Arizona officials aren’t sharing much new information on Wednesday afternoon on the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mother, who went missing from her home over the weekend and is thought to have been kidnapped.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said that Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home in Tucson around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. Sheriff Chris Nanos said on Monday that “we do, in fact, have a crime,” but he didn’t go into detail about the circumstances of her disappearance.
Nanos told reporters on Tuesday that the search for Nancy Guthrie was going slowly. The NBC “Today” show said on Wednesday that police don’t have any solid leads or suspects.
“We don’t know where she is,” Nanos said, adding that investigators are starting from the point where Nancy Guthrie was last seen and fanning out from there.
Nanos had already said that Nancy Guthrie did not leave the house on her own because she couldn’t move around very well and had a health condition that could kill her if she didn’t take her medicine within 24 hours.
The Los Angeles Times also reported that blood was found inside Nancy Guthrie’s house later. A source in law enforcement told Fox News that there were “blood drops” leading from the front door of the house down the path to the driveway.
But when reporters asked Nanos about the blood on Tuesday, he said that tests were still being done on evidence from inside the house and that nothing found so far pointed to a suspect. There were also signs that someone had broken into the house.
“I’m not saying there’s blood inside that house or outside that house,” Nanos said while declining to elaborate on what evidence was collected from the home.
Experts are worried that Tuesday’s press conference left more questions than answers about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. They say that the public can be one of law enforcement’s most useful tools in finding missing people.
Callahan Walsh, “America’s Most Wanted” co-host, told Fox News, “It’s really unfortunate that very little has been provided to the public. I was hoping at this press conference that something would be released – a break in the investigation, a direction that they’re headed, some hope for the family or actionable information for the public to assist. There just wasn’t any of that. It was mostly questions that were being asked by the media, and pretty vague or no answers provided.”
During Tuesday’s press conference, Nanos did not offer a clear answer when asked if Nancy Guthrie had been targeted due to her daughter’s fame.
“We’re looking at all the leads, and we don’t know,” Nanos said. “We’re going to assume both sides of that.”
The possibility is one that Walsh believes is not entirely unfounded.
“It’s very possible that she was targeted because of who her daughter is,” Walsh said. “Her daughter’s a high-profile television personality on the ‘Today’ show, somebody that people see in their homes and on their television screens regularly. There absolutely could be somebody out there that has a grudge against Savannah and has taken it out on her mother, and let’s hope that’s not the case.”
During an interview on MS NOW on Tuesday, Nanos said Nancy Guthrie was “physically removed from that home against her will,” but declined to say whether she was harmed.
The sheriff also said it’s unknown if the individual who took Nancy Guthrie is known or a stranger.
Nancy Guthrie’s cell phone, Apple Watch, wallet, and car keys were also found inside the home following her disappearance.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on Tuesday night that it is “aware” of reports of a ransom note.
TMZ reportedly got a letter asking for a “substantial amount” of money in exchange for Guthrie’s return.
“We are aware of reports circulating about possible ransom note(s) regarding the investigation into Nancy Guthrie,” the officials wrote in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“Anything that comes in, goes directly to our detectives who are coordinating with the FBI,” officials wrote.
