Authorities are still questioning a motive behind the alleged abduction of Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy Guthrie.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos shared in an interview with the Daily Mail on Monday, February 16, that he believes Nancy, 84, was kidnapped rather than involved in a burglary that went wrong.
“This is somebody who’s disappeared from the face of the earth, and now we have a camera that says here’s the person who did this,” he explained, referring to the images released last week of the masked person seen on a camera outside Nancy’s home.
He continued, “And that’s what makes me say this is a kidnapping. The motivation for it is where we get stuck, right? Is it for money? I mean, we had the one demand where they asked for money. But is it really for money, or is it for revenge for something?”
Sheriff Addresses Possible Motive in Savannah Guthrie’s Mom’s Disappearance
The outlet reported that there have been between 40,000 and 50,000 tips received regarding Nancy’s disappearance.
Nancy was last seen on January 31, when she had dinner with daughter Annie Guthrie. (Nancy shared daughters Annie and Savannah, 54, and son Camron Guthrie with husband Charles Guthrie, who died after suffering from a heart attack at age 49.)
Amid Nancy’s disappearance, TMZ alleged that they have received three ransom notes asking for payment in exchange for information.
When Us Weekly exclusively asked Nanos earlier this month about the possibility of a ransom being the motive behind Nancy’s disappearance, he replied, “No, there’s not, we’ve not heard anything like that.”
He continued, “I wish somebody would call us and say, ‘Hey,’ because that’s what the family wants. They just want her back. ‘Hey, no questions asked, call us where to come and get her, and we’ll do that.’”
Sheriff Nearly Breaks Down Discussing Search for Savannah Guthrie’s Mom
Savannah echoed Nanos’ sentiment in an emotional Instagram video released on Sunday, February 15, where she pleaded with Nancy’s alleged abductor or abductors to bring her mom home.
“It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope and we still believe and I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is, that it’s never too late,” she said via Instagram. “And you’re not lost or alone. And it is never too late to do the right thing and we are here. And we believe and we believe in the essential goodness of every human being. And it’s never too late.”
The Today coanchor captioned the clip, “Bring her home. It’s never too late to do the next right thing.”
While Nanos is certain his team will find Nancy and her alleged abductor or abductors one day, he admitted that he’s not sure when that will happen.
“Maybe it’s an hour from now,” Nanos told The New York Times on Friday, February 13, of the search. “Maybe it’s weeks or months or years from now. But we won’t quit. We’re going to find Nancy. We’re going to find this guy.”
