“We are at an hour of desperation,” Guthrie said in her plea, which she posted on Instagram.
Her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, was abducted from her home outside Tucson, Arizona, early February 1, authorities have said. Her family last saw her a few hours before. Guthrie had dinner with her older daughter, Annie, and her son-in-law, who dropped her off at her house around 9:50 p.m. Jan. 31, said Chris Nanos, the Pima County sheriff.
Investigators later found a splatter of her blood on the front stoop and said her doorbell camera had been disconnected and removed shortly before she was apparently taken from her house.
The frantic search for Guthrie has riveted the nation and frustrated authorities, who have repeatedly combed the area around her home and have broadened their hunt beyond state lines.
In her video, Savannah Guthrie said that the police have been “working tirelessly, around the clock,” but that they are still unsure of her mother’s location.”She was taken, and we don’t know where,” Guthrie said.
Authorities have not identified any suspects.
Savannah Guthrie did not say explicitly whether the family believed Nancy Guthrie was still alive, and investigators have said they do not know. In a video posted Saturday, Savannah Guthrie had asked her mother’s abductor to return her “so that we can celebrate with her” and said the family would pay the person to do so.
The latest message from the Guthrie family came shortly before a deadline mentioned in a supposed ransom note sent to several news outlets after the abduction. One of those outlets, the Tucson-area TV station KGUN, said those claiming to be the captors were demanding $6 million by Monday evening.
It remained unclear whether the note was in fact sent by kidnappers, and FBI agents have said they were working to validate it. Officials have acknowledged that the demand could be from impostors.
The Monday video signaled something of a shift in the Guthrie family’s public communications. In prior statements, they have addressed the culprits, and sometimes their mother. But in the newest video, Savannah Guthrie spoke directly to the public, asking for tips “no matter where you are, even if you’re far from Tucson.”
The FBI has issued a $50,000 reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s safe return or to the conviction of her abductor or abductors.
Savannah Guthrie said she and her siblings, Annie and Camron, were bracing for “another week of this nightmare.”