FBI Director Kash Patel is set to arrive in Tucson on Monday, coinciding with the ninth day of the search for Nancy Guthrie. This development follows President Trump’s hint that significant progress in the investigation may soon be announced.
Patel’s visit to the Arizona city is described by his team as a ‘pre-planned’ trip, unrelated to the 84-year-old Guthrie’s kidnapping that occurred last weekend. However, a spokesperson for Patel acknowledged that his agenda could shift, particularly if there are significant developments in the case involving Today anchor Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother.
President Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night, revealed that federal investigators have gathered ‘very strong clues,’ suggesting that revelations in the case might be forthcoming.
Patel’s arrival coincides with the lapse of a 5 p.m. MT deadline mentioned in an unverified ransom note. According to local news outlet KGUN, the note demanded $6 million in Bitcoin.
As the situation unfolds, NBC’s Today show continues to prioritize Nancy’s disappearance as their lead news story, underscoring the urgency and public interest surrounding the case.
Meanwhile, NBC’s Today made Nancy’s disappearance their top story again on Monday morning.
NBC’s crime correspondent Tom Winter conceded that there did not appear to be any new leads in the hunt for Nancy, who was last seen on the evening of January 31.
He highlighted that an upsetting video showing Savannah pleading for her mother’s return issued Saturday did not request ‘proof of life’ and displayed an apparent ‘shift in messaging.’
The 84-year-old was abducted from her $1 million Arizona home in the early hours of February 1, she is seen here with her daughter Savannah
The FBI said in a statement that Patel’s visit to Tucson was unrelated to the case but added that ‘plans may change’
Winters also discussed the search of the $650,000 home that Savannah’s sister Annie Guthrie shares with her husband Tommaso Cioni.
He said Pima County Sheriff’s Office had stressed that the Saturday night search was a ‘consent search’ with ‘no suggestion of a possible crime.’
Hostage negotiation experts told The New York Times that they detected a sense of resignation Savannah’s latest video statement, where she sat flanked by Annie and her brother Camron, as if they believed their mother had died.
Savannah clutched both siblings’ hands as she said: ‘We received your message and we understand.
‘We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.’
Lance Leising, a retired FBI agent in Phoenix, offered an alternative suggestion about the video, whose wording he described as ‘purposefully vague.’
According to Leising, this is a sign from investigators that they have doubts over the legitimacy of the ransom note.
He added: ‘The possibility that it’s fraudulent, and these people don’t have Nancy, is still high.’
Investigators probing her abduction have remained outside her address for eight days, with teams seen searching a septic tank on Sunday
Nancy had dinner at the home of Annie and her son-in-law Tommaso Cioni just four miles away from her house before Cioni dropped her back to her home around 9:45pm MT on Saturday January 31.
Cioni said he saw his mother-in-law enter her home through the garage before driving off.
The alarm was raised last Sunday morning when Mrs Guthrie failed to turn up for her virtual church service.
Investigators found drops of blood on Nancy’s front porch that was later confirmed to be hers. They also discovered that her doorbell camera was disconnected at around 1:45 am.
Less than 30 minutes later, her security camera detected movement. Her pacemaker stopped transmitting data to her Apple Watch and phone shortly afterwards, suggesting she had been taken out of the devices’ range.
Nancy requires medication every 24 hours and it is unclear if whoever abducted her has ensured she has access to her meds.
The search escalated on Friday when forensics returned to her home for a third time to collect new evidence including a car from her garage and a camera from her roof.
Earlier that day, PCSD Sheriff Chris Nanos told NBC News that he believes that Nancy is ‘still alive.’
While Nanos offered an optimistic view of the search, he previously admitted that investigators are in a race against time.
The elderly woman is suffering health problems and is believed to be without daily medications.
On Sunday footage emerged from the property showing law enforcement officials using a pole to check inside a septic tank at a rear of the property.
Authorities also said a ‘vehicle of interest’ was identified and believed to have been seen at a Circle K convenience store in the Tucson area on Friday.
A Circle K spokesperson told the Daily Mail that a ‘tip’ led law enforcement to the vehicle.
They said the company was assisting investigators by providing access to its surveillance video.
It is unclear why the vehicle appeared to be connected to the disappearance, nor whether any suspects have been identified.
Cops swept Annie and Nancy’s homes on Saturday. It is unclear what – if anything – was recovered during those operations. NBC reported that Annie consented to the search.
Annie’s home was searched earlier this week as well. Cops said that she and her husband Tommaso Cioni were the last people to see Nancy before she vanished.
Officials previously said they have no reason to suspect the abduction is tied to Savannah’s celebrity profile, but said they have not ruled out the possibility.
Savannah earns a reported $8 million salary at NBC and has a net worth estimated at around $40 million.
The latest update from Pima County Sheriff’s Department said: ‘Follow-up continues at multiple locations. No suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles have been identified.’
