Police believe Today host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy, was abducted from her home while she was asleep, as authorities continue to search for the 84-year-old.
“I believe she was abducted, yes,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told CBS News on Monday. “She didn’t walk from there. She didn’t go willingly.”
Nancy went missing from her home in Arizona on Saturday night, with the family reporting her missing on Sunday, around midday.
On Monday, Nanos confirmed that her disappearance is now being treated as a crime.
Speaking on Erin Burnett OutFront on Monday, Nanos said while Nancy has mobility issues, her mind is “sharp as a tack.”
“Her wits are about her,” Nanos said. “This isn‘t somebody who wandered off. This is an elderly woman in her mid-80s who suffers some ailments that makes her mobility, her ability to walk around very difficult.”
Nancy could not walk further than 50 yards, the sheriff told CNN. He said “some things at the scene,” which he could not detail, indicated she was removed from her house against her will.
“I‘ve been doing this for 50 years,” he explained. “I have a gut feeling, but it came to me yesterday... that she was abducted... something about that scene made me believe that there’s more just a missing person. Today we still hope she’s alive... but you can’t ignore what you’re seeing at the scene. Time is of the essence.”
Guthrie is also in urgent need of her daily medication. “The family has told us 24 hours without those meds could be fatal,” Nanos told CNN. “And here we are at 30-plus hours or more. If somebody knows something, just call us. Just let her go and we‘ll come get her. We never give up hope.”
Neighbors are being asked to check home video footage for anything that may be helpful to authorities. Nancy Guthrie is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, has brown hair, blue eyes and weighs 150 pounds.
Nanos said they are not treating the incident as an abduction for a ransom and have been working with the Today show host’s security team.
He said the alarm was raised after members of her church reported Nancy had not attended on Sunday morning.
“This is a big case to this community because it‘s not often... that we see somebody in the middle of the night in their safe home environment and bed all of a sudden disappear.”
Anyone with information or tips can contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at (520) 351-4900.
Speaking on CBS, Nanos said the Guthrie family “just want their mom home.”
Guthrie did not appear on Today show on Monday, after returning to Arizona to be with her family.
She is also set to miss hosting the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, with the 54-year-old planning to travel to Italy for opening ceremony duties this Friday.
In a statement read by her Today show cohosts on Monday, Guthrie wrote, “Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom.”
Guthrie has previously spoken fondly of her mother and their close bond. “She loves us, her family, fiercely, and her selflessness and sacrifice for us, her steadfastness and her unmovable confidence is the reason any of us grew up to do anything,” she said in a 2022 tribute for her mother’s 80th birthday.
