Nancy Guthrie’s daughter Savannah Guthrie pleaded for her mother’s safe return in a new video message that stressed the family’s willingness to pay “for her” after the search for the 84-year-old Arizona resident reached a seventh day. In the video, posted Saturday with her siblings, Guthrie addressed the individuals she believed to be holding Nancy Guthrie and asked them to come back so the family could “celebrate with her.”
Guthrie’s video explicitly referenced a ransom-style message investigators said had been sent to a Tucson television station earlier in the week. FBI Phoenix spokesperson Kevin Smith said Savannah Guthrie was responding to a message that was sent to KOLD on Friday afternoon, and Smith said the FBI was reviewing the communication. KOLD said it received an email related to the Guthrie case on social media on Friday but declined to share specific details about what it contained as the FBI examined it.
The AP reported that at least one of the communications that went to multiple press outlets included monetary demands and named Thursday evening and the following Monday evening as deadlines. Law enforcement officials at a Thursday news conference declined to affirm that the letters were credible, while saying all tips were being investigated seriously. Officials also said that one letter referenced Nancy Guthrie’s Apple watch and a specific feature of her property, according to the AP report.
The Saturday video was described by AP as the third plea this week directed at potential kidnappers. Investigators said they think Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her home outside Tucson last weekend, and authorities said DNA testing showed blood on Guthrie’s front porch matched her. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has also said investigators have not identified suspects or ruled anyone out.
Nanos said investigators were frustrated by the limits of the surveillance footage available from the home. He told AP that the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s home could not capture images of anyone the day she went missing. Investigators later found that the doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday and that software data recorded movement at the home minutes later, but they said no images could be recovered because Nancy Guthrie did not have an active subscription.
Authorities also said concerns about Nancy Guthrie’s health have grown as the days have passed, including that she needs vital daily medication. A sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com that the AP report referenced said she has a pacemaker and has dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues. Nanos said he did not have a way of knowing whether she was receiving medication.
Nanos and other investigators returned to the neighborhood on Friday, with the sheriff’s department posting on social media that access was restricted to the road in front of the home to give investigators space. The Catalina Foothills Association, a neighborhood group, told residents in a letter that authorities were resuming searches in the area immediately, saying the group’s president appreciated residents’ willingness to share camera images and allow searches of their properties.
The AP reported that Nanos said investigators have not given up on efforts to retrieve camera recordings, describing the situation as constrained by technology that can be difficult to access once it is already in the wrong state. He also said he had no new information about the note to the TV station or other purported ransom letters, saying the FBI is handling that side of the investigation.
As the search continued, the disappearance captured attention beyond Arizona, including from President Donald Trump. Trump, speaking on Air Force One on Friday, said the investigation was “very well” and he said federal authorities had “some clues that I think are very strong,” adding that there were “some things that may be coming out reasonably soon.”