It’s been nearly two months since Nancy Guthrie, the 84 year-old mother of the TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie, went missing from her home in Tucson, Arizona.
Over the weekend, we reported that Savannah had issued a new plea to the public, begging them not to forget her missing mom. Now, experts are saying that this plea was actually a “deliberate” move to reach Nancy’s kidnapper.
Savannah’s ‘Deliberate’ Move
“It was aimed directly at residents of Tucson and southern Arizona,” former FBI Agent Jason Pack told Page Six.
“The family chose a local television station, not a national platform. That is not an accident,” he continued. “NBC and its platforms would likely have aired it if asked. They targeted their own neighborhood. That tells you they believe someone local has information, or more likely, someone local has not checked their cameras yet because they assumed somebody else already did.”
Pack went on to say that staying relevant in the news cycle is an “uphill fight.” Meanwhile, investigators “have not helped keep the case in front of the public.”
“Law enforcement has not held a press conference in over a month, and it had been nearly three weeks since the family last made any public appeal before Saturday night,” Pack explained. “When investigators go dark and the media moves on, tip volume likely drops. That is just the nature of it.”
‘It Takes Time…’
However, Pack made a point of saying that just because authorities have gone quiet, it does not mean that the investigation is “stalled.”
“Weeks of search warrant returns, subpoena responses, lab work, and digital forensics are likely being worked and plotted against a timeline right now,” Pack stated. “The public does not see that work. It happens behind closed doors, and it takes time.
“Investigators are said to be pursuing genetic genealogy options and checking commercial DNA databases beyond the national system, but nothing official has come back,” he added. “That process is slow. It has also broken cases far colder than this one.”
Pack then said that Savannah’s latest statement carries “real operational weight” when it comes to residents checking their surveillance footage.
“Agents and deputies on that special task force should go back, ask to collect the footage directly, and review it themselves, even when a resident says there is nothing on it,” the former FBI agent said. “The resident does not know what nothing looks like to a trained investigator. Sometimes the most important frame in an investigation is the one the homeowner already dismissed.”
“If you can’t solve a seven-week-old kidnapping with DNA, thousands of hours of video, a million-dollar reward, and the full weight of the FBI, then the answer is probably sitting in somebody’s Ring camera footage they haven’t looked at yet,” Pack concluded.
Savannah’s Plea
Savannah’s latest statement came from her entire family. In it, they said, “We are deeply grateful for the outpouring from neighbors, friends and the people of Tucson, we are all family now. We continue to believe it is Tucsonans, and the greater southern Arizona community, that hold the key to finding resolution in this case.”
“Someone knows something,” the family continued. “It’s possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant. We hope people search their memories, especially around the key timelines of January 31 and the early morning hours of February 1, as well as the late evening of January 11.”
“We desperately ask this community for renewed attention to our mom’s case. Please consult camera footage, journal notes, text messages, observations or conversations that in retrospect may hold significance,” the Guthrie family added. “No detail is too small. It may be the key.”
‘We Miss Our Mom…’
The Guthries ended their latest statement by once again begging for Nancy to be returned so that her family can at least honor the life she led.
“We miss our mom with every breath and we cannot be in peace until she is home. We cannot grieve; we can only ache and wonder,” the Guthrie family concluded. “Our focus is solely on finding her and bringing her home. We want to celebrate her beautiful and courageous life. But we cannot do that until she is brought to a final place of rest. Thank you for continuing to pray without ceasing.”
The statement was signed “The Guthrie Family.” It specifically listed each sibling and their respective spouse: “Camron and Kristine, Annie and Tommaso, and Savannah and Michael.”
Nancy was last seen on the night of Saturday, January 31. That evening, she had dinner with her daughter Annie and son-in-law Tommaso. They dropped her off at home afterwards at around 9:45pm, and she tragically hasn’t been seen since.
A masked intruder was captured on Nancy’s doorbell ring camera in the early hours of February 1. He managed to cover the camera with some plants before moving forward with the kidnapping.
It has since been revealed that the masked man had been seen in the doorbell ring camera prior to the night Nancy was taken. This indicates that he may have been casing out her home.
This has clearly been an incredibly devastating couple of months for the Guthrie family. Please join us in saying a prayer for the return of Nancy Guthrie.