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Every Star Trek Fan’s Worst Fears Confirmed By Tarantino Partner’s Meeting With Alex Kurtzman

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By Joshua Tyler
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Roger Avary is a well-known Hollywood producer and director who got his start co-writing Pulp Fiction with Quentin Tarantino. He now co-hosts Tarantino’s film podcast, The Video Archives, but in addition to all of that, he’s also a major Star Trek fan.

How big a fan is he? Avary claims his family watches two or three Star Trek episodes nearly every day. He loves Star Trek so much that he offered to work on it, basically for free, when current Trek overlord Alex Kurtzman began launching new Star Trek television shows in the 2010s. What Avary learned after meeting with Kurtzman is the nightmare scenario every Trekkie has always suspected.

Roger Avary on The Joe Rogan Experience

Avary told his story this week on The Joe Rogan Experience, saying of Alex Kurtzman, “I went in and met with the guy, I was like, I will write for scale. I will write on your new show. I just want to be part of it.”

If the writer of Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Pulp Fiction, and Beowulf wants to work on your project for nothing, that would seem like a win. There was one problem, though: Roger Avary isn’t just an acclaimed writer; he’s also a huge Star Trek fan.

Kurtzman’s response was a hard no, and as Avary explains it, “He didn’t want anybody who had any kind of fondness for the original show. He wanted to do something new and create something new.”

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Roger Avary has worked in Hollywood and helped write and direct some of the biggest, most successful movies of all time. Like his friend Tarantino, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of film and television. Because of that keen awareness of what’s good and what isn’t, he’s destroyed by what’s come of Star Trek in the wake of Kurtzman’s decisions.

An actual scene from Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Or as Avary put it: “This dweeb Alex Kurtzman just comes along and s**ts all over everything… Starfleet Academy is an abomination. I could not get through three episodes of Discovery. It’s just awful, awful storytelling… Picard was terrible.”

Roger Avary says he believes all film and television is, in some form, propaganda. Or as we sometimes phrase it on this site, screenwashing. The best movies, he suggests, are those that are personal propaganda in which a filmmaker has something personal or interesting he wants to say and delivers that message to the audience.

However, according to Avary, Alex Kurtzman’s Star Trek is corporate propaganda. Corporate propaganda is a form of screenwashing designed to deliver a pre-programmed message assigned by your overlords. Avary says of modern Star Trek, “They’re more interested in the corporate propaganda than they are any kind of personal propaganda.

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3 Years Later, We’re Still Waiting on a Sequel to the Best Fantasy Movie of the Last Decade

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The main party standing together and looking ahead in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Dungeons & Dragons has evolved from a role-playing game into a cultural phenomenon, impacting pop culture along the way. Without Dungeons & Dragons, Stranger Things wouldn’t have its big narrative hook. Critical Role wouldn’t be a thing, which means no Legend of Vox Machina or Mighty Nein. In 2023, Paramount decided to take the next logical step and make a D&D movie, resulting in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Honor Among Thieves is one of the rare films that were both critically acclaimed and box-office flops, which is a shame because it perfectly captures the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons.

As its title suggests, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is essentially a heist movie set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Led by the boisterous bard Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine), the barbarian Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), sorcerer Simon (Justice Smith), and druid Doric (Sophia Lillis) join forces to rob the Lord of Neverwinter, Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant), of his treasures. They end up embroiled in a sinister plot concocted by the Red Wizard, Sofia (Daisy Head), and wind up having to save Neverwinter. What follows is a fast, funny, and engaging adventure that will appeal to both Dungeons & Dragons super fans and newcomers to the game.

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‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Mixes Heart, Humor & Action

The main party standing together and looking ahead in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
The main party standing together and looking ahead in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Image via Paramount Pictures

Throughout Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, writer/directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley manage to keep up a blend of hilarious and emotional moments that are punctuated by bouts of action. A key example is when the party, led by Paladin Xenk Yandar (Regé-Jean Page), travels into the subterranean realm known as the Underdark to retrieve a magical artifact. They wind up running afoul of Themberchaud, a dragon feared throughout the land…only to discover that Themberchaud has packed on a few pounds over the years. Emotionally, the film doesn’t hold back: Edgin is putting himself through a lot to see his daughter and potentially resurrect his wife; Simon is struggling with his magic; and Doric wishes to protect her people from Forge’s greed.

