Authorities have detained a person for questioning over the kidnapping of the mother of US TV anchor Savannah Guthrie, media reported on Wednesday, the same day the FBI released new photos of an apparent suspect in the case.

Citing unnamed law enforcement sources, major networks CNN, ABC and Fox reported that law enforcement officials have detained someone for questioning in connection to the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, who is being held for ransom.

The person has not been charged, CNN reported.

The update comes amid breathless coverage of the kidnapping of the high-profile anchor’s mother in a case that has gripped the country.

Earlier on Wednesday, the FBI released images showing a person in a full-face balaclava apparently tampering with a front-door camera outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in the southwestern city of Tucson, Arizona.

The six photographs and three videos posted by FBI Director Kash Patel on his X account show an individual on a deserted doorstep in the dark, in eerie black-and-white imagery.

The person is described as an “armed individual.”

An image captured by a security camera shows what the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) describes as an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie's front door the morning of her disappearance at her home in Tucson, Arizona. Photo / Pima County Sheriff's Department, AFP

ABC reported however that there was no indication the person who was detained was the same person as the one seen in the photographs.

Nancy Guthrie, mother of NBC News’ Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to have been kidnapped from her home on the night of January 31 or in the early hours of February 1.

The images date to “the morning of her disappearance”, Patel said on X.

“As of this morning, law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” Patel wrote.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt began a media briefing by saying she and US President Donald Trump had just reviewed the newly released imagery.

Nancy Guthrie’s family has received ransom letters with payment demands, the FBI has said.

‘Hour of desperation’

Footage shows the individual approaching Guthrie’s front door, head down, clad in long pants, a zip-up jacket, hat and gloves, and carrying a backpack.

The person’s hands loom over the camera for several seconds before he or she turns, looking for something on the ground, then stepping outside the entryway and pulling up some plants.

Subsequent footage appears to show the person pushing the plants against the camera.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos last week stated that the doorbell camera outside Nancy Guthrie’s home was disconnected at 1:47 am on Sunday, February 1.

At 2.12am, “software detects a person on a camera, but there’s no video available”, he said.

Savannah Guthrie on Tuesday released the latest video appeal for public help in tracking down her ailing mother, who suffers from heart problems and needs regular medication.

“As we enter into another week of this nightmare ... thank you so much for all of the prayers and the love that we have felt,” an emotional Guthrie said on Instagram.

“Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock trying to bring her home, trying to find where she was taken, and we don’t know where.

“We believe our mom is still out there. We need your help.”

Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance has garnered wall-to-wall coverage in US media, with dozens of reporters and camera crews descending on the quiet Arizona suburb where she lives.

Authorities said they believed the missing woman was still alive, and said blood discovered on her doorstep belonged to her.

- Agence France-Presse