our tactical and expertise capabilities, our evidence response technicians, and our agents on the ground,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.