By SEJAL GOVINDARAO and JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — There was no public sign early Thursday of a response to NBC “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s message to her 84-year-old mother’s kidnapper.
In a recorded video posted on social media Wednesday, Guthrie said her family is ready to talk but wants proof that Nancy Guthrie, who authorities believe was taken from her home in Arizona against her will, is still alive. Guthrie said her family has heard media reports about a ransom letter.
“We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” Savannah Guthrie said while reading from a prepared statement. “We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.”
She was last seen around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, when she was dropped off at home by family after having dinner with them, the sheriff’s department said. She was reported missing midday Sunday after she didn’t appear at a church.
The family posted the message after police conducted a search in and around Nancy Guthrie’s home for several hours Wednesday.
Kevin Adger, a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, said investigators had been at the home earlier in the week for a couple of days and then turned it back over to the family with the understanding they could go back if they needed to.
“This is a follow-up investigation,” he said in reference to officials returning Wednesday.
Adger said the sheriff’s department was not commenting on the video released by the family.
Multiple media organizations reported receiving purported ransom notes Tuesday that they handed over to investigators. The sheriff’s department had said it was taking the notes and other tips seriously but declined to comment further.
The family’s message for Nancy Guthrie
Savannah Guthrie was at times emotional during the recording, with her voice cracking. She smiled and looked into the camera when addressing her mother directly, saying that the family was praying for her and that people were looking for her.
“Mommy, if you are hearing this, you are a strong woman. You are God’s precious daughter,” she said.
Savannah Guthrie described her mother as a “kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light” and said she was funny, spunky and clever.
“Talk to her and you’ll see,” she said.
Guthrie was flanked by her sister Annie and her brother Camron who both also spoke. Annie called their mother their beacon and said they need her.
“Mamma, If you’re listening, we need you to come home. We miss you,” Annie Guthrie said.
No suspect identified
Authorities on Wednesday offered no detailed update on their search and their next news conference was scheduled for Thursday. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos’ office said detectives still were speaking with anyone who had contact with Nancy Guthrie last weekend but that no suspect or person of interest had been identified.
Nanos suggested there was video from some cameras, though he didn’t elaborate, adding: “That’s all been submitted and we’re doing our best with the companies that own those cameras or built those cameras.”
There were signs of forced entry at the home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood. Guthrie has limited mobility, and officials do not believe she left on her own. A sheriff’s dispatcher talking to deputies during a search Sunday indicated that she has high blood pressure, a pacemaker and heart issues, according to audio from broadcastify.com.
Jim Mason, longtime commander of a search-and-rescue posse in Maricopa County, isn’t involved in the search for Guthrie but said desert terrain can make looking for missing people difficult. He said it can be hard to peer into areas that are dense with mesquite trees, cholla cactus and other desert brush.
“Some of it is so thick you can’t drive through it,” Mason said.
Supporters around the country
A couple hundred people attended an evening vigil for Nancy Guthrie at a Tucson church where they heard prayers and placed lit candles on an altar. A priest prayed for God to comfort Guthrie and to bring her home to those she loves.
Afterward, Jeremy Thacker had tears in his eyes as he described the heartbreak and helplessness he was experiencing over Guthrie’s disappearance. He worked with Savannah Guthrie at a local news station and they shared losing their fathers at a young age. His own sister was kidnapped when he was young.
Thacker said he knew Nancy Guthrie to be sharp, grounded and earnest.
“We’re all holding our breath,” Thacker said.
For a fourth day Thursday, “Today” opened with Guthrie’s disappearance, playing the family’s video message in its entirety, but Savannah Guthrie was not at the anchor’s desk. NBC Sports said Tuesday that she 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. Associated Press writers Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Michael Hill in Albany, New York, Darlene Superville in Washington and Julie Walker in New York contributed.