Authorities have shared new details surrounding the disappearance of Today anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, who was first reported missing by her family on Sunday, February 1, after she failed to attend her local church service.
She was last seen on the night of January 31 in Tucson, Arizona, where she resides in a $1 million Catalina Foothills home. Pima County sheriff Chris Nanos shared an update on the ongoing situation with the Daily Mail, explaining that Nancy likely left her home "against her will".
"She did not walk away," he told the publication. "We believe she was forced to leave that residence. It was against her will."
"This was, in our opinion, someone entered her home in the middle of the night and removed her. It could be more than one person, we don't know that yet," he continued.
"This is about an 84-year-old woman who is sick, who needs her medications, who, in the middle of the night, was taken from her bedroom. If she is alive, she needs her medication and it's been well over 24 hours. That in itself could be fatal, and that's scary."
The sheriff didn't rule out an abduction, sharing that her mobility issues would've prevented her from leaving of her own accord. "We know she could not walk out of that house. Talking to her doctors, we know she had some physical elements that definitely limited her," he said.
"She is very sharp-witted, of good mind, suffers nothing in the form of any kind of dementia or Alzheimer's – nothing. So we know she would know what was going on around here."
Despite Nancy's home being close to the Mexican border, authorities appear to have ruled out the location's connection to her disappearance. "There's nothing to indicate cartel or border issues. Nothing like that." The lights inside Nancy's home were on when authorities arrived at the scene, and her phone, wallet and car were still there. The door was unlocked, as per the Daily Mail, yet there were signs of forced entry.
Nancy's neighbor spoke to The Arizona Republic and revealed the extent of the search for the grandmother, which has seen police driving through the streets asking people for access to their security cameras, looking through neighbors' backyards, and flying a search-and-rescue helicopter over the town.
Another neighbour of Nancy's, Jeff Lamie, told the publication that her disappearance was unusual for the area. "It's a very quiet neighborhood, it's a very safe neighborhood. This is highly unusual, and we are very concerned about her," he said. Jeff added that there had been a "high response" to the incident, with neighbors rallying into volunteer rescue groups and combing through the surrounding area for clues as to her whereabouts.
Sheriff Nanos previously announced at a press conference on Monday that Nancy's disappearance was being investigated as a crime, and that authorities were "very concerned" for her well-being. Savannah, who is one of Nancy's three children, was not at the Today studio on Monday and instead shared a statement on the incident via her coworkers.
"I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers, and messages of support," she said. "Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom. We thank law enforcement for their hard work on this case and encourage anyone, anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff's office at 520-351-4900."