Why ‘deleted’ doesn’t mean gone: How police recovered Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell footage

Video footage from Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera was recovered by Google and released by the FBI. | Image: The Verge, FBI

FBI Director Kash Patel said yesterday that investigators recovered footage from Savannah Guthrie's mother's doorbell camera using "residual data located in backend systems." This claim has many home security camera users asking an uncomfortable question: Is your data really gone when you hit delete?

When Nancy Guthrie went missing, officials said she had a doorbell camera...