Savannah Guthrie shares the tearing fear and heartache she experienced over Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance and the possibility that her mother was targeted because of her fame as a co-anchor on “Today.”
“I don’t know. I think it’s because she’s my mother and someone thought, ‘Oh, that girl, that woman has money. We can… make some quick money.’ I mean, that makes sense,” Savannah Guthrie told Hoda Kotb in her first interview since her mother went missing. “But we don’t know. I can’t bear to think that I brought this to her bedside. It’s my fault.”
Watch the rest of Savannah Guthrie’s interview on Friday’s TODAY.
More than seven weeks have passed since Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her home near Tucson, Arizona. She was reported missing on Feb. 1 after she failed to attend a virtual church service at a friend’s home, authorities said. She was last seen at around 9:45pm the night before, after eating at her daughter Annie Guthrie’s home.
Details of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance
Shortly after realizing they had no idea where their mother was, the Guthrie family knew something very alarming was unfolding. Savannah Guthrie said she worries her position as one of the most recognizable faces on broadcast television is having an impact.
She said it was her brother, whom she described as “brilliant” with a military background, who “really immediately understood what this was all about.”
“Even when I called him, he knew,” Savannah Guthrie said. “He said, ‘I think she was kidnapped for ransom.'” And I said, “What?” Now, why? what? ”
“You’re probably thinking what an idiot I am, but I just didn’t want to believe it. I just said, ‘Are you thinking that because of me?’ And he said, ‘I’m sorry, sweetie, but maybe you are.’ But I knew that,” Savannah Guthrie said.
Investigators have not yet released a suspect or motive for the disappearance.
“All I say is, ‘I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry.'” I feel sorry for my sister, my brother, my children, my nephew, and my brother-in-law, Tommy. ” Savannah Guthrie said.
“If it were me, I’d be sorry. I’m sorry.”
Nancy Guthrie’s health
Savannah Guthrie described the moment she learned her mother was missing. It was a horrifying phone call that started a missing person case that shook the nation.
“My sister called me… and said, ‘Are you OK?'” And she said, “No.” She said, “My mother is gone.” And I said, “What?” What are you talking about? ‘She said, ‘He’s gone,”’ Savannah Guthrie said. “She was panicking. I was panicking.”
Her sister and brother-in-law knew from the beginning that Nancy Guthrie was more than just a wanderer.
“Very early on, Annie and Tommy said, ‘This is different, this is not a case where someone is used to wandering. She can’t wander,'” Savannah Guthrie said, noting that her mother has a “bad back” and lives in “terrible pain.”
“On good days, she could walk to the mailbox and pick up her mail, but most days that wasn’t the case,” she said. “So there was no loitering. The door was thrown open, there was blood on the porch, and the Ring camera was pulled out.”
At first, her family thought Nancy Guthrie had some sort of illness and that emergency personnel had come to her home.
“The back door was propped open, which didn’t make any sense. I thought maybe they came and there was a stretcher and they took her out the back. But her phone was there, her wallet was there, all her belongings were there,” she said.
Within hours, Savannah Guthrie was on a plane to Tucson.
ransom letter
Weeks later, a major investigation by state and federal agencies continues. The investigation so far has included searching the property, asking neighbors for video surveillance, and reporting a ransom note.
Savannah Guthrie believes the two ransom notes are legitimate.
“I think we received a lot of different notes, and most of them, to my understanding, are not real. And I didn’t see them. But, you know, people who send fake ransom notes have to look really deep at themselves, at families who are suffering. But the two notes that we received, I believe we responded to, I’m inclined to believe they’re genuine,” she said.
Last month, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings posted a tearful video on Instagram pleading for more information from their mother’s possible abductor, saying the family was “ready to talk.” The family also offered a $1 million reward for her recovery.
In February, authorities released a video of the alleged suspect, showing a masked and armed person appearing to tamper with surveillance cameras at Nancy Guthrie’s home.
Savannah Guthrie said of the footage: “It’s absolutely horrifying. And I can’t imagine that was the person she saw standing over her bed. I can’t do that.”
united family
Savannah Guthrie called unfounded speculation that her family may be involved in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance “unbearable.”
“Pain upon pain. There are no words. There are no words. I don’t understand. No one cared for my mother as much as my sister and brother-in-law,” she said. “And no one was more protective of my mom than my brother. And we love her. She’s our shining light. She’s our matriarch. She’s everything to us.”
Arizona authorities have eliminated all members of the Guthrie family as suspects. “To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it’s cruel,” said Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos. “The Guthrie family is a clear victim.”
Savannah Guthrie said she and her siblings worked as “one united” to overcome the heartbreaking search for their mother.
Amidst the media frenzy, the two spent several weeks together in Arizona and were forced to move locations several times.
“There was a night when my sister, my brother, and I had to leave in the darkness of the desert, hand in hand, in a waiting car as the people outside approached us,” she said. “Those days are a blur. I cried and prayed.”
Savannah Guthrie said people have been “working tirelessly” to find her mother, but her family is desperate for answers.
She stressed that the family will not feel safe until they know what happened.
“We don’t feel safe if we don’t know. And someone can do the right thing. It’s never too late to do the right thing,” she said. “And our minds are focused on that.”
