Nancy Guthrie “still out there,” sheriff says, as FBI offers $50,000 reward

Investigators believe “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie‘s mom, Nancy Guthrie, is “still out there” as the high-profile search in Arizona continues without a suspect identified in the case, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Thursday. The FBI also announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery or the arrest and conviction of people involved in her disappearance.

“Right now, we believe Nancy is still out there,” Nanos told reporters during a news conference. “We want her home.”

A ransom note that investigators said they’re taking seriously included a deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday, Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Phoenix, said. The deadline didn’t specify a time zone.

“If a transfer wasn’t made, then I think a second demand was for next Monday,” Janke said. He said he wouldn’t provide details about what the note said would happen if the demands weren’t met.

During the news conference, Janke addressed the people responsible for Guthrie’s disappearance and urged them to return her. “You still have the time to do the right thing before this becomes a worse, much worse scenario for you,” he said.

Separately, an alleged impostor was arrested for making a phony ransom demand in the case, Janke said.

“To those impostors who are trying to take advantage and profit from this situation: We will investigate and ensure you are held accountable for your actions,” he said.

Nanos provided new details about what investigators have uncovered since Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen when she was dropped off at her Tucson, Arizona, home Saturday night after dining with family. Investigators believe Guthrie was taken from her home over the weekend and have been investigating her disappearance as a crime.

Blood that was found outside Guthrie’s home was determined to be hers, Nanos said. He added that investigators were waiting for analysis of additional samples to be completed.

A doorbell camera at Guthrie’s home was disconnected at approximately 1:47 a.m. Sunday, Nanos said. At around 2:12 a.m., one of her home’s cameras detected what the system classified as a person, but Nanos said investigators and analysts haven’t been able to recover footage of that from the system, and it’s possible what was detected could have been an animal. At about 2:28 a.m., Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnected from an app on her cellphone.

Detectives returned to Guthrie’s neighborhood Wednesday to conduct some follow-up work at her home and in the area, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said. Nanos said the sheriff’s department was showing the crime scene to investigators from other agencies. Guthrie was last seen at her home Saturday night after having dinner at the home of her other daughter, Annie Guthrie, and being driven home by her husband, Tommaso Cioni, Nanos told CBS News.

The sheriff’s department has said neither a suspect nor person of interest has been identified in the case.

Two law enforcement sources told CBS News on Thursday that an FBI team was on the ground in Tucson investigating Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. It included FBI evidence recovery personnel, intelligence analysts combing through social media postings, hostage negotiators, victim specialists and administrative workers.

Agents and analysts were also going through video from cameras collected in the area, interviewing neighbors’ family members, friends of the Guthries and anyone associated with the Guthrie family, the sources said.

They are also reviewing cellphone data to determine which phones pinged area cell towers, according to the sources.

A 24/7 command post has been set up at the FBI’s Tucson field office. The sources described it as a joint investigation between the FBI and the sheriff’s office.

Nancy Guthrie needs daily medication, adding more urgency to the search. Nanos dismissed the possibility that she may have wandered off, saying she doesn’t have cognitive issues and her mobility is limited.

Catalina Foothills Association board member Laura Gargano told CBS News on Thursday that while no one had noticed suspicious people or activity before, some residents were installing or upgrading home security systems and reviewing their own camera footage at the request of deputies since Nancy Guthrie went missing.

Gargano described the neighborhood as a quiet area with typical desert wildlife, such as coyotes and bobcats, and said there’s been no significant recent crime she is aware of. The neighborhood is in unincorporated Pima County under a dark sky ordinance that limits outdoor lighting and requires it to be directed downward.

In an emotional social media video posted Wednesday, Savannah Guthrie said her mother’s heart is fragile and that she lives in constant pain and needs her medicine to survive.

Savannah Guthrie also spoke directly to her mother’s possible abductors.

“We are ready to talk, however, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” she said. “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.”

She also addressed the ransom note, saying the family was doing everything they can to bring her home.

Savannah Guthrie appeared with her brother and sister in the video, and they all spoke to their mother.

“You are a strong woman, you are God’s precious daughter, Nancy,” Savannah Guthrie said. “Mama, if you’re listening, we need you to come home, we miss you,” Annie Guthrie said. “We love you, Mom, stay strong, come home,” her brother Charles Camron Guthrie said.

President Trump said on social media that he spoke with Savannah Guthrie. “We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely,” Mr. Trump wrote Wednesday on his Truth Social platform. “The prayers of our Nation are with her and her family.”

In a video Thursday night, Camron Guthrie made another appeal for the return of their mother, saying: “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you.”

“We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach out, and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward,” Camron said in a post shared to Savannah’s Instagram account. “But first, we have to know that you have our mom. We want to talk to you, and we are waiting for contact.”

Rodney Harrison, a CBS News law enforcement contributor and former Suffolk County police commissioner, told “The Daily Report” Thursday that he believed “the most important thing going forward is trying to identify what the motive is. Once you identify what the motive is, then you can be able to get a person of interest.”

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