TUCSON, Ariz. — Fighting back tears on Tuesday, “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie stepped away from her anchor role just long enough to make a heartfelt plea to the public, urging anyone with knowledge of her missing mother’s whereabouts to speak up.
“We are in agony, and we cannot be at peace. … We love our mom. We’ll never stop looking for her,” Guthrie said from the “Today” desk in New York, clutching a tissue in her left hand.
Her mother, Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on February 1 from her home in the Tucson area, where she had been living alone. More than a week after her disappearance, the FBI released footage from a camera mounted outside her front door that showed an unidentified masked individual approaching the home. Investigators also discovered blood on the porch, but the case has yet to be solved.
Several news outlets had previously acknowledged receiving ransom notes in the days following Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance but had held back on reporting the details while the investigation was still in its early stages. Members of the Guthrie family had been informed about the notes.
Tucson television station KOLD reported Monday that it had received two separate notes — one demanding millions of dollars in Bitcoin in exchange for Nancy Guthrie’s safe return, and another claiming she had died. CNN also reported on the contents of the notes, citing law enforcement sources.
According to CNN, one of the notes indicated that the individuals responsible for her kidnapping did not intend to kill her, but that she passed away shortly after she was taken.
Savannah Guthrie addressed the situation carefully on Tuesday, noting her separation from the news coverage. “I don’t have any comment on this story. I’m not involved in our coverage,” she said, referring to NBC News. “But I can’t pretend I’m not here. And since I am, I want to just take the opportunity to ask people — really to beg people — to come forward. Somebody knows something.”
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department directed questions about the ransom notes to the FBI. A request for comment sent by email was not immediately answered.
In the weeks following Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, volunteers and search teams combed through the rugged desert landscape near the area — terrain marked by cactuses, bushes, and large boulders. A search was recently conducted near the Arizona-Mexico border, but her body was not located.
Throughout the ordeal, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have periodically posted videos on social media urging the public to come forward with any tips. She has asked supporters to “raise your prayers with us” and has gently acknowledged the possibility that her mother may now be in heaven, dancing “with our daddy.”
