In early February 2026, investigators in Pima County, Arizona, said they were treating the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie as a crime, citing blood outside her Tucson home and signs she was taken against her will. Yet even as her daughter, NBC Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, pleaded in a video for possible captors to make contact, authorities had not publicly identified any suspect or confirmed whether a reported ransom note was genuine.
Nancy Guthrie, a churchgoing grandmother and longtime Tucson resident, is the mother of Savannah Guthrie and several adult children. According to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, she was last seen at her home on a Saturday night and did not appear at church the next morning, prompting relatives to check on her and eventually call 911. As of February 5th, 2026, investigators said they believed she was taken from the home against her will, but her location remained unknown.
Family’s Video Plea and Health Concerns
In a video posted to Instagram, described by Fox News, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings spoke directly to whoever may be holding their mother, and to Nancy herself. The anchor, who rarely addresses her private life in such a public way, framed the message as both a plea for mercy and an assurance that the family was prepared to communicate.
“Our mom is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video. She described Nancy Guthrie as funny and adventurous, surrounded by grandchildren who “cover her with kisses,” and emphasized that her mother is “full of kindness and knowledge.”
She then shifted to the reason the family says time is critical. “Our mom is our heart and our home. Her health, her heart is fragile,” she said, noting that Nancy Guthrie was without critical medication. “She needs it to survive. She needs not to suffer.”
Without naming any individual or group, Savannah Guthrie acknowledged that the family had seen media accounts of a ransom letter and said they were “ready to talk.” At the same time, she pointed to the difficulty of verifying online communications, saying the family needed to know “without a doubt” that any person claiming to hold Nancy Guthrie actually had her and that she was alive.
Her sister Annie appeared in the video as well, visibly emotional as she spoke directly to their mother, saying the siblings were “normal human people who need our mom” and begging her to come home. Savannah Guthrie closed the message by addressing Nancy Guthrie as “God’s precious daughter” and promising that the family would not rest until they were reunited, language that underscored the mix of religious faith and uncertainty now surrounding the case.
Investigators Describe Blood Evidence and Possible Abduction
Law enforcement officials have described a starkly different part of the story, focused on physical evidence and a narrow window of time when Nancy Guthrie disappeared. In a briefing described by Fox News, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said that authorities “do, in fact, have a crime,” though he stopped short of naming a suspect or describing a clear motive.
According to the sheriff’s department, Nancy Guthrie had dinner the night before her disappearance with her daughter Annie and son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, who then drove her home and watched to ensure she got inside. A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital there were “blood drops” on the path from the entryway of the house toward the driveway. When Nancy Guthrie did not appear at her usual church service, a fellow congregant alerted the family, who went to her house late that morning and contacted authorities around midday.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Office said investigators believe she was “taken from the home against her will” and that the working possibilities include kidnapping or abduction. At a later news conference, Sheriff Nanos told reporters he did not know where Nancy Guthrie was and could not yet say whether whoever took her acted at random or targeted her specifically, adding only that investigators would “look at both sides.”
Deputies have since returned to Nancy Guthrie’s home, putting up crime scene tape and bringing police dogs to the property, according to Fox News. The sheriff’s department described the activity as “follow-up” work, but did not publicly say what, if anything, was recovered during the renewed search of the house and yard.
Ransom Reports and the Messaging Gap
Alongside the physical evidence, reports of a ransom note have created a visible gap between what is circulating publicly and what investigators are prepared to confirm. According to Fox News, the celebrity news outlet TMZ reported receiving a written demand for a “substantial amount” of money in exchange for Nancy Guthrie’s return. After that report, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it was “aware” of news about a possible ransom note, but did not release the document or verify any demands.
The case has taken a darker turn.
According to Fortune, ransom letters demanding payment in Bitcoin have surfaced in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie.
Authorities say the claims are unverified — but not dismissed.… pic.twitter.com/f8ovyOHGJU
— Austin Analysis (@austinleenyc) February 5, 2026
At a news conference the previous day, Sheriff Nanos declined to answer when a reporter asked whether any ransom had been demanded, saying only that investigators were following all leads. That refusal came before the department’s acknowledgment that it was aware of ransom reports, and after Savannah Guthrie had already referred in her video to “reports about a ransom letter in the media.” The result is a public record in which the family, local reporters, and national outlets are all discussing the possibility of a ransom, while law enforcement has not described what, if anything, it has actually received.
That gap matters in practical ways. The family’s call for proof that anyone claiming to hold Nancy Guthrie truly has her reflects broader law enforcement concerns about hoaxes that can divert time and resources in high profile cases. Without a released letter, recording, or confirmed contact, outside observers cannot independently verify whether a genuine kidnapper has reached out, or whether investigators are now dealing with anonymous claims responding to the intense media attention.
Federal Attention, White House Statement, and Hundreds of Leads
The case has already drawn national political attention. In a Truth Social post, former President Donald Trump said he had spoken with Savannah Guthrie and was directing “all federal law enforcement” to support the family and local authorities. “We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely,” he wrote, adding that “the prayers of our nation are with her and her family.” Federal agencies have not publicly detailed what specific resources they are providing.
The White House also issued a written statement, according to Fox News, noting that the search for Nancy Guthrie was ongoing and urging anyone with information to contact 911. “Our prayers are with the Guthrie family as we hope for Nancy’s safe return home,” the statement said, echoing the family’s own public appeals for collective prayer.
At the local level, Sheriff Nanos has credited that publicity with generating information. He told reporters investigators were working through “hundreds of leads” and thanked the media for helping to drive tips to his office. He did not, however, describe how many of those leads appeared credible, or whether any had produced evidence beyond what deputies found at the home.
Unanswered Questions in the Nancy Guthrie Case
As of February 5th, 2026, several core facts in the case remain out of public view. Authorities have not explained the source of the blood on the walkway, identified any person of interest, or said whether they believe Nancy Guthrie knew whoever came to her home. They have not released any security camera footage, described possible vehicle sightings, or clarified whether they think more than one person may have been involved.
Key details around any alleged ransom note are also missing. Officials have not said whether such a note exists in their evidence files, who is believed to have written it, how it was delivered, or whether forensics have been conducted on it. The department’s description of being “aware” of ransom reports leaves open whether investigators view the reported letter as central to the case or as an unverified claim on the periphery.
For now, the most visible part of the investigation remains the family’s plea, delivered into a camera, for whoever has Nancy Guthrie to prove she is alive and to open a line of communication. Investigators say they are treating her disappearance as a crime and continuing to process leads, while national institutions pledge support from afar. Until authorities can match those promises with concrete findings, however, the central questions in this case remain unresolved. Who came to Nancy Guthrie’s home that night, and what happened after she disappeared from the doorway of her Tucson house?
Sources
- Fox News: Savannah Guthrie Pleads For Mother Nancy’s Captors
- The New York Times: Savannah Guthrie’s Mother Nancy Missing in Arizona
- Pima County Sheriff’s Department: News Conference on Nancy Guthrie Disappearance
- White House: Statement on Disappearance of Nancy Guthrie
- Truth Social: Donald Trump Post on Nancy Guthrie Search
