The lack of evidence in the suspected kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie presents major challenges for law enforcement, but a digital forensics expert noted similarities between the case and the Idaho student murders. The police currently lack physical DNA leads from Guthrie’s case because the suspect wore a ski mask and gloves. However, Heather Barnhart, a digital forensics expert with Cellebrite and the SANS Institute, claimed that the attacker’s attempts to hide their digital footprint will ultimately expose them.
Nancy Guthrie kidnapping shares striking parallels with Idaho student killings, says expert
Fox News reported that Heather Barnhart compared the lack of evidence in Nancy Guthrie’s potential kidnapping to the Idaho student murders. The expert previously analyzed the digital devices of convicted Idaho murderer Bryan Kohberger and told the outlet that perpetrators frequently underestimate modern tracking technology.
Barnhart told Fox News, “The loudest evidence can be the lack of evidence,” noting how this exact pattern directed authorities in the Idaho investigation. In that, she explained, “Kohberger literally created bookends around the crime by turning off his device.”
She said, “In addition to all the clearing and other things that he prepped for to erase his digital footprint, the fact that right before the murder, his phone was turned off, and then within like 40 minutes or so after it was turned back on, kind of gave us that tunnel to look down here.”
Barnhart suggested that investigators will search for unusual cellular tower activity to map the suspect’s movements. The expert further explained that devices in airplane mode still record location data. Furthermore, a suspect’s phone can register on Guthrie’s home Wi-Fi network without actively connecting to the internet router.
Hence, in Barnhart’s opinion, authorities must now locate the digital error the suspect inevitably committed in the guise of hiding evidence in Guthrie’s kidnapping. With that, she noted, “We hope in Nancy Guthrie, that whoever has her made a mistake and that we can uncover that footprint.”
Originally reported by Ishika Mishra on Reality Tea.
