Expert scrutiny as Savannah Guthrie’s expert plea spotlights new details
Expert attention has focused on a line in Savannah Guthrie’s February 24 Instagram plea as the search for her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, stretches into its fourth week. Savannah Guthrie urged anyone with information to contact the FBI and announced a family reward of up to $1 million.
Expert views on Savannah's caption
Savannah Guthrie wrote in her Instagram caption, “Someone knows how to find our mom and bring her home, ” and in a video posted just before 9 a. m. Tuesday she urged the public to keep Nancy in their thoughts. “Please keep praying without ceasing, ” she said. “We still believe. We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home, hope against hope. As my sister says, ‘We are blowing on the embers of hope. ’” She added, “We also know that she may be lost. She may already be gone. ”
Host and commentator reactions
Megyn Kelly highlighted a single line from Savannah’s post—“It’s day 24 since our mom was taken in the dark of night from her bed”—and said that line appeared to reveal more than the public already knew. Hamilton Security Group founder James Hamilton agreed, saying, “I think she was literally that Savannah knows something that we didn’t know, and now we do know that she was taken from her bed. ” Kelly also suggested timing of the reward might be significant, saying, “There is also the possibility that the reason somebody close to Savannah talked her out of offering a million dollars early on is they thought somebody might come out of the woodwork and point the finger at them. ”
Timeline and camera evidence
Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona, home on February 1. Investigators have pointed to doorbell camera footage that shows an armed, masked man near the house on the morning she vanished; two law enforcement one of the images was captured earlier. Authorities have not identified a suspect, and no arrests have been announced.
Physical evidence and testing
Investigators confirmed that blood found on Nancy Guthrie’s porch belongs to her. A glove recovered about two miles away reportedly contained DNA, but it did not produce a match in federal databases.
Family reward and public tips
The Guthrie family announced a reward of up to $1 million for Nancy’s recovery. The family intends to donate $500, 000 to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The reward is structured to hinge on Nancy’s recovery rather than an arrest or prosecution, and the $1 million can be split if there is more than one valid claim. The family had been prepared to offer a cash reward early in the investigation but were advised that doing so might overwhelm the infrastructure set up to field leads; they moved forward after consultation and coordination with law enforcement. By Tuesday night, roughly 12 hours after the reward was made public, more than 750 calls had come into the FBI tip line.
Investigators, official statements and appeals
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said early in the inquiry that investigators believe Nancy was “taken from the home against her will, possibly in the middle of the night and that includes possible kidnapping or abduction. ” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said all members of the Guthrie family have been cleared as possible suspects and warned that to suggest otherwise “is not only wrong, it is cruel. ” Nanos added, “The Guthrie family are victims, plain and simple. ”
Camron Guthrie, Savannah’s older brother, addressed anyone who might be holding their mother: “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We need you to reach out. ” Former FBI supervisor Jason Pack said the family reward suggests a strategic pivot: “There are some people who were close to what happened, that know what happened, that now have a decision to make, and that decision was really, really ratcheted up by this reward that Savannah and her family offered. ” Michelle DeLaune, chief executive of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, called the planned donation “very generous” and said it is “a tremendous opportunity to raise the visibility of many cases that otherwise would not be receiving this type of attention. ”
Nancy Guthrie is still missing. The case remains under active investigation and no arrests have been announced.
