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Tag: kidnappings

  • The Disappearance of Nancy Guthrie

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    Guthrie lives on nearly an acre, in a brown-brick, ranch-style house with an attached garage, a short gravel driveway, and desert landscaping. She has been there since the mid-seventies. (Her husband died in 1988.) Her neighbors live within easy walking distance but their homes are barely visible, one to the next, because of folds in the hills and the density of trees and cacti. A sheriff’s cruiser was stationed in Guthrie’s driveway, its lights flashing. At the foot of the driveway, someone had erected a large sign, covered in protective plastic, that read “Dear Guthrie Family, your neighbors stand with you.” A painted stone read “Please pray.” Visitors were leaving potted plants and grocery-store flowers, many of them yellow, symbolizing hope for a safe return. Whenever someone new arrived at the tribute point, reporters pounced on them for comment.

    By then, investigators had checked Guthrie’s flat, whitewashed roof and probed her septic tank with a long pole. They had towed away her car. They had searched Annie’s home, and re-searched Nancy’s. Two drones buzzed overhead, and a chopper was up. The public had been fed aerial views of the property: a tidy back-yard parabola of green grass that led to a gated swimming pool and aqua chaise longues; blue planters; an orange tree; a patio with string lights.

    John Voorhies, a Tucsonian of sixty-two years, was standing in front of Guthrie’s home, watching the activity. He’d come with a friend—a paralegal and a TikToker who had driven seven hours, from Huntington Beach, California, to see the crime scene and opine about it. Voorhies, wearing an earpiece in his right ear, was listening to this friend live-stream while strolling up and down the street. Eventually, the TikToker stopped and pointed his cellphone camera at Guthrie’s home. The sobering details of the case included the fact that her doorbell camera was disconnected at 1:47 A.M., and that at 2:12 A.M. software detected motion, though it was unclear which software, or what this meant. At 2:28 A.M., Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnected from the app that monitored it, providing an important clue to when she was taken.

    Leising described five reasons someone might commit a kidnapping: financial gain, ideology, domestic discord, exploitation (for example, sex trafficking), and “delusion,” or mental illness. One could not help wondering whether Savannah Guthrie’s prominence—at a time when President Donald Trump has spent the better part of a decade calling journalists “the enemy of the American people”—was a factor. Tucson is Savannah’s home town; she went to college and got her start in broadcasting here. In November, in a “Today” show feature, she included her sister and mother in a scene at El Charro, a historic restaurant, where she asked Guthrie what she likes about where she lives. Guthrie mentioned “the air, the quality of life—it’s laidback and gentle.” They toasted with prickly-pear margaritas.

    On Monday, Savannah had posted another video on social media. This time she appeared alone, speaking extemporaneously as her family entered “another week of this nightmare.” Her hair and makeup were done. She was composed. The media was reporting that there was a 5 P.M. deadline for delivering six million dollars’ worth of bitcoin referenced in one of the so-called ransom notes. Savannah again mentioned faith, telling viewers that their prayers are “lifting” their mother, “even in this moment, and in this darkest place.” The Guthries believed that Nancy was “still out there.” Savannah begged the public for help: “We are at an hour of desperation.”

    The images from the doorbell camera show the intruder approaching the alcoved entryway of Guthrie’s house with his head down, walking hunched over, as if trying to avoid his face being seen. In addition to the balaclava, gloves, and backpack, he’s got on a holster that is too big for what looks like a handgun inside it. He’s positioned the holster over his crotch—almost like you’d wear an athletic cup—which anyone with firearms training would recognize as amateurish. (“Tactically, it’s ridiculous,” Miller, the former F.B.I. official, said.) Reflector strips on his backpack catch a bit of ambient light, though the overhead porch light is off. He steps onto Guthrie’s doormat, reaches for the camera, and tries to cover it with his right hand. Then he turns and bends, looking for something on the ground, in the alcove, before stepping onto the front walkway and plucking stems and leaves from a withered plant in the landscaping. He walks back to the camera, with what appears to be a small flashlight between his lips, and tries to obscure the lens with that clump of dead greenery.

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    Paige Williams

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  • What to know about the militants targeted by US airstrikes in northwest Nigeria

