The chilling videos of a masked man outside Nancy Guthrie's home in Arizona before she vanished show just glimpses of the suspect, but for investigators they hold a mountain of clues.
And those images — from the suspect's gloves to his flashlight — could be what's needed to break the case.
''There's a tremendous amount of information that this guy left,'' said former FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt.
The FBI already has analyzed the videos from Guthrie's doorbell camera to identify the suspect's backpack, posting an alert on Thursday with a photo of the brand and model in hopes of narrowing down tips flooding the agency.
It has been nearly two weeks since the mother of ''Today'' show host Savannah Guthrie was believed to have been abducted.
Former criminal investigators say it's almost certain that authorities are building a physical and psychological profile of the suspect, using the footage released publicly on Tuesday that totals less than a minute.
Whether authorities recovered more footage isn't known, but technology will allow them to see more than meets the eye.
''Every single thing that is in the video is being digitally enhanced. Everything from the mask to backpack to the jacket,'' said Ed Davis, the former Boston police commissioner during the marathon bombing and manhunt in 2013.