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“They didn’t even tell me what’s going on until the detectives got here … They told me I was being detained for kidnapping, and I asked them, ‘Kidnapping of who?’” Carlos recounted.
“Nancy Guthrie,” Hatchett replied.
Carlos responded: “Yeah, that’s her. And I told him, I work in Tucson for GLS. I might have delivered a package to your house, but I never kidnapped anybody. They held me from like 4 p.m. [local time] to right now.”
He described the evidence against him as minimal. “Like, they didn’t have no – it was insufficient evidence. Like, they only had a phone on me. That’s all they had,” Carlos said.
When asked how he felt during the detention, he admitted the situation was terrifying. “Sh*t, bro. I’m facing life. I’m going to lose everything.”
By the end of the night, he said deputies told him he was “free to go.” Carlos claimed Pima County had cleared him, though he acknowledged the FBI could still contact him.
“I’m innocent,” he insisted. “I’ll let you know that. I didn’t do anything.”
WATCH:
The full interview with Hatchett offers insight into Carlos’ confusion and fear:
HATCHETT: So, Carlos, walk me through it. Had you heard of Nancy Guthrie before tonight?
CARLOS: Never until today.
HATCHETT: Never until today?
CARLOS: I watched the news and I googled her number or her name. And they couldn’t prove it to me. Like, they didn’t have no – it was insufficient evidence. Like, they only had a phone on me. That’s all they had. And supposedly I was at her house, but like I said, I work delivering packages to GLS. I might have delivered a package to your house.
HATCHETT: But didn’t kidnap anybody?
CARLOS: No. [laughs]
HATCHETT: So what’s going through your head when they’re telling you you kidnapped somebody?
CARLOS: Sh*t bro. I’m facing life. I’m going to lose everything.
HATCHETT: And so they detain you. Hours later, what did they tell you?
CARLOS: That I’m free to go.
HATCHETT: Free to go.
CARLOS: Yeah. And Pima County, they already cleared me, but the FBI, they might not or something like that. I don’t know. I’m still like –
HATCHETT: So Pima County has let you go, but the FBI may still reach out?
CARLOS: The detective in charge right here – I don’t remember his name – he told me that they’re not looking into me no more, but somebody else might.
HATCHETT: Obviously, you hadn’t followed the news. This is major: Nancy Guthrie’s daughter is Savannah Guthrie from NBC’s Today Show. She’s been missing for more than a week. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department put out that they had detained a person of interest, which is you?
CARLOS: I guess so. [laughter]
HATCHETT: How do you feel about that?
CARLOS: I’m not happy about it.
Carlos also explained the personal impact of the detention. “I was just stopped south of Tucson … Well, they broke into my in-laws house. Now we got to go.”
As the investigation continues, Carlos remains adamant about his innocence and hopes authorities will clear him entirely. His harrowing experience underscores the tension and confusion surrounding one of the most high-profile missing persons cases in recent Arizona history.