Goldstein and Daley also manage to introduce plenty of Dungeons & Dragons Easter eggs, showcasing their deep love for the game. Whether it’s creatures like Mimics, the dreaded sorcerer Szass Tam, or the cast of the beloved Dungeons & Dragons animated series, these Easter eggs are skillfully woven into the movie; longtime fans can enjoy them, while newcomers won’t feel lost. Goldstein also told Den of Geek that the heist element of Honor Among Thieves was crafted to appeal to non-D&D fans.

“We wanted to create a film that would be entertaining and appealing to all audiences, whether you knew D&D or not. For that to work, we needed a sort of scaffolding and infrastructure for the movie that would be enjoyable and engaging. We’ve always wanted to do a heist movie.”

The response was extremely positive, as Honor Among Thieves currently holds a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Most reviews pointed out how it was one of the few modern blockbusters that actually managed to replicate the feeling of a Marvel Studios movie; ironically, Goldstein and Daley previously helped write the screenplay for Spider-Man: Homecoming, while producer Jeremy Latcham worked on some of Marvel’s biggest hits, including Guardians of the Galaxy. Sadly, Honor Among Thieves was released in the same month as other major blockbusters, like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and John Wick: Chapter 4; this resulted in a less-than-stellar box office haul.

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Live-Action ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Series Is Resurrected at Netflix After Paramount+ Cancellation

The previous live-action D&D adventure, ‘Honor Among Thieves,’ has become a fan favorite.

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Paramount Should Capitalize on Fantasy’s Resurgence with a ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Sequel

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves might not have set the box office on fire, but its story could potentially continue in a different form. Netflix is currently developing Dungeons & Dragons: The Forgotten Realms, a television series that is set in the same fictional realm as Honor Among Thieves. The timing couldn’t be more perfect; fantasy shows are making a splash on streaming services, and Honor Among Thieves was a big streaming hit for Netflix. If Forgotten Realms is a huge hit for Netflix, that could be the push Paramount needs to put another Dungeons & Dragons movie into production. In the meantime, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is still worth a watch, whether you’re a fan of the game or not.


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Release Date
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March 31, 2023

Runtime

134 minutes

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Producers

Nick Meyer, Brian Goldner, Jeremy Latcham

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TMZ’s Last Minute Valentine’s Day Cards!

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TMZ's Last Minute Valentine's Day Cards!

Ain’t no way we forgot about lover’s day! TMZ’s got you covered with the cutest custom cards — Hailee Steinfeld, Tate McRae and more hot stars are ready to spice up your Valentine’s Day!

Whether you’re ridin’ solo, cuffed up, or have your eye on a special someone … no need to run out to the store, ‘cuz these crafted cards are ICONIC!

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When you find your perfect match, click the link to download a printable version!

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Perfect, R-Rated Comedy Thriller Will Infiltrate And Destroy Your Life

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Perfect, R-Rated Comedy Thriller Will Infiltrate And Destroy Your Life

By Robert Scucci
| Published

Working as an office drone is the worst possible way to spend your time, especially if your doppelganger is showing up for work, running circles around you, and tarnishing your good name. Not only does Jesse Eisenberg’s doppelganger do all of these things in 2013’s The Double, nobody else at work seems to notice that his primary antagonist is his exact body double. It’s a bleak reminder of how little your coworkers actually pay attention to things like who they’ve been working with for the past seven years, what they look like, and what they do for a living.

After thinking about it for a minute, it’s not even that far-fetched of a scenario. Having to wear a shirt and tie, commute to a central office, and sit in a cubicle inside a windowless room, all while attending meetings that could have been an email, only to be rewarded with a slice of room-temperature pizza left over from yesterday’s sales meeting, is more than enough to suck the soul right out of you and turn you into a shell of a man who locks in without soaking in their surroundings.

The Double 2013

While The Double is clearly an unrealistic story, what’s depicted here doesn’t feel that far removed from what office culture could easily devolve into over the next decade. 

An Office That Makes Office Space Look Like A Beach Paradise

Set mostly in oppressively dank apartment buildings, corner offices, and cubicles, The Double centers on Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg), an office drone of the highest order who’s wandering aimlessly through life. Though everyone at the office works for a cold-hearted authority figure known only as The Colonel (James Fox), it’s never made entirely clear what anyone actually does for a living. It’s obvious they’re clerks for some wide-reaching, dystopian government agency, but beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.

