Savannah Guthrie said Saturday that her family is willing to pay for the safe return of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, as a desperate search for the 84-year-old woman entered its seventh day, the Associated Press reported.
“We have received your message and we understand you. We are asking you to return our mother to us now so we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted on social media alongside her siblings.
“Only then will we have peace. This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”
It was not immediately clear whether the longtime NBC “Today” anchor was referring to a new report from someone who may have kidnapped Nancy Guthrie, the AP reported.
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Tucson television station KOLD said Friday it had received an email linked to the Guthrie case but declined to release its contents, while the FBI confirmed it was aware of the message and was assessing its authenticity, the AP reported.
No suspects have been identified
Investigators believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her home just outside of Tucson last weekend. DNA tests showed blood on Guthrie’s front porch matched her, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said. Authorities have not identified any suspects or ruled anyone out.
The sheriff said Friday that he was frustrated that a camera at Nancy Guthrie’s home was unable to capture images of anyone on the day she went missing.
Investigators found that the doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday and that software data recorded movement in the home minutes later. However, Nancy Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so none of the images could be restored.
Read also | DNA confirms the blood found in the home belongs to Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy
“It’s disconcerting, it’s actually almost disappointing because you have high hopes,” Nanos told The Associated Press.
“Okay, they have a picture. ‘Well, we do, but we don’t.'”
US President Donald Trump said on Air Force One on Friday that the investigation was going “very well”.
“We have some leads that I think are very strong,” Trump said on the way to his Florida mansion. “We have some things that could come out fairly soon.
Investigators are returning to the scene
They were back in Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood on Friday.
The sheriff’s department posted on social media that access was restricted to the road in front of the home to allow investigators space. Journalists standing there were ordered to move.
The Catalina Foothills Association, a neighborhood group, told residents in a letter that authorities were immediately resuming their search of the area.
“I know we are all in a state of shared disbelief and grief, and we greatly appreciate your willingness to speak with law enforcement, share surveillance footage and allow searches of your properties,” the association’s president said in the letter.
Read also | The Nancy Guthrie case: Savannah received no public sign of a response from her “kidnapper.”
The sheriff said Thursday that investigators have not given up trying to obtain the surveillance footage.
“I wish the technology was as easy as we think it is, here’s a picture, here’s your villain. But it’s not,” Nanos told the AP. “There’s information coming to us from these technology groups saying ‘this is what we have and we can’t get it anymore’.”
The TV station receives the note
The sheriff said there were no updates on the memo sent to the television station or other alleged ransom letters sent to the media, adding that the FBI was overseeing that part of the investigation, the AP reported. At the same time, concerns about Nancy Guthrie’s health have intensified, as officials say she is addicted to essential daily medication. She reportedly has a pacemaker and has a history of high blood pressure and heart problems, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio posted to broadcastify.com.
Read also | Trump speaks to Savannah Guthrie: “He put every resource into getting her mother…”
We are begging you now, give us back our mother so we can celebrate with her.
It’s worrying, it’s actually almost disappointing because you have high hopes.
“I would imagine her conditions are getting worse by the day,” Nanos said. “She needs medication. And I have no way of knowing if she’s getting the medication.”