Arizona authorities say they believe Today show host’s mother is still alive | Arizona
The search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC Today show host Savannah Guthrie, entered its sixth day Friday in Arizona as authorities said they believed she was still alive.
“She’s out there, we’re going to find her, we have to do it,” Chris Nanos, sheriff of Arizona’s Pima County, said in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America Friday morning. “Pray – just pray,” he said.
Asked if he could “work on prayers” in the absence of good leads in the case or ways to contact those who allegedly kidnapped Nancy Guthrie, Nanos added: “Sometimes I have to, I don’t have a choice.” »
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the location of Guthrie and/or the arrest or conviction of anyone involved in his mysterious disappearance.
Nancy Guthrie was reported missing Sunday morning in the Tucson area after she failed to show up to her usual church. She was last seen by relatives at her home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood, north of the southern Arizona city, on the evening of January 31.
Her disappearance remains under investigation as a possible kidnapping, and as of Friday morning, no suspects or persons of interest had yet been identified.
Thursday evening, Savannah’s brother, Camron Guthrie, made a new plea in a video posted to social media.
“Anyone who holds our mother, we want to hear from you,” he said. “We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to contact us, we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward. But first we need to know that you have our mother. We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact.”
The call came shortly after Nanos held a news conference in which he said authorities believed Guthrie was still alive.
“Right now, we think Nancy is still out there,” Nanos said. “We want her to come home. Our department – the Sheriff’s Department – along with all of our partners at the FBI, have been working around the clock, and we just want her to come home and find a way to get to the bottom of this, just like you.”
Nanos confirmed that blood spatter found near the front door of Nancy Guthrie’s home tested positive for her DNA. He also said Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnected from his personal monitoring device at 2:28 a.m. Sunday. Authorities also said her doorbell camera had been disconnected the night she disappeared.
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the location of Guthrie and/or the arrest or conviction of anyone involved in his disappearance.
“She is considered a vulnerable adult who has difficulty walking, has a pacemaker and requires daily medication for a heart condition,” the FBI missing persons bulletin states.
