Netizens Say Alex James Barnett Looks Like Nancy Guthrie's 'Porch Guy' as Arrest Warrant Drops

The Pima County Sheriff's Department has issued an arrest warrant for 33-year-old murder suspect Alex James Barnett in Arizona, and within hours netizens were asking whether he also looks like Nancy Guthrie's mysterious 'Porch Guy'.

Deputies allege Barnett is one of three people involved in the 19 August shooting that killed 23-year-old Tucson Police Department recruit Carlos Ramirez at a home in south Tucson.

The same sheriff's office is also leading the high-profile investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie from her Catalina Foothills home earlier this year.

As Barnett's image began circulating online, social media users started placing his photos alongside doorbell footage of the masked man long known as 'Porch Guy' in the Guthrie case, even though law enforcement agencies have not linked the two cases, but the speculation is running wild.

Murder Case Against Alex James Barnett Draws Online Fire

Detectives have identified Alex James Barnett as one of three suspects in the Ramirez homicide investigation and obtained a first-degree murder warrant for his arrest.

In a public appeal, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said it is also searching for two additional, unnamed suspects and wants help from the public to identify them.

In the department's own words, 'An arrest warrant has been issued for 33-year-old Alex James Barnett in connection with the murder of Carlos Ramirez. Detectives also need help identifying 2 additional suspects.'

To support that appeal, the sheriff's office released surveillance videos and stills they believe show the trio in the hours around the shooting. One clip, timestamped about 5.20am on 19 August, appears to show Barnett and another, unidentified man at a Shell petrol station on West Valencia Road near Casino del Sol.

A second video, according to the department, captures a third, unknown suspect stepping out of a vehicle in a car park near South Palo Verde Road and East 33rd Street at roughly 10.50am the same morning. Investigators believe that vehicle was involved in the incident, although they have not released further detail on how the locations connect.

The official line remains focused on the homicide. Barnett is wanted, two alleged accomplices have yet to be named and detectives are looking for leads.

Social Media Fixates on Barnett and Nancy Guthrie's 'Porch Guy'

As photos of Barnett spread across X, a corner of the internet that has latched onto the Nancy Guthrie disappearance decided it saw something more than just a murder suspect.

Users began circulating side-by-side screenshots of Barnett next to stills of 'Porch Guy', the masked figure seen on Guthrie's front porch on the night she is believed to have been taken.

One user wrote, 'Umm maybe it's just my eyes but that guy when he looked down walking kinda resembled the guy caught on Nancy Guthrie security camera and where did he drop the other 2 off at?'

Another, leaning into the amateur-sleuth vibe, told followers, 'PCSD Needs the public's help locating these monsters. Stay vigilant, folks. Now I ain't one to gossip, but these SHOES on the first guy seem eerily familiar and the second guy looks like a possibility in the Nancy Guthrie case too. NOT saying they're connected but LOOK at him. His tats. His gait. His height & weight. Maybe they make a habit of using gray SUVs, too?'

Others went even further, trawling Barnett's history and the Ramirez surveillance clips. 'This guy got out of prison late 2025. Any connection to Nancy Guthrie? See the way he walks?' one person claimed.

Another user, analysing the gas station footage frame by frame, insisted, 'That guy when he gets out of the vehicle walks like the perp for Nancy Guthrie! He swings his head around low and watch his walk as he walks away. 857 is saying that he's old, but I see muscular arms.'

An account that has been tracking the Guthrie case for months posted a facial comparison of Barnett and 'Porch Guy' and invited followers to vote on whether they matched.

Crucially, there is no official indication that Barnett has any role in the Guthrie disappearance, and neither the Pima County Sheriff's Department nor the FBI has suggested a link between the two investigations.

Nancy Guthrie Case Keeps Returning to One Masked Man

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing on 1 February after failing to appear for a church livestream she was known never to miss.

Authorities believe she was taken from her home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson on the night of 31 January. Six months on, no suspect has been named publicly and investigators have given no update on her whereabouts.

The central image in the case remains the Nest doorbell footage released by the Pima County Sheriff's Department, showing a masked figure approaching Guthrie's front door on the night she vanished.

The man is dressed in a ski mask and gloves and is described by the FBI as between 5ft 9in and 5ft 10in tall, of average build, carrying a black 25-litre Ozark Trail backpack and apparently armed with a holstered handgun.

Online commentators dubbed him 'Porch Guy' and, in the absence of any arrest, he has effectively become the public face of the mystery.

Investigators have said DNA evidence connected to the Guthrie case is still being processed, with the sheriff's department working alongside the FBI and multiple laboratories.

They have repeatedly urged Tucson residents to think back to three key dates, 11 January, 31 January and 1 February, and to submit any home security footage or memories of unusual activity that might help. A combined reward topping $1.2 million, including contributions from the Guthrie family, remains on offer for information that leads to answers.

The murder warrant for Alex James Barnett stems from a dawn shooting at a residence in the 7700 block of South Enchanted Spring Drive, south of Tucson, on 19 August. According to the Pima County Sheriff's Department, deputies were called shortly before 6am and found two gunshot victims inside the house.

Ramirez was pronounced dead at the scene, and his fiancée, also 23 and identified by the department only as a woman employed as a PCSD corrections officer, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and later released.

Ramirez had recently joined the Tucson Police Department as a recruit and previously worked as a corrections officer for the sheriff's department, which means this killing landed uncomfortably close to home for local law enforcement. From there, detectives began pulling video, following vehicles and, eventually, naming Barnett.

The Ramirez killing has shaken a city already on edge over the Guthrie disappearance.

Barnett is one of three suspects identified so far, and the public appeal underscores how much investigators still need from witnesses. At the time of publication, the Sheriff's department had not commented on online theories linking Barnett to 'Porch Guy'. Speculation can assist, but it can also complicate an active homicide investigation and a missing-persons case that relies on clear, corroborated tips.