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An expert in cybersecurity has highlighted the potential of the Ring ‘Neighbors’ app as a crucial aid for investigators in the ongoing search for Nancy Guthrie, who remains missing.
A local resident in Guthrie’s community informed Fox News of a notification she received on the Ring Neighbors app dated February 11. This notification linked to a post indicating that authorities were seeking video surveillance from two specific periods: January 11, between 9 p.m. and midnight, and January 31, between 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. The notification also mentioned a “suspicious vehicle” sighted in the vicinity around 10 a.m. on January 1.
The search for Nancy Guthrie persists as she has been unaccounted for more than two weeks.
According to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, Guthrie was forcibly abducted from her Tucson, Arizona residence in the early hours of February 1, and did not leave of her own accord.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office clarified to Fox News that the alert via the Ring Neighbors app was not issued by them but originated from a local resident in Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood.
FBI agents canvass homes near Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. Guthrie was last seen on Saturday night as an investigation into her disappearance continues. (L) A portrait of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie shown in a photo provided by NBC. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital; Courtesy of NBC)
“Please check your recordings before they are overwritten; footage of vehicle traffic is particularly helpful. When submitting, please include your address along with the specific date and time of the video. Hopefully, we can piece this together,” the individual wrote in the Neighbors app post.
While the Neighbors app post wasn’t made by the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, the agency made their own post on the mobile application asking for any video footage that includes anything deemed “out of the ordinary” from January 1 to February 2.
What is the Ring Neighbors app?
Eric O’Neill, a cybersecurity expert and former FBI operative, told Fox News Digital that the Ring Neighbors app allows people within a neighborhood to share information with each other. For example, O’Neill, who uses the app, said people will often share information about a crime that happened in his neighborhood.
“What people do often is share information about a crime that happened. Sometimes they will capture somebody trying to break into their car. Or God forbid their home, and they will publish the footage as a warning to neighbors,” O’Neill said. “It is a way for neighbors in a neighborhood to collaborate on security.”
According to Ring, the Neighbors app uses an individual’s location, and they will receive any alerts sent by neighbors or government sources, such as law enforcement.
A law enforcement agent checks vegetation areas around Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Ariz., on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
“If you share an alert on the app about a crime or safety issue in your radius, your neighbors will also get a notification on their phones and tablets. You can then comment on these alerts to provide additional information about local issues, give tips to avoid affected areas, share photos or videos to help neighbors stay on the lookout, etc,” the Ring website states.
How was the Ring Neighbors app used in assisting with the Nancy Guthrie investigation?
After someone living in Nancy Guthrie’s area shared a Neighbors alert asking for people to submit video footage from specific timeframes, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department made a post of their own on the application.
Sources told Fox News Digital that the FBI was canvassing Nancy Guthrie’s area and asked for security video footage from Jan. 11 between 9 p.m. and midnight. The FBI didn’t respond to a request for comment, and it’s unclear why investigators are interested in the specific timeframe.
“If you are receiving this alert, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is urgently requesting your assistance in locating Nancy Guthrie, 84, who was last seen on the evening of January 31, 2026, at her residence near East Skyline Drive and North Campbell Avenue,” the sheriff’s department wrote. “We are requesting all video footage that includes vehicles, vehicle traffic, people/ pedestrians, and anything you deem out of the ordinary or important to our investigation from January 1st, 2026, through February 2nd, 2026.”
The sheriff’s department included a link on the Neighbors app post where residents in Nancy Guthrie’s area can submit video that may be relevant to the investigation.
Photos released on Feb. 10, 2026, show a “subject” on Nancy Guthrie’s property. (Provided by FBI)
A spokesperson for Ring told Fox News Digital that the application has a Community Requests feature that allows law enforcement agencies “to publicly post requests for videos from Ring camera owners within a designated area to support a specific investigation.”
“The goal is to provide Ring camera owners with a way to help their community when something happens in their neighborhood, furthering Ring’s mission of making neighborhoods safer,” the spokesperson said.
How can the Ring Neighbors app be used to solve crimes?
O’Neill said that law enforcement can use the Ring Neighbors app in several ways to help solve crimes.
Members of the press work outside the home of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Caitlin O’Hara)
“One, there could be a message that law enforcement has Ring send out on their behalf onto the app that here, like in the Nancy Guthrie case, provides a link,” he said. “Ring can also request footage from people in the neighborhood, collate that information directly in Ring’s cloud, and then hand that over to law enforcement or give law enforcement access.”
“I suspect here, both things are happening,” O’Neill said.