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The disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of NBC Today The show’s host, Savannah Guthrie, is being investigated for the crime after authorities saw her at her home over the weekend, an Arizona sheriff said Monday.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, asked to explain why he believes the Tucson-area home is a crime scene, said there are other factors that indicate Nancy Guthrie has limited mobility and was not left on her own, but declined to elaborate.
“I want this community to step up and give us some calls,” Nanos said at a news conference.
Guthrie, who lives alone, was sane, the sheriff said.
“This is not related to dementia. She is as sharp as a tack. The family wants everyone to know that this person did not walk alone,” said Nanos, who needs her daily medication.
He was reported missing on Sunday
Guthrie was last seen at her Tucson-area home around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, and her family reported her missing around noon Sunday, the sheriff said.
Nanos said a family member received a call from someone at the church saying Guthrie was not there, asking her family to look for her at her home, and then calling 911.
Searchers were using drones and dogs to look for her, Nanos said. Search-and-rescue teams were supported by volunteers and the Border Patrol, he said, adding that the kill squad was also involved. “It’s not normal for a hit squad to be involved in such cases,” Nanos said.
“It stood out because of what we were told on the spot and what we got from watching the scene. It didn’t rule out foul play,” Nanos said Sunday.
Thank you family for your support
By Monday morning, Nanos said search crews had been working hard but had since backed off.
“We are not treating this as a crime scene, but a search mission,” the sheriff said.
Even so, a sheriff’s helicopter flew over the desert Monday afternoon near Guthrie’s home in the affluent Catalina Foothills neighborhood on Tucson’s northern edge. Her brick home has a gravel driveway and a yard lined with prickly pear and saguaro cactus.
Savannah Guthrie He made a statement on MondayNBC Today He reported a show.
“On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support,” she said. “Our focus now is on the safe return of our lovely Nancy.”
Today Monday’s episode opened with the co-anchor’s mom missing, but Savannah Guthrie wasn’t at the anchor’s desk. Nanos said at Monday’s news conference that Savannah Guthrie is in Arizona.
Savannah Guthrie grew up in Tucson, graduated from the University of Arizona and previously worked as a reporter and anchor at KVOA-TV in Tucson.
Nancy Guthrie appeared in a November 2025 story by her daughter about her hometown. Over the meal, Savannah asked her mother what made the family want to plant roots in Tucson in the 1970s.
“It’s wonderful. Just the weather, the quality of life,” Nancy said. “It’s quiet and gentle.”
She said she loves watching javelinas, pig-like desert mammals, eating plants.