Today Show co-host Savannah Guthrie released a video Monday afternoon pleading for help in locating her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie.
“We are at our hour of desperation,” she said, “as we enter another week of this nightmare.”
Speaking alone, Guthrie looked understandably pale, teary, and exhausted after an unimaginable eight days of horror.
Police say that last week, in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning, Nancy Guthrie was forcibly abducted from her Tucson home just hours after being dropped off by her son-in-law around 9:45 p.m. Saturday night. No one has seen her since.
Authorities say Nancy’s blood was found at the scene, as were all the belongings someone leaving of their own free will would take with them.
We’ve been told that Nancy is frail and that she requires a certain medication to remain healthy. That medicine was left behind, as was the Apple Watch connected to her pacemaker.
In the days since, the Guthrie family has received ransom notes, some reportedly requesting millions of dollars but no proof that Nancy is still alive.
Nancy’s three children — Savannah, her brother, and her sister — have released a number of videos saying they agree to pay the ransom. Various news reports claim there is some sort of vital deadline today, Monday at 5:00 p.m.
In today’s video, which was released just hours before this reported deadline, Savannah thanks everyone for the “prayers and the love that we have felt — my sister and brother and I, and that my mom has felt, because we believe that somehow, some way, she is feeling these prayers, and that God is lifting her even in the moment, in this darkest place.”
“We believe our mom is still out there,” she adds.
Savannah goes on to praise law enforcement for “working tirelessly around the clock, trying to bring her home, to find her.” She then asks for the public’s help.
“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, if you hear anything, or there’s anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement. We are at an hour of desperation, and we need your help.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
The video came with a note: “please. bring her home. we need you. she needs you. all of you.”
John Nolte’s first and last novel Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.
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