A forensic analyst called the video showing a person at Nancy Guthrie’s door a “gold mine” and said three things stood out to him that haven’t “really been discussed in the media.”
The first thing is that there is no audio with the video, which could be “by design based on law enforcement’s release of that information,” or indicate that the audio was turned off and not functioning, said Edward Baker, a forensic analyst certified by the Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Video Association.
The second thing is that the person appears to have “what could be described as facial hair” seen around their mouth in the opening of the ski mask. He noted that the man who said he was detained and released by authorities also had facial hair.
“I’m not saying that that’s the individual,” Baker said. “I’m saying there are similarities there observation-wise.”
The third element that stands out is that the video has no color. And while the jacket in the video appears to be grey, for example, it could actually be blue, red, orange or another color, which is important for people to remember as they watch the video.
He said the video could help law enforcement “get over the edge” if someone is on their radar and allow them to use information from the video in a search warrant.
“In general, that video itself is a gold mine, not just in making the observations that we see, but if there were to be an arrest that takes place, there’s a lot of information there post-arrest that you could make a comparison analysis to — the design of the clothing, the zipper, how it appears under infrared light, the backpack design, the reflective material on the backpack, and the ski mask as well,” he said.