In-Depth: Guthrie case brings back memories for some Foothills residents

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]Nancy Guthrie's disappearance [music] reopening old wounds in her Catalina Foothills neighborhood. For years, a different high-profile criminal had all of Tucson on edge. A man the Pima County Sheriff's Department dubbed the Primetime Rapist, targeting women across Tucson for 3 years, burglarizing their homes and sexually assaulting them. So, in this map, it shows the general locations of more than 30 home invasions and more than 90 victims targeted by the suspect from 1983 to 1986, and some of those homes are in Nancy Guthrie's neighborhood. Eventually, the Pima County Sheriff's Department surrounded the home of that man right there, Brian LaRiva, who they say was responsible. But, LaRiva took his own life before he could be arrested.

[00:00:47]Tonight, News 4 Tucson's Andrea Capasso has more on the impact both cases have had on this community.

[00:00:55]Good evening. Several of the victims' homes in that Primetime Rapist case are not far from here in the Foothills near Campbell and Skyline. Both the detective who cracked that case and the neighbors who still live around here say this is a resilient community. Something they say is proving to be just as important now as it was decades ago.

[00:01:18]This was my bike route. This was my home. Many people in this community still don't like to talk about it, saying the Nancy Guthrie investigation brings them back decades. Several victims live less than a mile from where Nancy Guthrie's home is today. It changed people's lifestyle because children were afraid to sleep in their own bedroom. Robbie Mayer remembers all too well. He was with the Sheriff's Department and cracked the case.

[00:01:42]>> We ended up with like over 4,000 leads, but but it just terrorized the community.

[00:01:47]It's uh Tucson became fortress Tucson back then.

[00:01:52]And now, that frightening feeling is back for some, especially in this neighborhood, back in the spotlight 30 years later for a different high-profile investigation. We're getting attention for something bad again. This neighbor who didn't want to be on camera says her community always seems to bounce back.

[00:02:10]We get closer with tragedy. We are close-knit. Nothing will ever change that.

[00:02:16]Mayor says the Primetime Rapist was a drug addict known to use cocaine inside his victim's homes. And he says for him finding Larriva's drug dealer was key.

[00:02:26]The voice spoke to me and said, "Rob, you're going to solve that case by finding his drug connection." And that is what led him to Larriva 5 months later. Mayor says patience and resilience is also needed in the Guthrie investigation.

[00:02:40]>> a lot of diligence and willpower. Now, some guys I've chased 18 months before I caught them.

[00:02:44]You know, or one guy I was after for 5 years before I caught him.

[00:02:48]But I think you have to be patient and and and don't get discouraged.

[00:02:52]Something neighbors here are also trying to do. We're here for each other. We help make this community safe.

[00:03:00]And Mayor goes on to say there's a lot of things to look at both in the case he cracked and the Guthrie investigation.

[00:03:07]His message for investigators, what he thinks happened, and when he thinks the case will be solved. That part of the story coming up tomorrow night at 8:00.

[00:03:17]In the Catalina Foothills, I'm Andrew Capasso, News 4 Tucson.