TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The search for “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother still had no suspect or person of interest Wednesday, authorities said, four days after she disappeared with signs of forced entry at her home in southern Arizona.
Investigators believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will over the weekend and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said they don’t have credible information indicating Guthrie’s disappearance was targeted. Guthrie has limited mobility, and officials do not believe she left on her own. Nanos said she is of sound mind.
“Detectives continue to speak with anyone who may have had contact with Mrs. Guthrie,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement on social media Wednesday. “Detectives are working closely with the Guthrie family.”
Multiple media organizations reported receiving purported ransom notes Tuesday that they handed over to investigators. The sheriff’s department has said it’s taking the notes and other tips seriously but declined to comment further.
The Pima County sheriff and the Tucson FBI chief urged the public to offer tips during a news conference Tuesday. Nanos has said Guthrie needs daily medication and could die without it. Asked whether officials were looking for her alive, he said, “We hope we are.”
Authorities say Nancy Guthrie was last seen around 9:30 p.m. Saturday at her home in the Tucson area, where she lived alone, and she was reported missing midday Sunday. Someone at her church called a family member to say she was not there, leading family to search her home and then call 911.
DNA samples have been gathered and submitted for analysis as part of the investigation. “We’ve gotten some back, but nothing to indicate any suspects,” Nanos said.
There were signs of forced entry at Guthrie’s home, evidence of a nighttime kidnapping, and several personal items were still there, including Guthrie’s cellphone, wallet and car, according to a person familiar with the investigation, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of an anonymity. Investigators were reviewing surveillance video from nearby homes and information from area license plate cameras and analyzing local cellphone towers data.
Guthrie’s upscale Catalina Foothills neighborhood is quiet and mostly dark at night, lit mainly by car headlights and homes spaced far apart. Long driveways, front gates and desert plants provide a buffer from the winding streets. Saguaro cacti tower above her home’s roofline, and wispy trees partially block the view of the front door. Decorative streetlamps and prickly pear cacti dot the grassy front yard.
Jim Mason, longtime commander of a search and rescue posse for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, said desert terrain can make looking for missing people difficult. Sometimes it’s hard to peer into areas that are dense with mesquite trees, cholla cactus and other brush, he said. His group is based 175 miles (280 kilometers) north of Tucson, and is not involved in the search for Guthrie.
On the other side of the country, Victory Church in Albany, New York, said it’s offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to finding Nancy Guthrie.
“Me and my wife, we watch Savannah every single morning. We’ve heard of her faith. We’ve heard of her mom’s faith. And she’s got such a sweet spirit,” Pastor Charlie Muller said.
For a third day Wednesday, “Today” opened with Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, but Savannah Guthrie was not at the anchor’s desk. NBC Sports said Tuesday that Guthrie will not be covering the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics “as she focuses on being with her family during this difficult time.”
The “Today” host grew up in Tucson, graduated from the University of Arizona and previously worked as a reporter and anchor at Tucson television station KVOA. Her parents settled in Tucson in the 1970s when she was a young child. The youngest of three siblings, she credits her mom with holding their family together after her father died of a heart attack at 49, when Savannah was just 16.
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Billeaud reported from Phoenix and Balsamo from Washington. Associated Press writer Michael Hill in Albany, New York, contributed.
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By SARAH BRUMFIELD
Associated Press
Authorities are looking for the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie after they say she was taken from her home in Tucson, Arizona, against her will over the weekend.
It’s imperative that Nancy Guthrie, who was last seen Saturday night, is found soon because she could die without her medication, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said.
The sheriff held a news conference Tuesday and urged the public to offer tips, but revealed few new details about the investigation. Officials have finished combing through Nancy Guthrie's home and turned it back over to the family, Nanos said.
He declined to say whether Guthrie’s disappearance was thought to be random or targeted or to describe the evidence found at her home. Investigators still do not have a suspect or person of interest, the sheriff's department said in a statement Wednesday morning.
There were signs of forced entry at Nancy Guthrie’s home, according to a person familiar with the investigation, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of an anonymity. Investigators also found specific evidence in the home showing there was a nighttime kidnapping, the person said.
Here’s what to know about the case:
Nancy Guthrie reported missing after she didn't go to church
Nancy Guthrie was last seen Saturday night at the affluent Catalina Foothills area home where she lived alone. She was reported missing Sunday. Someone at a church called a family member to say Guthrie wasn’t there, leading family to search her home and then call 911, Nanos said.
Initially, searchers used drones and dogs and were supported by volunteers and Border Patrol, Nanos said. But by Monday morning, he said search crews were pulled back.
“We don’t see this as a search mission so much as it is a crime scene,” the sheriff said.
There were signs of forced entry at the home and several personal items, including Guthrie's cellphone, wallet and car, were all still at the home, the person familiar with the investigation said. Investigators were reviewing surveillance video from nearby homes and information from area license plate cameras and analyzing local cellphone towers data, according to the person.
The motive remains a mystery. Investigators do not believe the abduction was part of a robbery, home invasion or kidnapping-for-ransom plot, the person said early Tuesday.
Later Tuesday, multiple media organizations reported receiving purported ransom notes that they handed over to investigators. The sheriff’s department said it’s taking the notes and other tips seriously but declined to comment further.
Asked Tuesday whether officials were looking for her alive, Nanos said “we hope we are.”
DNA samples have been gathered and submitted for analysis as part of the investigation. “We’ve gotten some back, but nothing to indicate any suspects,” the sheriff said.
Savannah Guthrie asks for prayers to help bring her mom home
This week, Savannah Guthrie has been in Arizona and hasn't appeared at the anchor’s desk. In a social media post late Monday, she asked supporters to “raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment. Bring her home.”
Savannah Guthrie grew up in Tucson, the youngest of three siblings and her father died of a heart attack when she was just 16. She graduated from the University of Arizona and previously worked as a reporter and anchor at KVOA-TV in Tucson. She joined “Today” in 2011 and became co-anchor the following year.
Nancy Guthrie held her family together after husband's death
Before the woman's disappearance, viewers got to know Nancy Guthrie through her daughter’s show. Savannah Guthrie credited her mom with holding their family together after her father’s death.
“When my dad died, our family just hung onto each other for dear life because it was such a shock. We were just trying to figure out how to become a family of four when we’d always been a family of five,” she said on “Today” in 2017.
During an appearance in a story Savannah Guthrie did about her hometown late last year, she was asked what made the family want to plant roots in Tucson in the 1970s.
“It’s so wonderful. Just the air, the quality of life,” Nancy Guthrie said. “It’s laid back and gentle.”