The Double 2013

This level of impersonality in The Double feeds directly into its central conflict. Simon frequently forgets his ID badge and is never recognized by the security guards or his coworkers. He has to sign a visitor’s form just to go to work, as if he barely exists. Simon feels this same kind of invisibility when it comes to his coworker Hannah (Mia Wasikowska), who lives in the apartment building across from him but doesn’t even know he’s there. He admires her from afar, often collecting her torn-up art projects and saving them in a notebook for himself.

It’s a lonely existence for Simon James, until he meets his doppelganger, James Simon (also Jesse Eisenberg), who appears out of nowhere and suddenly starts working at the same office.

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The Double 2013

James Simon is everything Simon James is not in The Double, which immediately creates a number of problems. Simon is shy, reserved, and lacking confidence, content to blend into the background and quietly move through life. James, on the other hand, is charming, assertive, and instantly recognized as a standout employee, despite doing similar work to Simon, who barely gets acknowledged by anyone. Slowly but surely, James begins intruding on Simon’s life, eventually earning Hannah’s affection, much to Simon’s dismay. To make matters worse, nobody at the office seems to notice that Simon James and James Simon are identical, calling Simon’s grip on reality into question.

As Simon spirals, he gets to know James better, and the two even swap places on occasion in an attempt to live in each other’s shoes. These exchanges usually backfire, further straining their already toxic relationship and forcing Simon to question what it even means to be alive.

Sounds Like Another Movie That Came Out At The Same Time

The Double 2013

Based on the 1846 novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Double shares a similar premise with 2013’s Enemy, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. While it might be tempting to chalk this up to parallel development, the coincidence is actually stranger than that. Enemy is based on a completely different novel from 2002, also titled The Double, written by José Saramago.

Both films explore what happens when two perfectly identical men occupy the same space, and the personal fallout that follows when one’s likeness is used by someone else with questionable intentions. While they tell very different stories, they make for an interesting double feature if you want to see how two doppelganger narratives released in the same year end up echoing each other in unexpected ways, as if they were each other’s doppelgangers all along.

The Double 2013

Strangely enough, both films also exist within liminal, brutalist environments, trapping their protagonists in fluorescently-lighted spaces as their identities fracture and their personal lives collapse while they try to figure out where they belong in the world.

As of this writing, The Double is streaming for free on Tubi. Enemy, which explores similar themes and came out the same year, is currently streaming on Max.


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Kelly Clarkson’s Love Life Still Plagued By ‘Overwhelming’ Schedule

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Kelly Clarkson attends the 51st Daytime Emmy Awards

Singer Kelly Clarkson may be walking away from “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” but that doesn’t mean that she’s walking away from the entertainment industry. Following the death of her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, the “Stronger” singer recognizes that she needs to spend time with her two young children. Although she is putting family first, she is trying to find a balance between her personal life and her career.

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Kelly Clarkson Is Leaving ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ After Seven Seasons

Kelly Clarkson attends the 51st Daytime Emmy Awards
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As The Blast previously reported, the “Behind These Hazel Eyes” singer is leaving her talk show, “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” after seven seasons. Clarkson delivered the news in an emotional Instagram post on February 2, thanking her fans for “allowing our show to be a part of your lives” and emphasizing that it wasn’t “easy” to walk away.

“This was not an easy decision,” she wrote at the time. “Stepping away from the daily schedule will allow me to prioritize my kids, which feels necessary and right for this next chapter of our lives.” She went on to write, “I want to thank y’all so much for allowing our show to be a part of your lives.”

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Kelly Clarkson’s Ex-Husband Brandon Blackstock Passed Away Last Year

Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock at 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards
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Last summer, Clarkson’s ex-husband, music manager Brandon Blackson, passed away at age 48 after a 3-year battle with cancer. The loss was particularly difficult for their daughter, River, 11, and their son, Remington, 9.

Although she will still appear on season 29 of “The Voice,” which premieres on February 23, Clarkson wants to focus on her family and perhaps even find love again. One insider told Us Weekly that she is slowly opening herself up to dating again.

