TUCSON, Ariz. — As the search for Nancy Guthrie enters its second week, parishioners were asked to pray for the missing 84-year-old on Sunday at the church where she’s been a congregant for decades.
Guthrie, the mother of NBC’s “TODAY” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing from her home in the Catalina Foothills community near Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 1. Authorities have described the case as a possible kidnapping or abduction, and there have been reports of ransom notes.
John Tittle, the pastor at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, led a prayer early in the service as he said the congregation continued to stand with the Guthrie family.
“We are seeking to just honor the family’s privacy and their desires,” Tittle said. “It was communicated to me, ‘pray.’ We’re going to keep praying through this horrific ordeal.”
The prayer asked for God to protect the 84-year-old matriarch and allow her to feel their love, as well as asking to “guide the authorities in their search for Nancy.” Tittle also asked to soften the hearts of “those who are responsible” so they may do what is “humane and right.”
Tittle focused much of his service on the need to forgive and be forgiven, acknowledging how difficult that can be.
“When we find ourselves heartbroken by the inhumanity and the evil that has been done to Nancy and her family,” Tittle said, “what do we do?”
Whether the harm is small or large, he added, forgiveness is “essential for our survival” and the only thing that can heal “hatred and bitterness.”
Amy Grover, the church’s director of communications, described Nancy Guthrie as a beloved part of the community. She has been a member of the church for about 30 years, Grover believed.
According to a timeline from Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, Nancy Guthrie returned home at 9:48 p.m on Jan. 31 after having dinner and playing games with her family. Her doorbell camera was disconnected at 1:47 a.m., and that camera has not been found.
There were multiple cameras in the home, and the software used for the cameras detected a person at 2:12 a.m., but officials said it’s unclear which camera detected movement and no video was recovered.
Nancy Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnected from her phone at 2:28 a.m., according to the timeline.
Her family went to check on her at 11:56 a.m. the morning of Feb. 1 and reported her missing just minutes after arriving at her home.
Many questions remain as investigators continue to probe the 84-year-old’s disappearance. No suspects or persons of interest have been identified by authorities in the ongoing investigation.
Nanos told reporters Thursday that blood found on the porch outside Nancy Guthrie’s house tested positive for her DNA. He would not answer whether there were signs of a forced entry into her home.
Reports indicate a possible ransom note referencing Guthrie was sent last week to three news outlets. 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.
Two notes were sent to local TV station KOLD. The station’s news director, Jessica Bobula, told NBC News on Saturday that the first message came in through its anonymous news tips system on Monday and the second just before noon Friday.
Neither note contained proof of life, but the first one said that Nancy Guthrie was fine, according to Bobula. She added that the author of the second note tried to make clear they also wrote the first note.
