TUCSON, AZ (AZFamily/CBS News/AP) — The family of missing Nancy Guthrie released Wednesday night a video through social media asking for proof of life as the search for the missing 84-year-old intensifies.
“We too have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know, without a doubt, that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us,” said Savannah Guthrie, Nancy’s daughter who has co-hosted NBC’s “Today” show since 2012.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said an alleged ransom letter was sent to a local Arizona station. Arizona’s Family sister station KOLD 13 News in Tucson later said they received the note.
The note contained a deadline, a dollar amount and specific details only the abductors would know, according to law enforcement sources.
Savannah was joined by her older sister, Annie Guthrie, and her brother, Camron Guthrie, in the video posted on Instagram.
“The light is missing from our lives. Nancy is our mother. We are her children. She is our beacon. She holds fast to joy in all of life’s circumstances,” Annie Guthrie said in the video. “We are always going to be merely human, just normal human people who need our mom. Mama. Mama. If you’re listening, we need you to come home. We miss you.”
The siblings thanked everyone for their prayers.
“Everyone is looking for you, Mommy, everywhere. We will not rest. Your children will not rest until we are together again,” Savannah Guthrie said.
She added that their mom needs her life-saving medication.
“She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer,” said Savannah Guthrie. “Her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain.”
Search ramps up
The video comes as the search expands for Nancy Guthrie, who was reported missing Sunday. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI returned Wednesday to Nancy Guthrie’s home near Tucson as the search entered a fourth day.
Sheriff’s officials said 100 personnel are working to find and bring Nancy Guthrie back home.
Law enforcement, including U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, with K-9s, were seen outside the Catalina Hills house just after 4 p.m. Crime scene tape was put up around the same time.
Just before 6 p.m., investigators began removing covered items from the house. The contents of those items were not disclosed. The tape was removed and investigators left after completing their search of the property.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said so far, evidence collected from the house hadn’t pointed to a suspect. He also said it’s unclear how many people took Guthrie.
More FBI agents have joined the investigation to help local law enforcement.
Nanos told CBS News that Guthrie ate dinner Saturday at the home of Annie Guthrie, who lives close by. Her husband, Tommaso Cioni, drove Nancy Guthrie home afterward and was dropped off around 9:45 p.m.
She was reported missing midday Sunday after someone at her church called a family member to say Guthrie wasn’t there, leading family to search her home and then call 911, Nanos said.
Guthrie has limited mobility, supporting the theory that she was taken against her will, but the sheriff said she is of sound mind.
Possible leads
The sheriff’s department said it’s investigating a possible trespassing report on Jan 4, about 3 miles away from Nancy Guthrie’s home.
CBS News reported Tuesday that blood was found inside Guthrie’s home. After the crime scene was cleared, droplets of what appeared to be dried blood were visible just outside the front door. Law enforcement has not confirmed whether that substance is blood or if it is connected to Guthrie’s disappearance.
There were signs of forced entry at Guthrie’s home, and several personal items, including Guthrie’s cellphone, wallet and car, were all still there, according to the person familiar with the investigation. Authorities are reviewing nearby surveillance video, license plate camera data and cellphone tower records, the person said.
The motive remains a mystery. Investigators do not believe the abduction was part of a robbery, home invasion or kidnapping-for-ransom plot, the AP source said early Tuesday.
Supporting the family
A vigil for Nancy Guthrie was held Wednesday at 6 p.m. at St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, located near East River Road and Campbell Avenue in Tucson.
The Guthrie family was not in attendance, but Savannah Guthrie had requested prayers and said her family could feel those prayers.
The vigil was organized by one of Savannah’s friends, Sally Shamrell, who said she is feeling the same helplessness as the rest of the community.
“I feel like prayer definitely helps with optimism and hope. If it’s increased by people coming together and being together, then this is what we’re doing. This is what we want out of it, is for people to feel like they are doing something, even if it’s talking to the universe or talking to God. Let’s do it together,” Shamrell said.
The Guthrie family has formed decades-long friendships in Tucson, where Nancy has a strong connection to the community. Friends who attended the vigil said they hope to spend another church service with her soon.
Authorities are asking anyone who can help with the case, especially those with video surveillance, to call the tip hotlines.
Late Monday evening, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department shared a post from 88-Crime detailing that a $2,500 reward was being offered for any tips that led to an arrest in the case.
“Today” opened Monday’s show with the disappearance of the co-anchor’s mother, but she was not at the anchor’s desk. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said during a Monday news conference that Savannah is in Arizona.
Savannah grew up in Tucson, graduated from the University of Arizona and previously worked as a reporter and anchor in the city.
Nancy previously appeared in a November 2025 story alongside her daughter, highlighting Tucson. Savannah asked her mother what made the family want to plant roots in Tucson in the 1970s.
Extensive search area
A family member called 911 around noon on Sunday to report the 84-year-old missing after she did not show up to church that morning. The search for her immediately began by ground and by air, and it lasted through the weekend before being called off Monday morning for teams to rest.
Searchers used drones and search dogs and were supported by volunteers, U.S. Border Patrol and the homicide team, according to the sheriff. It is not standard for the homicide team to get involved in such cases, Nanos said.
Nancy is described as a 5-foot, 5-inch White woman with brown hair and blue eyes. She weighs 150 pounds.
The sheriff has emphasized that Nancy, who lived alone, is of sound mind and did not walk away on her own, describing her as “sharp as a tack.” He said she has very limited mobility and has physical ailments that could be deadly if she did not receive her daily medication within 24 hours.
“I believe she was abducted, yes,” Nanos told CBS News. “She didn’t walk from there. She didn’t go willingly.”
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