“Kelly’s been through so much in her life, and she just pushes on,” the source divulged. “A lot of that comes from her selfless nature. She has people who depend on her, and she puts them first.”

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‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ Began To Feel ‘All-Consuming’

Kelly Clarkson Performs On The Today Show
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Many fans don’t realize how much work went into the show behind the scenes, especially considering her fan-favorite Kellyoke performances. While they were enjoyed by fans, many failed to notice that Clarkson was struggling to keep up with the demanding workload behind the scenes.

“Kelly didn’t realize how all-consuming the show would be,” a second source told the publication. “It’s her entire life.”

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The source went on to say that she was “surprised” by how successful the show went on to be, as it won 24 Daytime Emmy Awards during its seven-year run. In addition, she interviewed some high-profile figures, including political figures like Hillary Clinton and Jill Biden, as well as actresses like Meg Ryan and Viola Davis, on her show.

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 The insider added, “The talk show became more than she initially bargained for, and left her with little time to pursue anything else.”

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Clarkson Wants To Go Back To Making Music

Kelly Clarkson at Variety's Power Of Women: Los Angeles
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The source added that the “A Moment Like This” singer is looking forward to releasing new music.

“Kelly asked herself, ‘Do I want to spend the rest of my life doing this?’ She wants to focus on things that she really loves,” the source shared. In addition to returning to music, they noted that she is also very busy with her Kelly Clarkson Home furniture and home décor line.

“When [Kelly leaves the show], she can split her time between live performances and her merchandising deals and take a step back,” they added.

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Senator Raphael Warnock Says There’s Nothing Wrong With Celeb Support

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Senator Raphael Warnock
I Welcome Celebrity Endorsements

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What I Like About You Cast: Where Are They Now?

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White House Rips Rep. Ilhan Omar Over Alleged Trump Execution Threat

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White House To Ilhan Omar
Stop Inciting Violence!!!

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The Most Disturbing CSI Episode Is Pure Nightmare Fuel

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The Most Disturbing CSI Episode Is Pure Nightmare Fuel

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published

For 15 years, CSI reigned on CBS as one of the highest-rated shows after perfecting the procedural formula. Every now and then, the series broke its formula, from “Lab Rats” focusing on the side characters to “4×10” telling a series of short stories, but none shattered viewer expectations quite like Season 11’s “Sqweegel.” The night-shift team was trying to figure out the motives and identity behind the gimp-suit-clad serial killer, leading to the most unexpected ending of the entire series: They failed. 

The Bad Guy Wins

Every now and then, there’s an episode of CSI where the villain’s triumphant, going back to Season 1 that occur din “Chimera,” except the doctor with twisted DNA eventually was brought to justice in a later episode. Sqweegel, named after the noise a little girl heard in a carwash, is never arrested, his identity is never uncovered, and he’s never seen again. When the episode starts, viewers know something is off about what they are about to see by the way the killer moves through a posh, upscale Las Vegas home. Slipping in through a window is one thing, but the way he walks up the stairs in a strange, herky-jerky motion that’s also inhumanly smooth and fluid is immediately unsettling. 

The team, led during this era by Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) and Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne), starts piecing together Sqweegel’s motive when they realize each victim was a hypocrite. The first was a disability-rights advocate who killed her son, but she admitted what she did and was allowed to live. Of the rest of the victims, a firefighter who starts fires to be a hero, and a cheating wife who serves on the Family Values Committee. As far as motives go, it’s par for the course for the procedural. It’s also the only part of the episode that’s normal. 

The visual of Sqweegel stalking his victims and slipping into spaces too small and tight for a normal human is somehow more disturbing than the usual dead bodies. Sqweegel’s final shot, lacing up the gimp suit and saying, “I am no one,” is more dark and more haunting than you’d expect from a network show. After the episode first aired in 2010, CBS didn’t outright ban it; instead, the network quietly pulled it from the regular rotation, but it’s available today wherever CSI is streaming

A Killer From A Different Series

“Sqweegel” felt like an episode from another series dropped into CSI. That’s essentially what it was. Series creator Anthony E. Zuiker wrote a series of novels alongside Duane Swierczynki called Level 26, which featured Sqweegel as the villain. The episode’s release date coincided with the release of Level 26: Dark Prophecy. Disturbingly, Sqweegel in the book was even darker and more disturbing than what was shown on network television. 

