Law enforcement officials have released a detailed timeline of events surrounding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, in what investigators are calling an abduction case.
The elderly woman was last spotted by family on January 31st following an evening visit to her eldest daughter Annie Guthrie’s Tucson residence, where she had dinner with Annie and her husband.
On February 1st, surveillance footage from Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera recorded a masked individual in the early morning hours attempting to disable the device. The person wore a ski mask, carried a backpack, had on gloves, and appeared to have a holstered weapon. Approximately 30 minutes following this incident, her pacemaker monitoring system lost connection with her phone line. Family members contacted police shortly before midday when Nancy failed to show up for her regular Sunday worship service.
Three days later on February 4th, Savannah Guthrie joined her siblings Annie and Camron Guthrie in posting their initial social media appeal regarding their mother’s vanishing. The family acknowledged media reports about ransom communications and urged the kidnappers to make contact with them directly.
By February 5th, investigators confirmed through DNA analysis that blood discovered on the missing woman’s front porch belonged to her. The same day marked the first missed deadline mentioned in an alleged ransom message at 5 p.m.
On February 7th, Savannah Guthrie appeared alongside her brother and sister in another video appeal for their mother’s safe return, stating: “This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”
Two days later on February 9th, the Today show host posted an Instagram video declaring: “We believe our mom is still out there” while requesting public assistance in the search. A second ransom deadline came and went without resolution.
February 10th brought significant developments when the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and FBI made public the doorbell camera footage showing the armed intruder at Nancy Guthrie’s residence. Sheriff’s officials later called this video evidence the most important breakthrough in their investigation. That same day, law enforcement conducted a search at a residence in Rio Rico, Arizona, located 60 miles south of Tucson near the border. One individual was detained for questioning but subsequently released without charges. Savannah Guthrie shared images of the masked suspect on Instagram with the message: “We believe she is still alive; bring her home.”
On February 15th, authorities recovered discarded gloves approximately 2 miles from the victim’s home that appeared similar to those worn by the suspect captured on camera. DNA samples were extracted from these gloves.
However, by February 17th, the genetic material from the gloves failed to match any profiles in CODIS, the national DNA database, according to FBI and sheriff’s officials.
The family announced a substantial reward on February 24th, offering up to $1 million for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery. This Instagram video message from Savannah Guthrie marked the first time the family publicly acknowledged the possibility that Nancy might be deceased.
On March 4th, further DNA testing revealed the gloves actually belonged to a local restaurant worker who was ruled out as a suspect, effectively eliminating what investigators had considered a promising lead.
Most recently on April 6th, Savannah Guthrie resumed her duties as co-anchor of NBC’s Today show.
