Police suspect mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie was abducted from Arizona home

A search continued Tuesday in Arizona for the missing mother of Savannah Guthrie, the Today show host, with police saying they believe the 84-year-old woman was abducted in a weekend intrusion at her home near Tucson.According to the Los Angeles Times, citing two law enforcement sources, there were signs of forced entry and blood found at the residence in the Catalina Foothills area where Nancy Guthrie was last seen at about 9.30pm Saturday.Chris Nanos, the Pima County sheriff, said in a press conference on Monday it was imperative she was found soon because she has limited physical mobility and requires regular life-saving medication.Overnight, authorities said it appeared she was likely kidnapped, perhaps when she was sleeping. “At this point, investigators believe she was taken from the home against her will, possibly [the] middle of the night,” sheriff’s office spokesperson, Kevin Adger, said.In his Monday briefing, Nanos said that Guthrie, who was reported missing by her family at about midday Sunday, was of sound mind.“This is not dementia-related,” he said. “She’s as sharp as a tack. The family wants everyone to know that this isn’t someone who just wandered off.”The sheriff’s office set up a tipline and online request for evidence. And the LA Times reported a $2,500 reward being offered by authorities for “images, videos or information that leads to the arrest of the person or people involved in her disappearance”.Investigators said they were reviewing video footage from the home as well as neighborhood cameras.Nanos said a family member received a call Sunday morning from somebody at her church saying Guthrie was not there, leading relatives to look for her at home – then contact officials when it became clear she was missing.“If she’s alive right now her meds are vital – I can’t stress that enough,” Nanos said.“It’s been better than 24 hours, and the family tells us if she doesn’t have those meds, it can become fatal.”Drones and search dogs were called in to help look for her, supported by volunteers and border patrol agents. On Sunday, Nanos declined to rule out foul play and said that homicide detectives were involved, which he said was a non-standard procedure in the early stages of a missing persons case.Another Pima County spokesperson, Angelica Carrillo, told the Associated Press that the FBI has also offered to help.On Monday afternoon, Nanos revealed that search crews had been pulled back. “We don’t see this as a search mission so much as it is a crime scene,” he said.“We saw some things at the home that were concerning to us. We believe now that we do in fact have a crime scene, and we’re asking the community’s help.”Savannah Guthrie, who has co-anchored NBC’s Today show since 2012, is in Arizona after canceling plans to travel to Milan, Italy, to cover Friday’s opening ceremony for the winter Olympics, Page Six reported.The 54-year-old presenter was absent from the Today show for a second day Tuesday. On Monday, she posted a religion-themed statement to Instagram asking for continued prayers.“We believe in prayer,” she wrote. “We believe in voices raised in unison, in love, in hope. We believe in goodness. We believe in humanity. Above all, we believe in Him.“Thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant. Praise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment. We need you.”Savannah Guthrie grew up in Tucson and has spoken about having a close bond with her mother, especially after the death of her father, Charles, when she was 16. She graduated from the University of Arizona and previously worked as a reporter and anchor at KVOA-TV in her home city.In November 2025, Nancy Guthrie appeared in a story her daughter made. Over a meal, Savannah Guthrie asked her mother what made the family want to plant roots in Tucson in the 1970s.“It’s so wonderful. Just the air, the quality of life,” Nancy Guthrie said. “It’s laid back and gentle.” Associated Press contributed reporting