Hundreds of new tips were received after Savannah Guthrie‘s family offered an increased reward for missing mom Nancy Guthrie’s return.
According to the Today show, the FBI received “more than 750 tips related to Nancy’s disappearance” following Savannah’s latest message about her mom’s disappearance. Former FBI supervisor Jason Pack spoke with NBC News about what this renewed interest in the case means for Savannah, 54, and her family.
“There are some people who are close to what happened who know what happened,” he noted. “They now have a decision to make and this decision was really [affected] by this reward.”
Savannah released a statement on Tuesday, February 24, revealing the reward has been raised to $1 million.
Savannah Guthrie’s Mom Nancy Guthrie Is Missing in Arizona: What to Know
“Coming on to say it is day 24 since our mom was taken in the dark of night from her bed, and every hour and minute and second and every long night has been agony since then, of worrying about her and fearing for her, aching for her, and most of all, just missing her, missing her,” she said in an Instagram video. “We know that millions of you have been praying. So many people have been praying of every faith and no faith at all, praying for her return, and we feel those prayers. Please keep praying without ceasing. We still believe. We still believe in a miracle.”
In the caption, Savannah revealed that $1 million would be paid “only for the recovery” of Nancy, 84. She encouraged those who know something that could aid the case to contact the FBI while noting that callers “can remain anonymous” or “find a way to reach out to me.”
NBC News reported on Wednesday, February 25, that the Guthries “raised the idea of the reward” on the first day Nancy was reported missing but “were advised to hold off,” per a source close to the family.
Pack defended that decision in his interview with the news outlet, saying, “At the beginning of these high profile cases, there is no absence of tips. It reactivates the tips and it puts a lot of pressure on the people who know what happened.”
The Today show also clarified that agents on the case weren’t just located in Arizona and Washington, D.C. Officials are “not downsizing” amid the search for Nancy, who was reported missing on February 1.
Nancy was last seen at her home in Arizona after she was dropped off by family on January 31. One day later, Nancy did not attend a virtual service for her church, which caused alarm.
Separating Fact From Fiction in the Disappearance of Nancy Guthrie
As authorities continue their search, Savannah and her siblings, Annie and Camron Guthrie, have used social media to address their mother’s potential kidnappers.
“We believe that somehow, some way, [Nancy] is feeling these prayers and that God is lifting her even in this moment and in this darkest place. We believe our mom is still out there,” Savannah said in an Instagram video earlier this month. “We need your help. Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock, trying to bring her home, trying to find her.”
She continued: “She was taken, and we don’t know where, and we need your help. So, I’m coming on just to ask you, not just for your prayers, but no matter where you are, even if you’re far from Tucson, if you see anything, you hear anything, if there’s anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement.”
The FBI has since released surveillance footage featuring a possible person of interest in the case outside of Nancy’s home. The individual wore a ski mask in the clip released to the public and detectives have referred to the suspect as a “male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build. In the video, he is wearing a black, 25-liter ‘Ozark Trail Hiker Pack’ backpack.”
