The desperate search for the mother of NBC’s “TODAY” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie is nearing its second week, with mounting questions about what happened to Nancy Guthrie and concerns for her physical health.
Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on Feb. 1 from her home in the Catalina Foothills, an unincorporated Arizona community north of Tucson.
Authorities have described the case as a possible kidnapping or abduction, and there have been reports of ransom notes.
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The FBI released photos and video of a potential subject wearing a ski mask. Officials have not released an identity.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department searched a property in Rio Rico, a community 60 miles south of Tucson, on Tuesday night and took a man into custody.
But that man, who identified himself as delivery driver Carlos Palazuelos, told reporters early Wednesday that after being questioned, he was released without being arrested. Authorities confirmed that a man was detained and released as a follow-up on incoming leads. He has not been charged.
Palazuelos said he might have delivered something to Guthrie’s home at some point, but didn’t recall doing so. He said he was stopped while driving and was detained and questioned because officers thought his eyes matched those seen in the doorcam footage released by the FBI.
The timeline
Guthrie was last known to have visited family Jan. 31 and returned home that evening. She was reported missing about noon Feb. 1 after not showing up at a friend’s house that morning to watch a virtual church service.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has laid out a timeline of events (all times are in Mountain Time):
Saturday Jan. 31
- 5:32 p.m.: Guthrie left her home in an Uber to go to local family members’ house “for dinner and playing games with the family, just visiting,” Nanos said. Authorities spoke with that Uber driver, he said, without providing specifics on that conversation.
- 9:48 p.m.: She was dropped off at home, where she lives alone. The garage door opened at that time and it closed two minutes later.
Sunday Feb. 1
- 1:47 a.m.: Her doorbell camera was disconnected. Nanos said that the doorbell camera has not been located and noted there were multiple cameras at the home.
- 2:12 a.m.: Software detects a person on camera, but there is no video available. It’s not clear which camera detected the person. Nanos said the camera had no subscription, and that it’s possible an animal triggered the software.
- 2:28 a.m.: Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnects from her phone.
- 11:56 a.m.: Guthrie’s family goes to check on her at home and discovers she’s missing.
- 12:03 p.m.: A 911 call was made. Deputies arrived about 10 minutes later.
What the investigation has uncovered
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department believes Guthrie was taken “possibly in the middle of the night, and that includes possible kidnapping or abduction.”
The sheriff said Thursday that blood found on the porch outside Guthrie’s house tested positive for her DNA. He said his office would not comment on whether there was forced entry to the home.
Her cellphone was left at home and is in the possession of authorities.
No suspect or person of interest has been identified. Nanos said that nobody has been ruled out. “We’re actively looking at everybody we come across, in this case, everybody,” he said.
NBC News video from Friday night shows a car being towed from Nancy Guthrie’s residence as the FBI processed the home as a crime scene, and photo and video records indicate the vehicle had previously been seen in her garage and is believed to belong to her.
On Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel released surveillance photos and videos of a potential armed subject.
Patel shared six black-and-white photos as well as three video clips of the potential subject, who is wearing a black jacket and light pants, a ski mask, vinyl gloves and carrying a full, light-colored backpack.
The person approaches the home in one video, and then appears to attempt to conceal their identity while tampering with the doorbell camera, which was later disconnected. The person’s eyes are visible through the holes in the ski mask.
One video shows a gun in a holster on the front of the person’s body.
Patel said law enforcement had “uncovered these previously inaccessible new images” as of Tuesday morning. The video was “recovered from residual data located in backend systems.”
Guthrie’s health
Nanos has said Guthrie does not have cognitive issues, characterizing her as “sharp as a tack.” However, he said, she has limited mobility and needs to take medication daily or “it could be fatal.” Nanos said he does not know whether Guthrie’s medication was still at her home.
“She is mobile. It’s a challenge for her to get, as the family says, she couldn’t walk 50 yards by herself,” he said.
She has a pacemaker — a device typically implanted under the skin to regulate heartbeat — which disconnected from its monitoring app on her phone early on Feb. 1.
In an emotional video posted to her Instagram page on Wednesday, Savannah Guthrie pleaded for her mother’s return, noting her health is fragile.
“She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive, and she needs it not to suffer,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video, flanked by her sister, Annie, and brother, Camron.
Ransom notes
Last week, possible ransom notes referencing Guthrie were reportedly sent to three news outlets.
NBC News reviewed a copy of the first note, and its contents were consistent with the descriptions provided by the FBI and those news outlets. No law enforcement agency has so far substantiated the notes.
Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix division, said Thursday that one reported ransom note “had facts associated with a deadline with a monetary value they were asking for,” noting that “one talked about an Apple Watch, one talked about a floodlight,” but declining to go into further specifics.
The ransom note had two deadlines — one at 5 p.m. Thursday and a second deadline for Monday, Janke said, adding that the note did not establish a means for communication. Both deadlines have since passed with no new information.
Camron Guthrie on Thursday appeared in a video message around the same time as that 5 p.m. deadline, asking for a way to communicate with whoever could be holding his mother.
“Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly,” he said in a video posted to Instagram. “We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we move forward.”
Janke said the FBI takes the ransom threats seriously.
He also warned that impostors who send fake ransom letters will be “held accountable.” A man arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday was accused of sending texts to the Guthrie family asking about bitcoin that was demanded in a reported ransom letter, according to a federal criminal complaint out of Arizona. The messages are not linked to an earlier reported ransom demand.
The FBI and Nanos’ office announced Friday afternoon they were “aware of a new message regarding” Guthrie. “Investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
NBC News has not reviewed a copy of that second note, sent to local TV station KOLD.
Jessica Bobula, the news director of KOLD, said neither provided proof of life, but that the first note said Guthrie was fine.
The second note “was certainly not a ransom demand,” Bobula said, noting it did not ask for money, and it differed “in almost every way” from the first. One of the notes did not provide an image of Guthrie but “a description,” she said.
Bobula said the author of the second note appeared to be trying to prove that they were the same sender as the first note.
Asked if the note indicated what might happen if the Monday deadline is missed she said, “They did.” When asked if the note indicated Guthrie could be harmed in some way, Bobula said, “Yes.”
On Monday evening, the FBI said that it was “not aware of any continued communication between the Guthrie family and suspected kidnappers.”
Pleas from the family
Savannah Guthrie addressed her mother’s possible kidnapper in a new video posted to Instagram on Saturday. The video was the third from the family since Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.
“We received your message and we understand,” she said. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace.”
“This is very valuable to us, and we will pay,” Savannah Guthrie said in closing, holding her siblings’ hands.
She did not provide specifics about the message she referenced, but three officials briefed on the investigation said the Saturday video was in reference to the second note that was sent Friday.
In another video posted to Instagram on Monday, Savannah Guthrie thanked the public for praying for her mother’s safe return and said the family believes she is “still out there.”
“We believe that somehow, some way, she is feeling these prayers and that God is lifting her even in this moment and in this darkest place,” the “TODAY” co-anchor said. “We believe our mom is still out there.”
She asked viewers to report anything “strange” to law enforcement. “We are at an hour of desperation, and we need your help,” she said.
After the FBI posted photos of the potential subject on Tuesday, Savannah Guthrie again took to Instagram, resharing the images and videos and pleading for help in finding her mother.
“We believe she is still alive. Bring her home,” she wrote in the first of two posts.
In the second, Savannah Guthrie wrote, “Someone out there recognizes this person. We believe she is still out there. Bring her home.”
A potential lead about a vehicle
Law enforcement officials were searching for a vehicle in Arizona that may be connected to the investigation, NBC News learned on Friday. Officials haven’t said if the vehicle or vehicles are definitively connected to any part of the crime, or if that lead has since evaporated.
A Circle K spokesperson told NBC News that law enforcement visited one of its convenience stores on Oracle Road in Tucson after “receiving a tip regarding a vehicle of interest, and our team has provided them access to the store’s surveillance video.”
The sheriff’s office said Saturday that authorities have not identified any vehicles connected to the case.
What we don’t know
Authorities have declined to provide specifics about a range of questions at the center of the investigation. Here are some of the details that are unknown or have not been publicly released.
- How someone could have entered Nancy Guthrie’s home at that hour.
- The location of her doorbell camera. Authorities on Thursday said it had been removed.
- Whether any of the reported ransom letters are legitimate. They remain under investigation by the FBI.
State and federal resources have been deployed in the search for Guthrie.
Federal and local resources
- President Donald Trump called Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday to offer words of support. Later, in a post on Truth Social, he said he would direct all federal law enforcement to be at the disposal of the family and local law enforcement.
- The FBI is also working jointly with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, bringing in agents and analysts and deploying additional intelligence and agents from its Phoenix office.
- Agents are analyzing digital sources, including bank information, social media and phone companies for a digital footprint, Janke said Thursday.
- The FBI announced a $50,000 reward on Thursday for information leading to Guthrie’s recovery.
- Officials continue to ask the public for tips. Anyone with information, no matter how small, is asked to report it at 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov.