After Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping, Arizona residents scramble to build ‘safe rooms’ with heavy doors

After Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped, terrified Arizona residents built panic rooms. Nancy Guthrie has not been found nearly a month after she was abducted from her Tucson home.Kevin Hand, a burglar-proof “safe room” expert at Sportsman Steel Safes in the Grand Canyon State, told the Daily Mail his company has been flooded with calls to quickly install thick steel doors and secret hiding rooms in people’s homes.

According to the New York Post, Hand told the newspaper that “the volume of calls and business has increased tremendously since the Guthrie case.” He noted that many people fear they might be pulled out of bed and never seen again.“Since the Guthrie case, there’s been a huge increase in calls and business,” said Kevin Hand, of Sportsman Steel Safes, which specializes in break-in-proof “safe rooms.”He said Sportsman Steel Safes has been installing heavy-duty doors and safe rooms for wealthy customers in Texas and California for decades, but now middle-class families in Arizona are his latest customers, and inquiries have been booked for weeks.The abduction of Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show star Savannah Guthrie, “made people think, ‘What would we do if someone broke in tonight?'” Hand said.“People don’t want this to happen to them or their families, and they realize maybe it can,” he added.Hand, whose clients include government officials, said Arizonans are choosing to tear down their homes and remodel rooms with 800- to 1,000-pound steel doors that are often hidden in plain sight, such as inside walk-in closets.“We made them look like a normal door. It looks normal; looking from the outside, people wouldn’t know it was a panic room,” he said.But behind the door is a keypad-locked room with thick concrete walls reinforced with fire- and ballistic-resistant materials, making entry “impossible” for intruders. These rooms can also be used to lock valuables and firearms.“If you’re a relatively high-profile person, there are some simple precautions you can take to make your home kid-proof, and now everyone wants the same,” Hand said.Steve Humble, owner of Arizona-based Creative Home Engineering, told the Daily Mail his secret door cost $1,000, with the reinforcement panels costing up to $8,500.The process from measurement to final installation takes about 90 days, Humble said.“In an armed attack, it’s a small price to pay to save the lives of family members,” he said.Nancy Guthrie is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in the early hours of February 1st. Despite a massive FBI-assisted investigation, Guthrie remains missing, and nearly a month after her abduction, no suspects have been found.