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
Savannah Guthrie is recounting the profound fear and anguish she’s endured since Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, expressing concerns that her mother’s status as a well-known TV personality could have made her a target. During her first post-disappearance interview with Hoda Kotb, she reflected on the possibility that her visibility on air might have contributed to the situation. “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. “I mean, that would make sense, 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.”
Nancy Guthrie, 84, vanished from her home in Tucson, Arizona, over seven weeks ago. She was last seen on the evening of February 1, after eating dinner at her daughter Annie Guthrie’s residence. Authorities reported her missing the following day when she failed to join a virtual church service at a friend’s house. “We thought maybe they came and there was a stretcher and they took her out the back,” Savannah Guthrie explained. “But her phone was there, her purse was there, and all her things. That didn’t make sense.”
“Even on the phone when I called him, he knew,” Savannah Guthrie said. “He said, ‘I think she’s been kidnapped for ransom.’ And I said, ‘What? Well, why? What?’”
Savannah’s brother, described as “brilliant” and with a military background, quickly recognized the severity of the situation. “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,’” she recounted. “But I knew that.”
Her sister and brother-in-law were among the first to suspect foul play. “From the very early moments, Annie and Tommy were saying, ‘This isn’t — this isn’t that case that you are used to where someone wanders off. She can’t wander off,’” Savannah noted. She highlighted her mother’s chronic back pain, which often left her unable to move independently. “On a good day, she could walk down to the mailbox and get the mail, but most days not,” she added. “So, there wasn’t a wander-off. And the doors were propped open, and there was blood on the front doorstep, and the Ring camera had been yanked off.”
Investigations into Nancy Guthrie’s vanishing have included land searches, neighbor video footage, and ransom notes. Savannah Guthrie asserted that two of the notes are authentic. “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. But, you know, a person that would send a fake ransom note really has to look deeply at themselves, to a family in pain. But I believe the two notes that we received that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real,” she explained.
Despite the uncertainty, Savannah and her siblings have taken steps to aid the search. Last month, they released a heartfelt video on Instagram, pleading for information from anyone who might have taken their mother. “We’re ready to talk,” they said in the clip. The family has also offered a $1 million reward for Nancy’s safe return. “I’d just say, ‘I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry.’ I’m sorry to my sister and my brother and my kids and my nephew and Tommy, my brother-in-law,” Savannah said, expressing her grief and guilt.
