Close Friend Asks Public to ‘Leave Annie and Tommaso Alone’ After Their Return to Town

TUCSON, Ariz. — A longtime friend of missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie has publicly asked the public and online communities to give her daughter Annie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni privacy, revealing that the couple has returned to town and their son is back in school, nearly eight months after Nancy’s disappearance.

Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing from her home in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood on February 1. She is believed to have had dinner with Annie the evening before her disappearance and was reportedly dropped off at her own home by Tommaso following that dinner, making the couple among the last people known to have seen her.

Lauren Serpa, a close friend of Nancy Guthrie, shared the update about Annie and Tommaso in a Facebook post, confirming the couple’s return and asking the public to respect their privacy. “As everybody knows, Annie and Tommaso are back in town, and their son is back in school. I am requesting everybody to please leave them alone,” Serpa wrote. She went on to describe the toll the past several months have taken on the couple. “This has been a long six months for them. They deserve to lead a normal life without always being stalked and observed by people.”

Annie and Tommaso have faced sustained public scrutiny since Nancy’s disappearance, despite Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos having repeatedly stated that neither of them is considered a suspect in the case. That scrutiny intensified further after former NewsNation journalist Ashleigh Banfield publicly suggested Tommaso could potentially be involved in the case, a claim that has not been substantiated by investigators and remains at odds with the sheriff’s department’s own public statements clearing the couple.

The renewed attention on Annie and Tommaso’s whereabouts follows a broader pattern that has defined much of the public conversation around the Nancy Guthrie case throughout the year, with self-styled online investigators and social media accounts repeatedly speculating about the couple’s movements, location and potential involvement, often based on unverified claims rather than confirmed information from law enforcement. Serpa’s post represents a direct, personal appeal from someone close to the family pushing back against that continued scrutiny, rather than an official statement from investigators or the Guthrie family’s spokesperson.

Investigators have continued describing the broader case as active, even as no suspect has been publicly named and no arrest has been announced in the nearly eight months since Nancy was first reported missing. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has said its investigation continues to rely on forensic evidence, digital records and surveillance footage review, working in coordination with the FBI, though the department has provided limited additional public detail about the investigation’s progress in recent weeks.

Serpa’s appeal reflects a tension that has run throughout the Guthrie case since its earliest days: the balance between the intense public interest generated by Savannah Guthrie’s profile as a national television anchor and the personal toll that scrutiny has placed on family members who have already been cleared by investigators. For Annie and Tommaso specifically, that tension has included not only online speculation about their movements and potential involvement, but also, according to Serpa’s characterization, a persistent sense of being watched and followed by members of the public and online communities following the case closely.

The Guthrie family, including Savannah, has continued to make public appeals throughout the case seeking information that could help investigators locate Nancy or identify a suspect, even as other family members like Annie and Tommaso have largely avoided public statements of their own, a distinction Serpa’s post appears intended to help protect going forward now that the couple and their son have returned to their usual routine, including the child’s return to school.

As of the most recent available information, neither the Pima County Sheriff’s Department nor the Guthrie family’s official representatives have issued additional public statements addressing Annie and Tommaso’s return to town specifically, beyond what Serpa shared in her personal post. The broader investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance remains ongoing, with authorities continuing to process tips and evidence without having publicly identified a suspect.

With Serpa’s appeal for privacy circulating alongside continued public interest in the case, the coming weeks are likely to test whether the renewed attention on Annie and Tommaso’s return subsides in response to her request, or whether the pattern of sustained public scrutiny that has followed the couple since February continues even as they attempt to resume a more normal daily routine for themselves and their son.