Terrified Arizona residents are rushing to build panic rooms after the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie — who has still not been found nearly a month after she was snatched from her Tucson home.
Kevin Hand, who specializes in break-in-resistant “safe rooms” at Sportsman Steel Safes in the Grand Canyon State, told the Daily Mail his business has been flooded with calls of late to quickly install thick steel doors and secret hiding rooms in people’s homes.
“There has been a huge spike in calls and business since the Guthrie case,” Hand told the paper, noting that many people are scared they could be ripped from their beds, never to be seen again.
Sportsman Steel Safes has built heavy-duty doors and safe rooms for wealthy clients in Texas and California for decades — but now middle-class families in Arizona have emerged as his newest customers, with consultations already booked for weeks, he said.
The abduction of Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show star Savannah Guthrie, has “people thinking, ‘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’re realizing maybe it can,” he added.
