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A heartfelt hand-painted sign adorned with silk flowers has been placed outside the Catalina Foothills residence of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, as Mother’s Day nears and Nancy’s whereabouts remain unknown.
The sign delivers a poignant message to the abductor: “Your mom would be ashamed if she knew what you did. So, before you take her flowers on Mother’s Day, take Nancy home or tell the family where she is so they can celebrate on Mother’s Day.
Do the right thing. Then you can go home to yours.”
Nancy Guthrie was last seen around 9:45 p.m. on January 31, when family members dropped her off at her home after dinner. She was reported missing the following morning after she failed to join a scheduled online church service. Nearly 100 days later, she has yet to be found.
The case has been marked by tension between federal and local authorities regarding the initial handling of the investigation. FBI Director Kash Patel recently criticized the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, stating that the FBI was kept out of the investigation for the first four days.
“What we, the FBI, do is say, ‘Hey, we’re here to help. What do you need?
What can we do?’ And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation,” Patel said during a podcast interview.
According to Patel, it was only after the FBI became involved that investigators reviewed crucial Ring doorbell footage capturing an armed man outside Guthrie’s front door. The FBI also offered to expedite DNA analysis at its Quantico, Virginia laboratory, which Patel suggested could have provided critical information sooner.
However, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office disputed this timeline, asserting that local officials and the Guthrie family contacted the FBI promptly and that agents were on the scene from the first night. Authorities also confirmed that human bones found near Guthrie’s neighborhood are prehistoric and unrelated to the case. DNA testing and video analysis continue, supported by multiple laboratories nationwide.
In her first public remarks since her mother’s disappearance, Savannah Guthrie told “Today” co-host Hoda Kotb that she fears her own public profile may have put her mother at risk.
“It’s too much to bear to think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me,” Savannah said. “And I just want to say I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry.”