Savannah Guthrie feared her mother may have been targeted because of her fame
Savannah Guthrie feared her mother may have been targeted because of her fame
More than seven weeks have passed since Nancy Guthrie, 84, vanished from her residence near Tucson, Arizona. The disappearance unfolded after she missed a virtual church service at a friend’s home, prompting authorities to report her missing on February 1. She was last seen the preceding evening, around 9:45 p.m., following a meal at her daughter Annie Guthrie’s house.
The Disappearance
At the time, the Guthrie family was uncertain about the nature of the event. “We thought maybe they came and there was a stretcher and they took her out the back,” Savannah Guthrie recalled. Yet, the absence of her mother’s belongings—her phone and purse remained at the scene—suggested something more deliberate. The front doorstep bore blood, and the doors were left ajar, with the Ring camera torn from its mount.
Connecting Fame to Fear
Savannah Guthrie has expressed profound fear and emotional turmoil over her mother’s absence. She questioned whether her own prominence as a “TODAY” co-anchor might have made her mother a target. “I don’t know that it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought, ‘Oh, that girl— that lady has money. We can … make a quick buck,’” she shared in her first interview since the incident. “But we don’t know. Which is too much to bear, to think that I brought this to her bedside. That it’s because of me.”
“It sounds so, like, how dumb could I be? But I just — I didn’t wanna believe. I just said, ‘Do you think because of me?’ And he said, ‘I’m sorry, sweetie, but yeah, maybe.’ But I knew that.”
Ransom Notes and the Search
Investigators have yet to publicly name a suspect or clarify the motive behind the disappearance. However, Savannah Guthrie expressed confidence in two ransom notes the family received. “There are a lot of different notes, I think, that came. And I think most of them, it’s my understanding, are not real. And I didn’t see them,” she said. “But a person that would send a fake ransom note really has to look deeply at themselves, to a family in pain.”
Within hours of learning of her mother’s absence, Savannah Guthrie boarded a plane to Tucson. The family’s efforts have included land searches, neighbor video surveillance requests, and a $1 million reward for information leading to Nancy’s recovery. Savannah described the moment she learned of her mother’s disappearance as a “dreaded phone call” that marked the beginning of a national attention-grabbing case.
A Family in Turmoil
Savannah Guthrie recounted the panic of her sister and brother-in-law, who immediately sensed the severity of the situation. “Annie and Tommy were saying, ‘This isn’t — this isn’t that case where someone wanders off. She can’t wander off,’” she noted, emphasizing her mother’s chronic back pain and limited mobility. “On a good day, she could walk down to the mailbox and get the mail, but most days not.”
Despite the uncertainty, the Guthrie family has remained resolute. They recently posted a heartfelt video on Instagram, pleading with anyone with information to come forward. “If it is me, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Savannah said, echoing the grief that has gripped her family during the search for Nancy Guthrie.
