Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper may be caught using sensitive cell phone data – similar tactics used by law enforcement in the Bryan Kohberger case, according to forensics experts who analyzed the Idaho killer’s phone calls.
“You have to know what’s normal to find bad, and this person’s phone will be considered bad,” Heather Barnhart, a Cellebrite and SANS Institute expert working on Kohberger’s case, told the Daily Mail.
Special agents from the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team (CAST) are busy sifting through cell tower data sets in the wide area surrounding Nancy’s Arizona home.
The team will carefully build data profiles of regular phone activity versus unusual phone activity in hopes of spotting potential outliers in patterns — evidence that could help crack a case in progress.
Nancy, the 84-year-old mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie was last seen on January 31st.
His doorbell camera was disconnected between 1:47 am and 2:28 am the next day, when his pacemaker system fell off his phone.
Savannah Guthrie, 54, has offered a $1 million reward for anyone with information about her mother’s whereabouts.
But a key clue may already be stored in cell tower data, especially if the burglar turns his phone on or off — or makes calls near Nancy Guthrie’s home.
In the Kohberger case, Barnhart said, the killer entered 1122 King Rd. at 4 a.m. where he killed Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20.
His phone was switched off between 2:47 am and 4:48 am.
“If you think about Bryan Kohberger, his machine is closed, so the tower near King Road probably wouldn’t get that at all,” Barnhart explained. “But when he left, he turned it on, because a lot of people rely on their phones to get around.”
Moving “pings” nearby cell towers, and leaves behind evidence in digital data files.
“Unless these people know exactly where they are going, their phone will be switched off and it will ring in an instant.
It is possible that the night of the abduction was not the only time the captor was in the area. Digital experts will re-analyze the recorded data in the weeks before the heinous crime takes place.
“If someone has checked the house in advance, is there an unusual ping from the towers? So, look for normal behavior. If we live in the same place, our phones will always ring that tower. Which ones are out there?” Bernhart said.
Digital forensics can be messy and time-consuming, Barnhart said.
“People, I think, want answers quickly, and I get them, but it’s hard to do digital forensics well,” he said. “And to me, they’re doing a great job, that’s why it’s taking so long.”
While some criminals are curious about how their cell phone activity affects nearby towers, others don’t realize they’re leaving digital clues that could help law enforcement track them down.
“Bryan Kohberger didn’t just turn on his power, he turned off his Wi-Fi, he turned off his cell phones, and then he turned them off like he was trying to wipe out all of his digital space,” Barnhart said.
But his vigilante tactics actually lead to his downfall.
“In Idaho, we know that,” Barnhart said. “There’s this hacker where there are no pings on his phone. It’s amazing. Turning off his phone gave us a complete record of his crimes, and he really proved his intent to hurt those kids in that house.”
