The desperate search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC’s “TODAY” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, is ongoing, with mounting questions about what happened to her and concerns for her physical health.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on Feb. 1 from her home in the Catalina Foothills, an unincorporated community north of Tucson, Arizona.
Authorities have described the case as a possible kidnapping or abduction, and there have been reports of ransom notes.
Guthrie was last known to have visited family Jan. 31 and returned home that evening. She was reported missing the afternoon of Feb. 1 after not showing up at church.
On Thursday, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos laid out a timeline of events (all times are in Mountain Time):
Saturday Jan. 31
5:32 p.m.: Guthrie left her home in an Uber to go to local family members’ house “for dinner and playing games with the family, just visiting,” Nanos said. Authorities spoke with that Uber driver, he said, without providing specifics on that conversation.
9:48 p.m.: She was dropped off at home, where she lives alone. The garage door opened at that time and it closed two minutes later.
Sunday Feb. 1
1:47 a.m.: Her doorbell camera was disconnected. Nanos said that the doorbell camera has not been located and noted there were multiple cameras at the home.
2:12 a.m.: Software detects a person on camera, but there is no video available. It’s not clear which camera detected the person. Nanos said the camera had no subscription, and that it’s possible an animal triggered the software.
2:28 a.m.: Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnects from her phone.
11:56 a.m.: Guthrie’s family goes to check on her at home and discovers she’s missing.
12:03 p.m.: A 911 call was made. Deputies arrived about 10 minutes later.
What the investigation has uncovered so far
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department believes Guthrie was taken “possibly in the middle of the night, and that includes possible kidnapping or abduction.”
The sheriff said Thursday that blood found on the porch outside Guthrie’s house tested positive for her DNA. He said his office would not comment on whether there was forced entry to the home.
A sign is posted at the house of Nancy Guthrie, NBC host Savannah Guthrie's mother, in Catalina, Ariz., on Feb. 3.Jan Sonnenmair / Getty Images
Her cellphone was left at home and is in the possession of authorities.
No suspect or person of interest has been identified. Nanos said that nobody has been ruled out. “We’re actively looking at everybody we come across, in this case, everybody,” he said.
NBC News video from Friday night shows a car being towed from Nancy Guthrie’s residence as the FBI processed the home as a crime scene, and photo and video records indicate the vehicle had previously been seen in her garage and is believed to belong to her.
Guthrie’s health
Nanos has said Guthrie does not have cognitive issues, characterizing her as “sharp as a tack.” However, he said, she has limited mobility and needs to take medication daily or “it could be fatal.” Nanos said he does not know whether Guthrie’s medication was still at her home.
“She is mobile. It’s a challenge for her to get, as the family says, she couldn’t walk 50 yards by herself,” he said.
She has a pacemaker — a device typically implanted under the skin to regulate heartbeat — which disconnected from its monitoring app on her phone early on Feb. 1.
In an emotional video posted to her Instagram page on Wednesday, Savannah Guthrie pleaded for her mother’s return, noting her health is fragile.
“She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive, and she needs it not to suffer,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video, flanked by her sister, Annie, and brother, Camron.
Ransom notes
Reports indicate a possible ransom note has been sent to three news outlets referencing Guthrie. NBC News has reviewed a copy of the note, and the contents are consistent with the descriptions provided by the FBI and those news outlets. No law enforcement agency has so far substantiated the note.
Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix division, said Thursday that the possible ransom note is being investigated.
He said one reported ransom note “had facts associated with a deadline with a monetary value they were asking for.” When further pressed about its legitimacy, Janke said Thursday at a news conference that “one talked about an Apple Watch, one talked about a floodlight,” but he declined to go into further specifics.
The ransom note being probed by the FBI had two deadlines — one at 5 p.m. Thursday and a second deadline for Monday, Janke said, adding that the note did not establish a means for communication.
Camron Guthrie on Thursday appeared in a video message around the same time as that 5 p.m. deadline, asking for a way to communicate with whoever could be holding his mother.
“Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly,” he said in a video posted to Instagram. “We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we move forward.”
Janke said the FBI takes the ransom threats seriously.
He also warned that impostors who send fake ransom letters will be “held accountable.” A man arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday was accused of sending texts to the Guthrie family asking about bitcoin that was demanded in a reported ransom letter, according to a federal criminal complaint out of Arizona. The messages are not linked to an earlier reported ransom demand.
The FBI and Nanos’ office announced Friday afternoon they were “aware of a new message regarding” Guthrie. “Investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
Jessica Bobula, the news director of local TV station KOLD, which received the two notes, said neither provided proof of life, but that the first note said Guthrie was fine.
The second note “was certainly not a ransom demand,” Bobula said, noting it did not ask for money, and it differed “in almost every way” from the first. One of the notes did not provide an image of Guthrie but “a description,” she said.
Bobula said the author of the second note appeared to be trying to prove that they were the same sender as the first note.
Asked if the note indicated what might happen if the Monday deadline is missed she said, “They did.” When asked if the note indicated Guthrie could be harmed in some way, Bobula said, “Yes.”
“We received your message and we understand,” she said. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace.”
“This is very valuable to us, and we will pay,” Savannah Guthrie said in closing, holding her siblings’ hands.
She did not provide specifics about the message she referenced.
Law enforcement officials were searching for a vehicle in Arizona that may be connected to the investigation, NBC News learned on Friday. Officials haven’t said if the vehicle or vehicles are definitively connected to any part of the crime, or if that lead has since evaporated.
A Circle K spokesperson told NBC News that law enforcement visited one of its convenience stores on Oracle Road in Tucson after “receiving a tip regarding a vehicle of interest, and our team has provided them access to the store’s surveillance video.”
The sheriff's office said Saturday that authorities have not identified any vehicles connected to the case.
What we don’t know
Authorities have declined to provide specifics about a range of questions at the center of the investigation. Here are some of the details that are unknown or have not been publicly released.
How someone could have entered Nancy Guthrie’s home at that hour.
What happened to her doorbell camera. Authorities on Thursday said it had been removed.
What caused Guthrie’s home camera to detect movement at 2:12 a.m. Sunday. Nanos said the camera was sent to a technology company, which said it exhausted all methods to recover video from the device.
Whether any of the reported ransom letters are legitimate. They remain under investigation by the FBI.
State and federal resources have been deployed in the search for Guthrie.
Members of the press work outside the home of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of “TODAY” show host Savannah Guthrie, on Feb. 5 in Tucson, Ariz. Caitlin O'Hara / AP
Federal and local resources
President Donald Trump called Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday to offer words of support. Later, in a post on Truth Social, he said he would direct all federal law enforcement to be at the disposal of the family and local law enforcement.
The FBI is also working jointly with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, bringing in agents and analysts and deploying additional intelligence and agents from its Phoenix office.
Agents are analyzing digital sources, including bank information, social media and phone companies for a digital footprint, Janke said Thursday.
The FBI announced a $50,000 reward on Thursday for information leading to Guthrie’s recovery.
Officials continue to ask the public for tips. Anyone with information, no matter how small, is asked to report it at 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov.
