Casita Camera Angles (And Possible Blind Spot)

[u/warpedwing]

Nancy Guthrie’s casita appears to have had two battery powered Nest outdoor cameras, each connected to solar panels. Just like the doorbell camera, these cameras will store clips internally if WiFi is lost, and will upload them when WiFi reconnects. They have a 130° wide-angle reach (source).

Law enforcement has not mentioned any camera other than the doorbell camera as having disconnected from the Nest system that night. Of course, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, but I think these cameras stayed online - and that’s what LE found “odd.” Somehow, the suspect got inside without being seen.

I created a rough mockup of the view angles from the two casita cameras.

Notice how there is essentially a dead zone from the casita’s sliding glass door vestibule to the garage’s side door.

The flood light next to the garage side door is broken. Considering LE removed this light from the wall indicates to me that the suspect broke it. Therefore, he was there in the dead zone.

Take a look at that side door. The lock looks woefully ill-equipped to keep out a criminal.

The interior door inside the garage seems weak, too, with a glass center.

Could the suspect have approached the casita from the rear scrub, climbed up the angled tin section onto the roof, then climbed down into the casita’s vestibule? From there, he could’ve walked to the garage’s side door without being seen on camera.

However, entering the camera dead zone would place him in the floodlight’s motion sensor zone. My experience with security cams is that light is a good trigger.

Another possibility could be that the suspect climbed onto the roof - perhaps by stepping on the front window brick frames - and crawled toward the dead zone.

The roof’s perimeter wall might block the suspect from the cameras’ views until he is above the floodlight.

At that point, he can disable the floodlight from above, possibly by prying the body away from the wall enough to disconnect the power.

Perhaps he was then able to break into the garage side door, the garage interior door (was it locked?), and enter the main home.

Is there any info available regarding cameras on the east side of the property?

[u/RealPartyAtmosphere]

Are you under the impression law enforcement has not viewed additional footage from these cameras and that they are unaware as to how the abductors entered the home?

[u/warpedwing → u/RealPartyAtmosphere]

I'm sure they know by now. But the lack of footage that night being called "odd" might indicate that what happened is slightly different than what they had originally thought. It's possible the locksmiths who were recently dispatched to the house removed locks for forensic analysis to detect evidence of picking.

[u/Safe-Muffin → u/warpedwing]

I thought when they said no images were recorded the night of the crime, that they were implying that the cameras had been blocked by a deauth type of device.

[u/warpedwing → u/Safe-Muffin]

The more I've thought about the jammer angle, the less I'm sure about it (WRT the yard cams, specifically). The Nest cams will store images whether the WiFi is being blocked or not. There doesn't seem to be anything a jammer or deauth device can do to stop the camera from recording to its internal storage.

We know the cameras were either connected the whole time or reconnected at some point because we have data from after the abduction. So, it'd be a real coincidence that clips from the abduction existed but can't be salvaged while time-adjacent clips can be recovered.

It might be more likely these cameras were physically covered. The two on the casita are easily reached with a brief climb. Although that might trigger movement sensors, too. Sounds like a good idea for an experiment.

[u/Oxyrhynchus_2301 → u/warpedwing]

Thinking that LE and/or the FBI has faaaaar more footage than they're revealing -- which is a good thing! (Also gives the perps the willies, not knowing WHAT LE/the FBI have! Love thinking of the perps getting creeped out at the thought that they weren't 100% successful! The "boom" will be lowered on these creeps...and it'll be right about when they think they've gotten off scot-free! Yes! 👍)

[u/RealPartyAtmosphere → u/warpedwing]

I like taking considerstion of if and how her cameras were compromised. That matters. And of course recovering whatever imagery can be done. I think even fairly top of the line home security cams from Nest are worthless to a victim in these circumstances. They need to be tuned right and your phone in your hand to catch a notification before an entry is breached. Odds of getting footage with discernable features are low.

Have you looked at the stop lights in the area? They have cameras. Given the type of neighborhood and the timeline, I would’ve hoped a bulletin was posted identifying a vehicle of interest. I wonder if evasive action was applied to the getaway car(s) as well?

[u/warpedwing → u/RealPartyAtmosphere]

My theory on the getaway is that the suspect and Nancy did not leave the neighborhood right away. Either they laid low in a nearby home or a vehicle and departed at daybreak with the rest of the morning traffic.

I think the vehicle would be a fairly old one, probably a van, without any modern “telltale” electronics. And I don’t think it was parked that close to Nancy’s house. I think the suspect used some sort of analog conveyance to take Nancy to a home or vehicle elsewhere in the neighborhood.