NewsBeat
Savannah Guthrie posts new video begging for mother’s return: ‘We are at an hour of desperation and we need your help’
Today show host Savannah Guthrie called on the public for help and detailed the ongoing “nightmare” of her mother Nancy’s kidnapping in an Instagram video posted on Monday.
“We believe our mom is still out there,” Guthrie said in the video. “We need your help. Law enforcement is working tirelessly, around the clock, trying to bring her home, trying to find her.”
“We are at an hour of desperation and we need your help,” she added.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen on the evening of January 31 in Tucson, Arizona, where she lives, according to family members.
Authorities have not publicly announced any suspect in the 84-year-old’s disappearance.
The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case.
The Guthrie family and media outlets have reportedly received ransom requests, purportedly from the kidnappers, demanding millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
One such note, sent to CNN affiliate KGUN, reportedly demanded $6 million and threatened Nancy Guthrie’s life if a 5 p.m. Monday deadline was not met.
Police have not publicly confirmed the details of the reported ransom notes.
In a video from Savannah Guthrie and her siblings released over the weekend, the broadcaster addressed her mother’s kidnappers, saying the family had “received your message” and “will pay.”
“We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her,” Guthrie said in the clip.
The Guthrie family has publicly asked for proof “without a doubt” that Nancy Guthrie is alive.
The FBI has said it is up to the Guthrie family to decide how to respond to the requests.
“While we advise and recommend from a law enforcement perspective, any action taken on any ransom is ultimately decided by the family,” Heith Janke, FBI special agent in charge of the bureau’s Phoenix office, told NPR.
Guthrie returned to her Tucson home around 9:50pm on January 31, after eating dinner and playing games with relatives.
She was not present at church the following morning, alerting family members to her disappearance.
Her front doorbell camera was disconnected around 1:47am on Sunday morning, and software detected a person on the camera shortly afterward, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office.
Police found drops of blood on Guthrie’s front porch.
A pacemaker belonging to the 84-year-old, who takes daily medication and has limited mobility, was disconnected from a cell phone app around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, according to police.