On March 5, Savannah Guthrie made an emotional return to the set of the Today show to visit her longtime coworkers. The anchor — who’s been holed up in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona, since February 1 as authorities investigate the disappearance of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy — wiped away tears between heartfelt hugs from colleagues including Al Roker, Hoda Kotb and Willie Geist.
While there, Savannah, 54, thanked the Today team for their love and support and for “caring about my mom as much as I do.” She also revealed that she plans to return to the morning show. “I have every intention of coming back,” she said. “I don’t know how to come back, but I don’t know how not to. You’re my family. And I would like to try.”
Shortly after Nancy was reported missing on February 1, authorities ruled it a kidnapping. Since then, Savannah and her siblings, Camron, 61, and Annie, 56, have appeared in multiple videos on Instagram expressing their heartbreak and desperation to find their mom (while of sound mind, Nancy requires crucial daily medication and has a pacemaker). On February 24, they upped the reward for information to
$1 million.
With each passing day, many fear the window to safely bring Nancy home is closing. There have been a few leads in the case — including ransom notes and security footage featuring a masked man tampering with Nancy’s doorbell — but as of press time, there were still more questions than answers. Us Weekly spoke with neighbors and security and law-enforcement experts to see where things stand.
What Leads Are Authorities Pursuing in the Nancy Guthrie Case?
Some of the bigger breaks in the case include the discovery of Nancy’s DNA in blood found on her porch, and security footage from a nearby convenience store that showed a “vehicle of interest” in the area. (The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on March 9 that a body found in a canal near Phoenix had no connection to Nancy.)
On February 10, the FBI released images from Nancy’s doorbell security camera of a man in a ski mask on her porch the morning of her disappearance. (The man, who was carrying a backpack, tries to cover the camera with his gloved hand and then plants from Nancy’s yard.) The discovery wasn’t a slam dunk: On March 3, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told NBC News that the backpack, which had been identified as a brand sold exclusively at Walmart, may not have actually been purchased at the store. On March 5, it was reported that a glove found two miles from Nancy’s home belonged to a restaurant worker who’s been ruled out as a suspect.
Dan Donovan, founder of the security and risk management firm Stratoscope Holdings, tells Us it’s unlikely the man can be ID’d via facial recognition. “A face mask significantly limits [it] as a tool,” he says, noting that even if usable, the technology requires a known image that “already exists in a law-enforcement database.”
Savannah Guthrie’s family faced an unimaginable situation when they learned that their matriarch, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, was reported missing in Arizona in February 2026. As police have become involved in the investigation and the case has unraveled, many people are curious about the timeline of events that went down before and after Nancy disappeared. “On […]
Investigators are now exploring whether there were internet outages in the area of Nancy’s home around the time she was abducted, possibly prompted by a WiFi jammer used by the masked man. (When asked, the PCSD told Us they could not confirm the WiFi jammer reports. The FBI said they do not comment on ongoing investigations.) Limited cell coverage could reduce access to mobile location data, call records and tower pings, which may signify “a higher degree of planning and technical awareness by the offender,” says Donovan. However, he adds that much of what has surfaced so far — including four unverified ransom notes sent to TMZ and local news outlets demanding cryptocurrency payments — “does not necessarily point to a highly sophisticated operation.”
One of Nancy’s neighbors tells Us they have not been interviewed about the internet issues yet. “We thought the police would come by again and ask about that, but they haven’t,” says the neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous. “I wish they would, because I think people are remembering bits of information like that, and maybe it would help the case.”
What’s Happening Behind the Scenes of the Case?
In his March 3 interview, Nanos said there is still information authorities have not shared with the public. “My guess is we only know a small percentage of what law enforcement knows,” Troy Hillman, a retired homicide sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department and author of Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter, tells Us. Hillman says authorities “have triaged thousands of leads” and that “a multitude of interviews of anyone who had contact with Nancy leading up to… her abduction have been conducted.”
Have There Been Any Hiccups With the Investigation?
Hillman sees a few issues with how the case has been handled, including making the crime scene — Nancy’s five-bedroom Catalina Foothills home, where Savannah grew up — available to the family the same week Nancy went missing. “This created some possible tainting of evidence issues when they had to re-secure the crime scene,” says Hillman.
