Authorities have cleared Savannah Guthrie’s family as potential suspects amid the ongoing investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.
“To be clear … the Guthrie family — to include all siblings and spouses — have been cleared as possible suspects in this case. The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos shared in a statement via X on Monday, February 16.
“To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel. The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple… please, I’m begging you the media to honor your profession and report with some sense of compassion and professionalism.”
News broke on February 1 that Nancy was reported missing by a family member who called 911. She was last seen by daughter Annie Guthrie one day prior. (Nancy shared daughters Annie and Savannah, 54, and son Camron Guthrie with late husband Charles Guthrie, who died in 1988 after suffering from a heart attack.)
Following Nancy’s disappearance, Nanos shared that authorities are still investigating the motive behind her abduction — and explained that he believes she was kidnapped rather than the victim of a burglary gone wrong.
“This is somebody who’s disappeared from the face of the earth, and now we have a camera that says here’s the person who did this,” he told the Daily Mail on Monday.
Nanos was referring to the black-and-white images and video clips released by the FBI last week of the masked person standing outside of Nancy’s home and attempting to cover up her camera. The FBI has since shared that the individual is likely “a male, approximately 5’9’’ – 5’10’’ tall, with an average build.”
He continued, “And that’s what makes me say this is a kidnapping. The motivation for it is where we get stuck, right? Is it for money? I mean, we had the one demand where they asked for money. But is it really for money, or is it for revenge for something?”
The same day as Nanos’ most recent interview, TMZ shared that they received a fourth ransom note regarding Nancy’s disappearance. “I know what I saw 5 days ago south of the border and I was told to shut up so I know who he is and that was definitely Nancy with them,” the email allegedly read, with the message containing the same Bitcoin account as the previous three ransom notes.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, told the New York Post on Monday that Nancy’s kidnappers would face “very, very severe — the most severe” federal consequences if Nancy is found dead.
When asked if he meant that the Department of Justice would request the death penalty, Trump, 79, replied, “The most, yeah — that’s true.”
One day prior, Savannah shared an emotional video while attempting to speak directly to Nancy’s potential abductors.
“It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope and we still believe and I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is, that it’s never too late,” she said via Instagram on Sunday, February 15. “And you’re not lost or alone. And it is never too late to do the right thing and we are here. And we believe and we believe in the essential goodness of every human being. And it’s never too late.”
She captioned the upload, “Bring her home. It’s never too late to do the next right thing.”