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    The United States airstrikes that targeted Islamic State group militants in northwestern Nigeria on Thursday marked a major escalation in an offensive that the West African’s overstretched military has struggled with for years.U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that the “powerful and deadly” strikes in the state of Sokoto were carried out against IS gunmen who were “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.” Residents and security analysts have said Nigeria’s security crisis affects both Christians, predominant in the south, and Muslims, who are the majority in the north.Nigeria, which is battling multiple armed groups, said the U.S. strikes were part of an exchange of intelligence and strategic coordination between the two countries.The Associated Press could not confirm the extent of the strikes’ impact. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a post on X about the airstrikes, said: “More to come…”The militants targeted by US airstrikesThe armed groups in Africa’s most populous country include at least two affiliated with IS, an offshoot of the Boko Haram extremist group known as the Islamic State West Africa Province in the northeast, and the lesser-known Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), known locally as Lakurawa, and prominent in the northwest.Although officials did not say exactly which group was targeted, security analysts said the target, if indeed against IS militants, was likely members of Lakurawa, which became more lethal in border states like Sokoto and Kebbi in the last year, often targeting remote communities and security forces.The Nigerian military has said in the past that the group has roots in neighboring Niger and that it became more active in Nigeria’s border communities following a 2023 military coup. That coup resulted in fractured relations between Nigeria and Niger, and affected their multinational military operations along the porous border. Militants torment villagersMultiple analysts have said Lakurawa has been active in northwest Nigeria since around 2017, when it was invited by traditional authorities in Sokoto to protect their communities from bandit groups.The militants, however, “overstayed their welcome, clashing with some of the community leaders … and enforcing a harsh interpretation of Sharia law that alienated much of the rural population,” according to James Barnett, an Africa researcher with the Washington-based Hudson Institute.”Communities now openly say that Lakurawa are more oppressive and dangerous than the bandits they claim to protect them from,” according to Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher with Good Governance Africa.Lakurawa controls territories in Sokoto and Kebbi states, and has become known for killings, kidnapping, rape and armed robbery, Samuel said.But some of the attacks blamed on Lakurawa are by the Islamic State Sahel Province, which has expanded from Niger’s Dosso region to northwestern Nigeria, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.”ISSP has maintained a low profile, operating covertly to infiltrate and entrench itself along the Niger-Nigeria border, and is now also expanding its operations toward the Beninese border,” the project said in a recent report.Security threats are deep-rooted in social issuesThe security woes are more of a governance problem than a military one.Motives for attacks differ, but the gangs are often driven by the near absence of a state and security presence in conflict hot spots, making recruitment easy. Those hot spots, data show, have some of the country’s highest levels of poverty, hunger and lack of jobs.Nigeria’s Minister of Defense Christopher Musa once said that military action is only 30% of what is needed to fix the country’s security crisis, while the remaining 70% depends on good governance.”The absence of the state in remote communities is making it easy for non-state actors to come in and present themselves to the people as the best alternative government,” said Samuel.US strikes seen as crucial support for Nigeria’s militaryThursday’s U.S. strikes are widely seen by experts as crucial help for Nigeria’s security forces, which are often overstretched and outgunned as they fight multiple security crises across different regions.In states like Sokoto, the military often carries out airstrikes targeting militant hideouts and Nigeria has embarked on mass recruitment of security forces. But analysts say military operations targeting the gangs are not usually sustained and the militants easily move on motorcycles to new locations through vast forests that connect several states in the north.They also often use hostages — including schoolchildren — as cover, making airstrikes difficult.

    The United States airstrikes that targeted Islamic State group militants in northwestern Nigeria on Thursday marked a major escalation in an offensive that the West African’s overstretched military has struggled with for years.

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that the “powerful and deadly” strikes in the state of Sokoto were carried out against IS gunmen who were “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.” Residents and security analysts have said Nigeria’s security crisis affects both Christians, predominant in the south, and Muslims, who are the majority in the north.

    Nigeria, which is battling multiple armed groups, said the U.S. strikes were part of an exchange of intelligence and strategic coordination between the two countries.

    The Associated Press could not confirm the extent of the strikes’ impact. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a post on X about the airstrikes, said: “More to come…”

    The militants targeted by US airstrikes

    The armed groups in Africa’s most populous country include at least two affiliated with IS, an offshoot of the Boko Haram extremist group known as the Islamic State West Africa Province in the northeast, and the lesser-known Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), known locally as Lakurawa, and prominent in the northwest.

    Although officials did not say exactly which group was targeted, security analysts said the target, if indeed against IS militants, was likely members of Lakurawa, which became more lethal in border states like Sokoto and Kebbi in the last year, often targeting remote communities and security forces.

    The Nigerian military has said in the past that the group has roots in neighboring Niger and that it became more active in Nigeria’s border communities following a 2023 military coup. That coup resulted in fractured relations between Nigeria and Niger, and affected their multinational military operations along the porous border.

    Militants torment villagers

    Multiple analysts have said Lakurawa has been active in northwest Nigeria since around 2017, when it was invited by traditional authorities in Sokoto to protect their communities from bandit groups.

    The militants, however, “overstayed their welcome, clashing with some of the community leaders … and enforcing a harsh interpretation of Sharia law that alienated much of the rural population,” according to James Barnett, an Africa researcher with the Washington-based Hudson Institute.

    “Communities now openly say that Lakurawa are more oppressive and dangerous than the bandits they claim to protect them from,” according to Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher with Good Governance Africa.

    Lakurawa controls territories in Sokoto and Kebbi states, and has become known for killings, kidnapping, rape and armed robbery, Samuel said.

    But some of the attacks blamed on Lakurawa are by the Islamic State Sahel Province, which has expanded from Niger’s Dosso region to northwestern Nigeria, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

    “ISSP has maintained a low profile, operating covertly to infiltrate and entrench itself along the Niger-Nigeria border, and is now also expanding its operations toward the Beninese border,” the project said in a recent report.

    Security threats are deep-rooted in social issues

    The security woes are more of a governance problem than a military one.

    Motives for attacks differ, but the gangs are often driven by the near absence of a state and security presence in conflict hot spots, making recruitment easy. Those hot spots, data show, have some of the country’s highest levels of poverty, hunger and lack of jobs.

    Nigeria’s Minister of Defense Christopher Musa once said that military action is only 30% of what is needed to fix the country’s security crisis, while the remaining 70% depends on good governance.

    “The absence of the state in remote communities is making it easy for non-state actors to come in and present themselves to the people as the best alternative government,” said Samuel.

    US strikes seen as crucial support for Nigeria’s military

    Thursday’s U.S. strikes are widely seen by experts as crucial help for Nigeria’s security forces, which are often overstretched and outgunned as they fight multiple security crises across different regions.

    In states like Sokoto, the military often carries out airstrikes targeting militant hideouts and Nigeria has embarked on mass recruitment of security forces. But analysts say military operations targeting the gangs are not usually sustained and the militants easily move on motorcycles to new locations through vast forests that connect several states in the north.

    They also often use hostages — including schoolchildren — as cover, making airstrikes difficult.

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