What to know about Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping and the race to find her

TUCSON, Ariz. — It’s been a week since “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother disappeared from her Arizona home in what authorities believe was an abduction.

Investigators reviewed the ransom demands and searched for evidence, but did not name a suspect. Police returned to the home of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie near Tucson and the surrounding neighborhood on Friday to continue their search.

Here’s what you need to know about the case:

Family members told officials they last saw Guthrie at 9:48 p.m. on Jan. 31 when they dropped her off at home after eating dinner and playing games together. The next day, her family learned that she was not going to church. They reported her missing after going to see her.

Guthrie has a pacemaker and requires daily medication. His family and the authorities fear that his health is deteriorating day by day.

Authorities believe Guthrie was taken against her will from her home in an upscale neighborhood set in hilly, desert terrain. DNA testing showed blood on Guthrie’s porch matched his, the county sheriff said.

Investigators discovered that her doorbell camera had been disconnected early Sunday and that software data was recording movements at the home minutes later. But investigators were unable to recover the footage because Guthrie did not have an active subscription to the service.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told The Associated Press in an interview that investigators have not given up trying to access the footage.

“I wish the technology was as simple as we think it is, that here’s a photo, here’s your bad guy. But it’s not,” Nanos told the AP on Friday. “There’s information coming to us from these tech groups that are saying, ‘This is what we have and we can’t get any more of it.’ »

The president of the Catalina Foothills Association, a neighborhood group, thanked residents in a letter for agreeing to speak with law enforcement, share camera footage and allow searches of their properties.

At least three media outlets reported receiving purported ransom notes, which they handed over to investigators. Authorities made an arrest after a ransom demand turned out to be false, the sheriff said.

It is unclear whether all the notes were identical. Heith Janke, head of the FBI in Phoenix, said the details included a request for money with a deadline Thursday evening and a second deadline Monday if the first was not met. At least one note mentioned a projector at Guthrie’s and an Apple Watch, Janke said.

Investigators said they took the notes seriously.

On Friday, KOLD-TV in Tucson said it received a new message, via email, related to the Guthrie case. The channel said it could not release its content. The FBI said it was aware of a new message and was investigating its authenticity.

Concern over Guthrie’s condition is growing as authorities say she requires daily medications vital to her health. She suffers from a pacemaker, high blood pressure and heart problems, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on Broadcastify.com.

Guthrie’s children recorded two separate video messages to their mother’s kidnapper and posted them publicly on social media.

Savannah Guthrie filmed a sometimes emotional message Wednesday asking the kidnapper for proof that her mother was alive. She stressed that technology today allows easy manipulation of voices and images and that the family needed to know “without a doubt” that they are alive and in the hands of the kidnapper.

Police have not said they received false images of Nancy Guthrie.

Savannah Guthrie described her mother as a “kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of kindness and light” and said she was funny, courageous and intelligent.

“Talk to him and you’ll see,” she said.

She said a few words directly to her mother, telling her that she and her siblings would not rest until they were all together again.

The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information on Guthrie’s whereabouts.

The White House said President Donald Trump called and spoke with Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday. He posted on social media that he was ordering federal authorities to help where they could.

On Friday evening, he told reporters accompanying him to his Florida property aboard Air Force One that the investigation was going “very well” and that investigators had solid clues.

This kidnapping is the latest to attract the attention of the American public.

Other notorious kidnappings in U.S. history include the son of singer Frank Sinatra, the granddaughter of media mogul William Randolph Hearst, and the 9-year-old girl after whom the AMBER Alert was named.