Arizona investigators believe the elderly mother of well-known US television news anchor Savannah Guthrie, who was abducted from her home, may still be alive and at large four days after she was abducted. According to a Reuters report on Thursday, authorities said no suspects had yet been identified.
Here are the best updates:
1. Police and FBI officials said they had stepped up efforts to find 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, deploying additional officers and specialized forensics teams, even as the first of two ransom deadlines passed early Thursday evening.
2. Authorities said Guthrie was last seen on Jan. 31 when family members dropped her off at her home near Tucson after dinner. Relatives reported her missing around noon the next day.
3. Because her mobility is extremely limited, she was unable to leave her home unaided, leading investigators to conclude she was the victim of a kidnapping, Reuters reported.
4. At a news conference Thursday, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos shared new details from the investigation that confirmed reports that DNA tests showed blood found on the porch steps of the home belonged to Guthrie.
5. In a separate interview with CNN, Nanos said he immediately assigned his homicide detectives to the case, an unusual move given that there was no body. He said he based his decision on initial details from the crime scene, which he found “alarming”. “They described to me a scene that just disturbed me,” he said without further details.
6. A timeline of the investigation showed the victim’s doorbell camera was disabled and an app monitoring her pacemaker was disconnected from her phone line in the early hours of Sunday morning, when authorities believe she was abducted.
7. Five days into the search, investigators have yet to obtain proof of life or identify a suspect or “person of interest,” Nanos told reporters, but added, “Right now, we believe Nancy is still out there. We want her home.” Asked if he was worried she was dead, Nanos admitted he was, but added: “We’re working from the position that until we know, she’s out there, she’s alive, and we’re going to think that way until we find her.”
8. The FBI offered a $50,000 reward Thursday for information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.
9. FBI Special Agent Heith Janke said the alleged ransom letter sent to various media outlets this week was being treated seriously, but said there had been no further communication from anyone claiming to be holding Guthrie.
10. “In a normal abduction case, there would have been contact by now,” Janke said. The letter, the authenticity of which has not yet been definitively determined, set a Thursday deadline for payment of the ransom at 5 p.m., with a second deadline for the following Monday, Janke added, declining to provide further details. The authorities have not provided any further updates as the original deadline has expired.
(With inputs from Reuters)
