Savannah Guthrie has expressed fears that her fame may have been a factor in the disappearance of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, who went missing from her home near Tucson, Arizona, on 1 February. In her first interview since the incident, the 'Today' show co-anchor described the ordeal as 'unbearable'.
Speaking to her colleague Hoda Kotb, Guthrie said she wondered if someone targeted her mother because of her own public profile. 'I don't know that it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought, “Oh, that girl – that lady has money. We can … make a quick buck.” I mean, that would make sense,' she said. 'But we don’t know. Which is too much to bear, to think that I brought this to her bedside. That it’s because of me. And I just have to say, I’m so sorry, mommy. I am so sorry.'
Guthrie revealed that her brother, who has a military background, immediately suspected a kidnapping and suggested her fame might be involved. 'It sounds so, like, how dumb could I be? But I just – I didn’t wanna believe,' she recalled. 'I just said, “Do you think because of me?” And he said, “I’m sorry, sweetie, but yeah, maybe.” But I knew that.'
Despite a search involving state and federal investigators, no suspect or motive has been identified. The FBI recovered footage from a Ring doorbell camera, which was destroyed, showing a man approaching the front door with a backpack. Over 13,000 tips have been received but no arrests made. Two ransom notes have been received, which Guthrie believes are genuine.
'A person that would send a fake ransom note really has to look deeply at themselves, to a family in pain,' she said. 'But I believe the two notes that we received that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real.' Guthrie urged anyone with information to come forward, saying, 'Someone can do the right thing, and it is never too late to do the right thing.'
