Missing Nancy Guthrie case: Savannah releases another video, says family living ‘endless nightmare’; what do we know | Today’s news
Savannah Guthrie, host of NBC’s “Today” show, reposted a video on Monday (local time) in which she pleads for the return of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, who went missing from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on February 1.
In her video, Savannah says her family is living through an endless nightmare that started about six months ago. She begged her captor, saying, “Tell us where to look for her.”
The video released Monday is the latest public plea from the journalist, whose mother was last seen on Jan. 31 after having dinner with her daughter Annie Guthrie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni. Savannah added that her family will never stop looking for their mother.
Read also | Savannah fights back tears after news claims Nancy Guthrie is dead
She added: “The world can be a cruel and unforgiving place and I know you’ve tried to do things the right way. So I’m asking you to do the right thing now. Make the right choice. Help us find her. Tell us where to look for her. I truly believe it’s never too late to do the right thing.”
The Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping Case: Here’s What We Know
Authorities believe Nancy was abducted, kidnapped or otherwise held against her will on February 1st. Blood was found near the front door of her home outside Tucson, and the FBI later released surveillance footage showing a masked man on the porch that night.
In the weeks after she disappeared, search teams and volunteers combed the nearby desert terrain marked by cacti, bushes and boulders. Additionally, a volunteer group recently searched for her body near the Arizona-Mexico border. While authorities did not reveal how many alleged ransom demands were made after her disappearance, three news organizations said they had received ransom payments on several occasions and passed them on to investigators.
The FBI ruled out some of these ransoms as nothing more than extortion attempts, but said it was still evaluating others that might be legitimate.
Read also | TMZ boss says FBI ‘exposed’ TMZ for Nancy Guthrie’s lead
Last month, news organization TMZ reportedly received an email that suggested the sender knew the identity of Nancy Guthrie’s kidnappers. The development comes days after investigators probing the case concluded that the ransom money claiming her death came from her kidnappers. In the latest email obtained by TMZ, the sender claimed to have a video of the “main guy” with the 84-year-old on the day she died. The outlet said it confirmed the latest email was from the same sender as the previous messages, citing the use of the same alias and identical Bitcoin address.
The sender went on to claim that two hijackers were involved, writing: “I have my phone hidden in a safe place that guarantees both the information it stores and the safety of the phone.” He continued: “It has my definition of delivery on a silver platter: a short video of the main guy with Nancy, the day that was probably her last, photos of both involved, names and addresses and their ages.”
Savannah Guthrie is looking for answers
Earlier, Savannah made a series of posts on social media pleading with people to share information about her mother after she disappeared. In the days after her disappearance, Guthrie and her siblings admitted they were aware of media reports about the alleged ransom letter and were willing to deal with whoever sent it. However, they insisted on proof that their mother was still alive. A few weeks later, Guthrie announced that her family had offered a $1 million reward for information leading to her mother’s recovery. She also acknowledged for the first time that her mother may no longer be alive, while insisting that the family had not given up hope.
