For the distraught American news presenter whose 84-year-old mother has been kidnapped, there was scant reassurance on Thursday from the local sheriff in Arizona, as ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore reports
US news presenter Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have made a renewed appeal to the suspected kidnappers of their missing 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, with police finding no leads on a suspect and no proof that she is still alive.
“Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly,” Camron Guthrie said in a video on social media.
“We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward,” he said, insisting the family needs to know whoever has kidnapped their mother still has her.
Investigators believe Nancy Guthrie is “still out there”, a sheriff in Arizona said on Thursday, but he has no proof she is alive.
Five days into the search, authorities have not identified any suspects or persons of interest, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said.
DNA tests showed blood found on Nancy Guthrie’s front porch was a match to her. Authorities think she was taken against her will from her home in Arizona over the weekend.
“Right now, we believe Nancy is still out there. We want her home,” Nanos said at a news conference, acknowledging that authorities have no evidence she is okay.
Investigators also gave a more detailed timeline from the hours after Nancy was last seen on Saturday night, and said they are taking seriously a ransom note sent to a handful of media outlets.
The note included a demand for money with a deadline set for Thursday evening and a second one for Monday if the first deadline wasn’t met, said Heith Janke, the FBI chief in Phoenix.
“To anyone who may be involved, do the right thing. This is an 84-year-old grandma,” Janke said.
Authorities say any decision on ransom demands ultimately is up to the family.
A day earlier, NBC Today Show host Savannah Guthrie and her siblings released a message to their mother’s kidnapper, saying they are ready to talk but want proof their mom is still alive.
However, there’s been no public sign of a response.
Nancy spent Saturday night eating dinner and playing games with family members before one of them dropped her off at her home in a well-to-do Tucson neighbourhood that sits on hilly, desert terrain, the sheriff said.
About four hours later, just before 2 a.m. Sunday, the home’s doorbell camera was disconnected, Nanos said. But Nancy did not have an active subscription so the company was unable to recover any footage.
Software data recorded movement at the home minutes later, the sheriff said, acknowledging that the motion could have come from an animal.
Then at 2:28 am, the app on Nancy’s pacemaker was disconnected from her phone.She was reported missing shortly before noon Sunday, after she failed to show up at a church.While she is able to drive and her mind is sharp, the sheriff said she does have difficulty walking even short distances. She also requires daily medicine that’s vital to her health, he said.
At least three US media organisations have reported receiving purported ransom notes, which they handed over to investigators. Authorities made an arrest after a ransom note turned out to be fake, the sheriff said.
The sheriff said it’s possible Nancy Guthrie was targeted, but if she was, investigators don’t know if that’s because her daughter is one of television’s most visible anchors.
Savannah Guthrie has hosted NBC’s flagship morning show for more than a decade and had been set to co-anchor the network’s coverage of Friday’s opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics.