The character was brought to life by Daniel Browning Smith, a talented contortionist, who also co-hosted Stan Lee’s Superhumans. Smith has hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, which allows him a superhuman degree of flexibility. On the one hand, knowing that a real human was performing Sqweegel’s stunts and they weren’t special effects may make them worse, but on the other hand, Daniel Browning Smith also performs comedy and hasn’t killed anyone. 

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Corporate synergy is the real horror of CSI’s most disturbing episode. Because Sqweegel wasn’t created for the series, there was never going to be a resolution. Instead, he managed to kill, traumatize a child, and get away into the night, not because he was a criminal mastermind, but because of corporate licensing. Millions of fans were left wondering when he’d return, never realizing that they’d only learn his fate if they took a look, because it’s in a book. 


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Breaking down “The Masked Singer” season 14's biggest clues and guesses

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Retired Phoenix Sergeant Breaks Down Photo Clues in Nancy Guthrie Case

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Retired Phoenix Sergeant Breaks Down TK Clues in Newly Released Subject Photos in Nancy Guthrie Case

A retired police sergeant from Phoenix, Arizona — just a two-hour drive from where Nancy Guthrie lives in Tucson — says there are plenty of fresh clues to dissect in the newly-released images from her Nest doorbell camera.

“Overall, it’s a huge break in the case,” Troy Hillman, a retired cold case homicide sergeant with Phoenix Police Department, exclusively tells Us Weekly as the search for 84-year-old Guthrie continues.

The FBI has released six black-and-white photos and three video clips showing a potential subject involved, who was wearing a mask, black gloves and a backpack when approaching Guthrie’s residence on the night of her disappearance.

“You’ve got a lot of clues just baked in these, what seems to be a short amount of video,” Hillman notes to Us. “You’ve got the ski mask, you’ve got the eyebrows are distinctive. You’ve got what appears to be a mustache. You’ve got a height, a weight, they can guesstimate.”

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“They can kind of get biometrics on the facial features,” he points out. “There’s just a ton of information, the backpack, the way he wore his gun, what type of holster it is, what type of gun it was. The type of gloves he had on.”

Hillman spoke to Us hours before news broke on Wednesday, February 11, that FBI agents recovered a black glove from a roadside about one and a half miles away from Guthrie’s house, as first reported by The New York Post.

Retired Phoenix Sergeant Breaks Down TK Clues in Newly Released Subject Photos in Nancy Guthrie Case
FBI

Authorities believe that Nancy, who is the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, was taken from her $1 million home against her will after being dropped off at her home on the evening of January 31. She was reported missing on the afternoon of February 1 after she did not show up for virtual church services with a friend.

Savannah, 54, has pleaded for her mother’s safe return alongside her siblings, Annie Guthrie and Camron Guthrie, imploring anyone with information to come forward.

Meanwhile, the FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of Nancy.

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Former FBI Agent Claims Photos of Potential Suspect Indicate Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping Was Targeted


Related: Former FBI Agent Reacts to Photos of Potential Suspect in Nancy Guthrie Case

A former special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is sharing her assessment after investigators revealed new surveillance photos of a potential suspect in Nancy Guthrie’s ongoing disappearance. “A couple of things that stand out to me [are] you don’t see a vehicle in the background,” Tracy Walder, also a former CIA officer, […]

A man was detained in connection with the case on Tuesday, February 10, but he was released by police soon after, stating that he had no knowledge of Nancy’s disappearance while vehemently maintaining his innocence.

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Hillman told Us that authorities are likely hopeful that with the public’s help, they will discover another lead in the case. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has received nearly 18,000 calls to its tip line since February 1, and 4,000 calls in the last 24 hours, according to a new update on Wednesday, February 11.

“You can kind of assess all those things [in the footage] and then begin to kind of put those out and then you’re gonna get input from the community,” the Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter author shared. “Someone’s gonna say, ‘Oh, I know that guy’ or ‘Joe wears that particular jacket, and he fits the make and description of that particular person.’ So, it’s just a huge, huge break.”

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“It doesn’t mean it’s solved,” Hillman clarified. “It doesn’t mean Nancy’s home safe, but it means it’s a break in the case.”

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