The Arizona DoorDash driver briefly detained Tuesday night during the hunt for Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper has been released after several hours in police custody.
The newly released man, who identified himself as a delivery driver named Carlos, voiced his frustration after being detained in connection with the alleged kidnapping of the 84-year-old mother of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie—a woman he said he had never even heard of.
“They held me against my will,” Carlos Palazuelos, 36, told reporters outside his home. “They didn’t even read me my rights until two hours later.”
Carlos, a man briefly held by police during the search for Nancy Guthrie, was released from custody on February 10, 2026. CBS News
The man says the handcuffs were so tight they left his wrists swollen and sore.
Outside his home in Rio Rico, a tiny border community 60 miles south of Tucson, Palazuelos cried out, insisting on his innocence after being freed.
“What the f–k am I doing here? I didn’t do anything, to be honest, I’m innocent,” he recalled.
Carlos recalls driving with his wife when they noticed law enforcement trailing them. They pulled over, and he got out of the car, tense and unsure what would happen next.
Palazuelos insists he works in Tucson for a parcel delivery service and has no recollection of ever meeting Guthrie, the woman reported missing on February 1.
“I told them, I work in Tucson for GLS, I might have delivered a package to her house but I never kidnapped anybody,” he told ABC15. “They hold me from 4 p.m. ’til now.”
Savannah Guthrie of NBC’s 'Today' stands with her mother, Nancy, who vanished on February 1, 2026, sparking a nationwide search. savannahguthrie/Instagram
Police gathered outside a Rio Rico, Arizona, home on February 10, 2026, as the investigation unfolded. Pic-Andy Johnstone for California Post
Palazuelos told investigators he had never heard of Guthrie or her daughter, "Today" host Savannah Guthrie—saying he simply doesn’t watch the news.
“I hope they get the suspect, because I’m not it. And they better do their job and find the suspect that did it so they can clear my name, I’m done,” he said.
Palazuelos says he wasn’t told why authorities were looking for him in the investigation, and no charges were filed.
Key events in the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mother:
While he was held by police, investigators scoured the home he shares with his wife, children, and extended family.
Though the target of the search remained unknown, Palazuelos says police forcefully broke down his front and garage doors.
"Look what they put my family through," he said, pointing to the battered front door.
Palazuelos’ mother-in-law says police confiscated all their cellphones and the very car he was riding in, leaving the family shaken.
“They showed me a video to see if it was him, to see … if I recognize the things he was wearing, he doesn’t have any of that. He doesn’t have anything that comes in the video,” Carlos’ mother-in-law told ABC15.
On February 1, 2026, the FBI released images of an armed person seen outside Nancy Guthrie’s home. FBI
“They went inside, busted the doors from my house, they went inside and took my son to the living room,” she said.
The woman said she barely knew about the Nancy Guthrie case, having only seen brief posts on Facebook and paid little attention to the unfolding story.
“They already asked us a lot of questions about it, like I said I have nothing to hide, you can go in my house, you can search anything you want, there’s nothing to hide. I don’t know the lady, I don’t know about the lady,” she told NewsNation.
The family’s car was eventually brought back to their home, ending a tense ordeal.
On Tuesday, the FBI released images showing a masked, armed person caught on video messing with a doorbell camera outside the home of the elder Guthrie on the morning she went missing.
With a flashlight seemingly clenched in his mouth, the suspect stumbled across Nancy’s patio in sneakers, a fleece, and a backpack, tampering with the camera and at one point placing nearby flowers in front of the lens.
A handgun was plainly visible, tucked in the front of his pants as he moved.
