Feb. 10 (UPI) — The family of Today show host Savannah Guthrie released a new video pleading for the public’s help in finding her kidnapped mother Nancy Guthrie.
“I’m coming on just to ask you, not just for your prayers, but no matter where you are, even if you’re far from Tucson, if you see anything, you hear anything, if there’s anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement,” Guthrie said in a post on Instagram. “We are at an hour of desperation, and we need your help.”
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Nancy Guthrie, 84, has been missing since Jan. 31, and police believe she was taken from her Tucson, Ariz., home. The Guthrie family, including Savannah and her brother Camron and sister Annie have made three other videos pleading for their mother’s safe return.
Monday at 5 p.m. MST was a ransom deadline that was given in a note, but the time passed with no contact from the kidnappers. Police haven’t verified that the ransom note is authentic. It was sent to several news outlets and demanded $6 million in Bitcoin.
The FBI said there is no ongoing contact between the family and the believed kidnappers. It said in a statement that the FBI is “not aware of any continued communication between the Guthrie family and suspected kidnappers, nor have we identified a suspect or person of interest in this case at this time.”
The agency is still sending staff to Tucson from other field offices.
“We are currently operating a 24-hour command post that includes crisis management experts, analytic support, and investigative teams. But we still need the public’s help.
“Someone has that one piece of information that can help us bring Nancy home. We need that person to share what they know. Please call us at 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
A source close to the family told NBC News that Nancy Guthrie had planned to go to a friend’s house the morning she went missing to watch a church service online. When she didn’t arrive on Feb. 1, friends called Annie Guthrie.
Michael Rudzena, pastor of Good Shepherd New York, told NBC’s Today show that Nancy Guthrie would visit the church before the pandemic. But during the lockdown, the church started streaming online services.
Nancy Guthrie is a “strong woman, and she is fiercely loving,” Rudzena said. “Over the years, we’ve gotten to know what makes her tick.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said Guthrie does not have cognitive issues, calling her “sharp as a tack.” But she has limited mobility and needs to take medication daily, or “it could be fatal,” NBC News reported.
She has a pacemaker, but it disconnected from its monitoring app on her phone early Feb. 1.
Lance Leising, former FBI agent, told USA Today he noticed that in the video Savannah Guthrie shared on Monday that it focused on the plea for public help.
“That could indicate a transition away from the ransom note lead and back to traditional-lead investigation. I get a sense that investigators worry that the public is too focused on the ransom lead and if that is fraudulent, then the public is not providing tips,” he said.
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