Savannah Guthrie has issued another message directly to her mother’s kidnappers after the 84-year-old was taken from her home last week.
The Today Show presenter shared an emotional message on social media, letting those who took her mother know ‘We received your message and we understand.’
Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was taken ‘against her will’ in the early hours of Sunday, February 1, and have launched an investigation into her whereabouts.
An alleged ransom note ‘demanding payment for the release’ was then reportedly forwarded to the Pima County Sheriff after being received by TMZ.
The publication claimed: ‘The amount is in the millions, and the note demands the cryptocurrency be sent to a specific Bitcoin address.’
In her video, Savannah, 54, continued: ‘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.’
The news anchor was sitting with her siblings, Camron and Annie, holding hands as she concluded: ‘This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.’
Nancy was last seen by Annie’s husband, Tommaso Cioni, on Saturday, January 31, when he dropped her at her home in the Catalina Foothills area of Tucson.
The alarm was then raised when she failed to go to church the next day, prompting concern from her community.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department’s last update confirmed they were working with the FBI to authenticate the alleged ransom note.
A press conference on Thursday saw authorities confirm that there had been no DNA pointing to a suspect found in Nancy’s Arizona home.
Former CIA member and FBI special agent Tracy Walder told Page Six that the lack of clues at the scene would suggest the 84-year-old may have been stalked prior to the kidnapping.
Walder told the publication: ‘This is a person who is clearly suited up and gloved up. Even though they may have surprised [Nancy] in her sleep, I find it very hard to believe that she wouldn’t have fought back a little bit in some way.
‘I understand that she’s 84 and not of the best health, but human nature is to respond, which means DNA could have gone places.’
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos also shared during the latest press call that Nancy’s doorbell camera disconnected at 1:47 am on Sunday.
Walder pointed out that the attacker appeared to know where the security cameras were to remove them, saying: ‘Now, that doesn’t always mean it’s a family member. That could mean it’s a stalker.’
She continued: ‘I also think because of the fact [Nancy’s] home is set so far back, if this is just some random person, I think they probably stalked her for some time and got a pattern life. Her comings and goings and those kinds of things.’
She went on to say that there is ‘no way’ this was a case of a robbery gone wrong or a ‘random’ attack in the night.
Noting Savannah’s high profile as a presenter on the Today show, Walder remarked on the likelihood that Nancy’s personal information, such as home address, was readily available.
She went on to suggest that the motive could be more than financial gain, telling the publication: ‘I just in my gut feel like this is someone that either had some kind of obsession with Savannah because of how high-profile she is, and this was a way to potentially get to her.
‘Or this is a person that has some kind of beef with Savannah because of whatever story she covered, whoever she interviewed, any of those.’
Savannah previously issued a plea to the people who abducted her mother in a tearful Instagram message alongside her two siblings.
‘We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen,’ the NBC host said in the video, flanked by her sister Annie and brother Cameron. ‘Please reach out to us.’
She continued: ‘We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated.
‘We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her.’
Savannah’s voice broke as she spoke directly to her mother in the video: ‘Mummy, if you are hearing this, you are a strong woman.
‘Everyone is looking for you, mummy. Everywhere. We will not rest. Your children will not rest until we are together again.’
Authorities have warned Nancy could be in poor health without her medication, which Savannah referred to in the video.
‘Our mum is our heart and our home,’ she said. ‘Her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer.’
Shortly after the video was posted to Instagram, President Donald Trump said he had directed federal law enforcement to be at the family’s disposal ‘immediately’, in a post on Truth Social.
He also confirmed he had spoken to Savannah over the phone amid the ongoing search for her mother.
It comes after the Pima County Sheriff’s Office shared an update in which they urged members of the public not to share unverified information about the case, describing it as ‘irresponsible’.
The sheriff’s department also confirmed that they do not currently have a suspect or person of interest in the case.
Savannah Guthrie has been a co-presenter on the Today programme in the US since 2012 and won a Daytime Emmy for the show in 2020.
She had been due to go to Milan to cover the Winter Olympics for NBC, but has now pulled out amid the ongoing search for her mother.
Metro contacted the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for comment.
A version of this article was originally published on February 5, 2026.
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