‘Please help us bring Nancy Guthrie home,’ FBI pleads as search stretches into third day

CNN, KOLD, PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPT, INSTAGRAM, SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, Instagram/Savannah Guthrie

By Elise Hammond, Chelsea Bailey, CNN

(CNN) — More than 48 hours after Nancy Guthrie was reported missing from her Arizona home, investigators still are looking for her and asking the public for leads, officials said Tuesday in a news conference about the missing 84-year-old mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie.

“Every lead and tip is important. We are aggressively pursuing and looking into every single one again,” Jon Edwards, assistant special agent in charge of FBI’s Tucson office, told reporters. “Please help us bring Nancy Guthrie home.”

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos did not indicate there were any new leads that would point to a suspect in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.

“We do believe that Nancy was taken from her home against her will, and that’s where we’re at,” Nanos said Tuesday.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen Saturday night at her home in the Catalina Foothills near Tucson, and police say time is of the essence to find her, especially since she is without crucial daily medication. After her family reported her missing Sunday, law enforcement found a “very concerning” scene at her house that spurred a criminal investigation, Nanos said earlier this week.

Savannah Guthrie, who traveled to Tucson after learning her mother was missing, is now asking for prayers for her family.

Here’s what we know:

Sheriff on Tuesday: Nothing yet to indicate a suspect

Nanos on Tuesday largely declined to share specific details about investigators’ findings and at times candidly admitted to not having answers.

“We have all kinds of investigative leads we’re working on,” Nanos said when asked if anyone who may have taken her had made demands or asked for ransom.

“We are sharing all of our leads with the FBI they are helping us in in evaluating those leads.”

Samples of DNA from Guthrie’s home have been submitted to labs for testing, Nanos said.

“We’ve gotten some (results) back, but nothing to indicate any suspects,” he said.

Reporters pressed the sheriff to share details on whether there were signs of forced entry in the home, items missing, blood at the scene, or if there is a specific time frame the public should focus on.

“I don’t really want to get into narrowing down the time, because narrowing it down means we can miss some tips and leads,” Nanos said.

When was she last seen?

Nancy Guthrie was last seen Saturday when her family took her home from dinner around 9:30 or 9:45 p.m., Nanos told CNN. They got her in the house, and she went to bed, he said.

When Guthrie did not show up to church Sunday morning, a church member called her relatives, who went to her home around 11 a.m. to look for her, the sheriff said at a news conference Monday.

A family member called 911 around noon Sunday to report her missing, Nanos said, and homicide detectives were sent to the home.

“Something that they told me about that scene made me believe that there’s more than just a missing person,” Nanos said about the decision to set in motion a criminal investigation. “We still hope she’s alive, and we continue with those missions of search and rescue.”

Officials do not know what time she was taken, Nanos said.

Nanos initially told NBC News, “When you’re taken from your bed and you don’t want to go somewhere, that’s an abduction.” But Nanos “meant that figuratively and did not mean she was literally taken from her bed,” the sheriff’s department later clarified to NBC.

What was found at the house?

Law enforcement is treating Guthrie’s house as a crime scene and has described the circumstances around her disappearance as suspicious, Nanos has said.

Authorities found blood inside Guthrie’s home, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday, citing law enforcement sources not authorized to discuss the case publicly. The report did not detail whose blood was found or where in the house it was found.

CNN has reached out to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for comment about the blood.

Nanos declined to elaborate Tuesday on whether blood was found inside the home.

“I’m not saying there’s blood inside that house or outside that house,” Nanos said at Tuesday’s news conference. “What I’m saying is our team processed the scene like you would think of any crime scene.”

The case is “not dementia-related,” Nanos had said Monday, and Guthrie is “of great sound mind” and “sharp as a tack.” But she also has limited mobility and “couldn’t walk 50 yards,” the sheriff said, leading investigators to believe she was taken from the house.

“This isn’t somebody who wandered off,” Nanos said Monday.

“We also have some things at that scene that indicate to us that she was removed from that scene against her will. I can’t go into all those details” to protect the integrity of the case, Nanos said Monday.

He also declined Monday to say whether it appears Guthrie was hurt during the incident.

Police have Guthrie’s cell phone and are looking through that as well, Nanos said.

Asked by CNN whether Guthrie could have been part of a kidnapping-for-ransom plot, given her daughter’s high profile, Nanos said Monday that is not the direction investigators are taking, but “we’ll never rule it out.”

Investigators also do not believe it was a home invasion or robbery gone wrong, Nanos told MS NOW, adding they’re not dismissing that possibility, either.

Right now, “time is very critical” in finding her, the sheriff said Monday. Missing her daily medication “could be fatal” for Guthrie, he said.

Who’s involved in the investigation?

Local authorities are leading the investigation, and FBI agents from across Arizona are “fully engaged” and offering technical resources, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN Monday. This includes assisting with analysis of data from cell phone towers near the Guthrie home.

A priority for investigators right now is downloading security footage from the house, Nanos said Monday. Private companies such as Google and Apple have also been offering assistance, the sheriff said.

Officials are urging the community to help, asking neighbors to look through video footage from their homes and call in any suspicious activity. Any bit of information could help investigators piece what happened together, he said.

The sheriff’s department set up a tip line for people to submit videos or images that may be useful to the investigation, and a reward of up to $2,500 is being offered for information leading to an arrest.

Authorities are also looking through digital evidence, including by using a license plate reader and scrubbing surveillance video. It is unclear whether a vehicle was involved, Nanos said Monday.

Border Patrol brought its dog team to help in the search, he told CNN.

“We take a very strong regional approach to law enforcement in this community,” Nanos said. “The Tucson Police Department, sheriff’s department, 10 other local agencies in this valley – I’ve heard from them all.”

The sheriff was optimistic, saying Monday: “I really believe that we’ll find her.”

What has Savannah Guthrie said?

Savannah Guthrie is in Arizona, Nanos said. The “Today” show opened Monday with a statement from her: “On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support. Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom.”

The statement also urged anyone with information to contact the sheriff’s office.

The anchor’s security team has also been in touch with the sheriff’s department, Nanos said, adding law enforcement is not aware of any threats against the TV anchor.

“Thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy,” Savannah Guthrie wrote in an Instagram post late Monday, describing her mother as a “a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant.”

“Raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment. We need you,” she wrote, quoting a Bible passage from Isaiah before ending with a solemn message: “Bring her home.”

Guthrie’s cohosts on “Today” continued their emotional pleas for help in finding Nancy Guthrie on Tuesday’s program.

“I saw that post from Savannah last night. I hit my knees and prayed,” Carson Daly said. “I don’t think I’ve ever prayed for anything harder in my life.”

The White House offered prayers for the Guthrie family and Nancy’s safe return Tuesday in a post on X, and urged anyone with information about her to contact law enforcement.

Savannah Guthrie often has spoken highly of her mother and their close relationship. During a celebration of her mom’s 80th birthday on “Today,” the anchor described her as someone who “lived a life of integrity and loyalty” and raised three kids after their father died before Guthrie’s senior year of high school, the anchor said.

“She has met unthinkable challenges in her life with grit, without self-pity, with determination, and always, always with unshakeable faith,” Guthrie said in that tribute.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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