As the search for Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy Guthrie, continues, authorities are remaining tight-lipped on some burning questions surrounding the case. Nearly a month after Nancy was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home, police have yet to identify a suspect or person of interest in the case. “This remains an active investigation and will continue […]
He also notes that collaboration efforts between local authorities and the FBI can be tricky. (On February 12, it was reported that the sheriff’s department had blocked the FBI from accessing physical evidence; Nanos denied the accusation.) “When you have multiple agencies communicating up and down different chains of command, it can create snags in information filtering.”
Nanos has been under fire for his handling of the investigation, with some accusing him of talking to the media too much. “The pressure for answers was intense,” notes Hillman, “but I thought too much information was put out in the first couple of days.”
What Are Possible Motives for Nancy Guthrie’s Abduction?
In a March 12 interview with NBC News, Nanos said that authorities believe they have zeroed in on the motive behind Nancy’s abduction. “We believe we know why [the kidnapper] did this and we believe that it was targeted, but we’re not 100 percent sure of that,” Nanos said, though he declined to elaborate on theories behind the possible motives. He also warned listeners to stay vigilant: “It’d be silly to tell people, ‘Don’t worry about it. You’re not his target.’ You could be. Don’t think for a minute that because it happened to the Guthrie family, you’re safe. No. Keep your wits about you.”
Nancy’s neighbor tells Us that community members are not particularly fearful of another crime because “ever since the day Nancy went missing, this seemed to be a very specific case. We live in a quiet, safe community. This seemed like a targeted, planned scenario.” Another neighbor, Morgan Brown, told Us last month that he “can’t imagine what someone would want with an 84-year-old woman,” adding, “the thought comes to my mind is maybe they are trying to get to Savannah somehow, political or whatnot.”
Dr. Ana Belmonte, assistant professor of forensic psychology at The Chicago School, tells Us offenders tend to go after high-profile people in a bid for attention. One study, she says, “showed that seven percent of perpetrators of mass violence are motivated by fame or notoriety.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos gave an update on the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s abduction as the search reaches 40 days. During an interview on NBC Nightly News on Thursday, March 12, correspondent Liz Kreutz asked Nanos whether the suspect “could strike again.” “Absolutely. We believe we know why he did this, and we believe […]
Is It a Cold Case?
On February 27, the PCSD announced it would be scaling the investigation back with a number of officers returning to their usual posts, and later said cadaver dogs are no longer being deployed. Hillman tells Us it’s a normal step “as leads begin to dwindle.” He also says the definition of a cold case differs among agencies. “My cold case homicide team and Phoenix PD adopted the following: a case that is one year from the date of the incident, and there are no viable leads.”
Is Savannah Guthrie Ready to Return to ‘Today’?
While Savannah made it clear during her March 5 visit that she intends to get back to work, as of press time, no specific date has been set. “If Savannah returns, she would be demonstrating incredible resilience, particularly if a resolution to this case is not found [by then],” says Belmonte. David E. Johnson, founder of Strategic Vision PR Group, says the beloved host should take her time. “It’s too soon,” he tells Us, “there needs to be more answers and some sense of resolution.” Johnson, who specializes in crisis management, says a “business as usual” strategy can appear “dismissive or tone-deaf,” and that Savannah should do a one-on-one interview leading up to her return. “One thing is certain,” he adds: “The audience will be enormous for her first show back.”
What Happens Next in the Nancy Guthrie Case?
Nancy’s neighbor says it appears police activity in the area has toned down. “I have not had the police come to speak with me again. I have not seen or heard of investigators at any neighboring properties in a few weeks now,” shares the neighbor. “I really don’t know what else they are doing.”
Hillman says investigators have “done a phenomenal job of chasing the clues” and will continue to do so, noting that it’s “quite possible” authorities have not yet combed through all the leads. The answer could still be hiding in the thousands of tips they’ve received. “My guess is that the perpetrator is or will be at some point in their files. They just have to keep looking.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi, Paola Leva & Whitney Vasquez
