Disappearance of ‘Today’ host Savannah Guthrie’s mother is being investigated as a crime, police say

“We do in fact have a crime scene” in the search for Nancy Guthrie, officials in Pima County, Ariz., said on Monday.

Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie.
(Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show cohost Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing in Arizona on Sunday, and now her disappearance is being investigated as a crime, according to police.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her home on Jan. 31 at about 9:30 p.m., just north of Tucson near East Skyline Drive and North Campbell Avenue, according to a missing persons flier distributed by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Her family reported missing at noon on Feb. 1 after she did not show up for church.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said during a Monday morning press conference that Nancy Guthrie’s home is now a crime scene. “We know she didn’t just walk out of there,” Nanos said, adding, “She couldn’t walk 50 yards by herself.” The sheriff also said she needs daily medications, but stressed that she has no cognitive issues and is still of “great sound mind.”

Later on Monday, Nanos told CBS News that he believed she may have been abducted. “She didn’t walk from there,” he said. “She didn’t go willingly.”

During a Sunday evening news conference, Nanos said the scene at her home caused “grave concern,” prompting local law enforcement to act immediately. Multiple teams responded to the scene, including homicide detectives. Nanos said that at this point in the investigation, the Pima Sheriff’s Department now needs to depend on technology, such as license plate readers and camera systems. Investigators also have Nancy Guthrie’s cellphone and are currently looking at it.

The sheriff is also asking for the community’s help. “Call in anything you’ve seen or heard,” Nanos said as he asked neighbors to go through their home cameras.

Nancy Guthrie lives alone but has staff who come by to take care of her home and yard, some of whom authorities have already started talking to about her disappearance, Nanos said.

At this point, authorities don’t know if this was a targeted attack. When asked by reporters if Savannah Guthrie has received any threats herself, Nanos replied that her security team is in touch with the sheriff’s department’s and added, “We’re not going to dismiss any angles for sure, but right now immediately, we don’t know of anything like that.”

Search and rescue ground crews and dog teams searched overnight on foot, while drones, a helicopter and an airplane searched by air. As of Monday morning, the search and rescue mission has been shut down. “Right now, we don’t see this as a search mission as much as we do a crime scene,” Nanos told reporters Monday.

Nancy is also described on the missing persons flier as 5 feet 5 inches tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and weighing around 150 lbs. It’s unclear what type of clothing she may be wearing.

On Monday, Savannah Guthrie was absent from coanchoring the Today show’s broadcast.

The following statement from Guthrie was read during Monday morning’s show: “On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support. Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom. We thank law enforcement for their hard work on this case and encourage anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.”