On the evening before her disappearance, Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy, enjoyed a dinner with her daughter Annie. The gathering took place merely hours before Nancy, at the age of 84, went missing in what is now being treated as a kidnapping by Tucson, Arizona authorities.
Nancy Guthrie vanished from her residence on Saturday night, and investigators are delving into the circumstances surrounding her sudden absence. That same day, she spent time with Annie and later engaged in a game of mahjong, a pastime she had recently mentioned in a social media post on January 24.
After the evening together, Annie returned to her luxurious home in Tucson’s prestigious Catalina Foothills around 9:45 p.m., unaware of any imminent danger.
Annie, who affectionately refers to her mother as “our bright north star,” observed nothing unusual in Nancy’s demeanor during their dinner, according to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, as reported by US Magazine.
However, concern arose when a fellow church member notified the family on Sunday of Nancy’s absence at a service. Promptly, family members hurried to Nancy’s home, initiating a search for the beloved mother of three, as reported by TODAY.
But when a congregant at the Guthrie’s local church called family members on Sunday to tell them Nancy was not there, the family rushed to her house and searched for the mother-of-three, TODAY reports.
She was nowhere to be found and they reported her missing at around noon on Sunday.
The family has faced heartache before, with Savannah’s father, Charles, dying of a heart attack when she was just 16 years old.
Savannah has said the sudden death left her devastated and ‘cracked open’ her family.
Savannah Guthrie’s sister, Annie (right), enjoyed dinner with their mother, Nancy (center), just hours before she disappeared. The three women are pictured at the Metropolitan Opera in December
Nancy, a mother-of-three, was reported missing after a church-goer called the family to report that she was not there
During a 2017 interview on the Today Show, Annie credited their mother with keeping them together.
‘I feel like my mom did such a unique and amazing job to create this foundation for us,’ she said of her and her siblings, Savannah and their brother, Camron.
Savannah later told the NBC audience that her mother is ‘like hard, iron, granite strong.
‘We had some hard times when I was a child. We lost my dad suddenly and shockingly,’ she said in 2023. ‘And my mom was so strong and set aside her own grief in many ways just to be there and make sure we could all move forward together.’
Still, she said, when she and Annie were in college, they ‘felt like we should stick with my mom and not leave her alone.’
‘But when I moved to Butte, Montana, that was it. And it was really hard to leave her,’ she said of getting her first news job at the age of 21.
‘And that’s when she said, “If you can’t leave me, then I didn’t do my job right, Savannah.”‘
‘She just gave me permission to go, you know?’ Savannah said. ‘She could have held on to me.’
Savannah flew home to Tucson, Arizona as the search efforts continue
It now remains unclear whether Nancy had been targeted because she is Savannah’s mother.
‘We’re not going to dismiss any angles for sure, but right now, immediately we don’t know of anything like that,’ Nanos said, though he added that authorities do not believe the public is in any danger.
Immediately following the report that Nancy was missing, authorities started taking police canines around the neighborhood and deploying drones and even the Pima County Sheriff’s Department plane to search for the elderly woman.
By Monday, though, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said that the search efforts had been ‘shut down’ because Nancy’s disappearance is now being treated as a crime.
He explained at a news conference that Nancy ‘is very limited in her mobility. She did not just walk out of there.’
‘There are other things at the scene that indicate she did not leave on her own,’ the sheriff continued, noting that she left home without taking medication that she needs to survive and that her phone, wallet and car were all still at her home when police began looking for her and detectives searched her property.
Deputies have since also spoken to some of the staff that works at Nancy’s house.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos held a press conference on Monday morning and explained that Nancy has limited mobility and left important possessions at her home
But the shocking disappearance has left neighbors rattled, with one saying it was strange for Nancy to go missing in such a quiet area.
‘It’s a very safe neighborhood. This is highly unusual, and we are very concerned about her,’ Jeff Lamie told azcentral.
Another neighbor, who asked not to be identified, also said the large police presence on Sunday was ‘very unusual.’
He recalled how officers drove up and down the street with their lights flashing overnight, while a helicopter circled overhead.
The neighbor, who spoke with azcentral and requested to not be named, recalled police driving up and down the street with their lights flashing on Sunday night as a helicopter circled overhead.
That was a far cry from the normal sights of the Catalina Foothills neighborhood, where the neighbor said residents are used to walking their dogs, cycling and waving good morning to one another.
As questions about Nancy’s whereabouts remained on Monday, Jenna Bush Hager spoke through tears, addressing the situation.
Nancy would often visit her daughter on set in New York City. She is seen with her daughter and co-host Jenna Bush Hager in 2019
‘I know her personally. And we want to just report, too, that she takes daily medication and she needs them for survival,’ the Today Show co-host said.
‘She’s without her medication. We are thinking of our dearest, dearest Savannah and her whole family right now in our prayers.’
Host Craig Melvin also conveyed how close to home the story was to the Today team, telling viewers: ‘This is very concerning to us.
‘We don’t typically get involved at a scene like this, but it’s very concerning.’
Both Nancy and Annie have been featured on the show in the past, where the two sisters would speak lovingly about their mother.
‘When I was in my 30s, I really wished to be married and to be a mom, and things just did not happen that fast for me,’ Savannah once said on air.
‘And my mom’s confidence that I would be a mom — even as the years ticked by and ticked by and ticked by — meant so much to me. She said, “Of course you’ll be a mom, and you’re going to be a wonderful mom.”
‘And for her to have that confidence and faith was so meaningful to me. It got me through some really hard times.’
The Today Show host is now expected to pull out of her co-hosting assignment for the Winter Olympics on Friday.
She was also noticeably absent from work on Monday as she returned home to Tucson, from where she issued a statement thanking everyone for their thoughts, prayers and messages.
‘Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom,’ she said.
‘We thank law enforcement for their hard work on this case and encourage anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at (520) 351-4900.’
