(Corrects day of second deadline to last Thursday, instead of Friday, in paragraph 8)
By Evan Garcia and Steve Gorman
TUCSON, Arizona, Feb 9 (Reuters) – U.S. television network news host Savannah Guthrie took to social media on Monday to plead for the public’s assistance in locating her elderly mother, who vanished from her Arizona home more than a week ago in a presumed kidnapping for ransom.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen on January 31 when family members dropped her off at her home near Tucson after she had dinner with them, and relatives reported her missing the following day, according to authorities.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said the elder Guthrie had extremely limited mobility and could not have left her home unassisted, leading investigators to conclude early on that she had been kidnapped.
At least two apparent ransom notes have surfaced since then, both delivered initially to news media.
“We believe our mom is still out there,” Guthrie, 54, co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” show, said in the latest of four video messages she and other relatives have posted to Instagram in recent days.
“Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock trying to bring her home, trying to find her. She was taken, and we don’t know where. And we need your help,” Guthrie said.
She asked that anyone who notices “anything at all that seems strange” that might pertain to her mother’s fate, “even if you’re far from Tucson,” to report it to law enforcement, adding, “We are at an hour of desperation.”
The message coincided with a looming Monday deadline enumerated in a purported ransom letter sent to several media outlets last week, days after the elder Guthrie disappeared. An initial deadline set in that letter for 5 p.m. last Thursday came and went.
The FBI and sheriff’s department said a second apparent ransom note surfaced on Friday after family members had appealed to whoever might be holding Nancy Guthrie to open a direct line of communication.
On Saturday, Savannah Guthrie appeared with her brother and sister in a grim video message directed at their mother’s presumed captors, pleading for her return but making no explicit mention of whether she was believed to still be alive. “This is the only way we will have peace,” the TV host said in Saturday’s message. “This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”
Adding to concerns about Nancy Guthrie’s fate was the frail state of her health and the fact that she is said to be dependent on daily medication.
Nine days into the search for Nancy Guthrie, no proof of life is known to have been provided. And on Sunday, the sheriff said that investigators had yet to identify “any suspects, persons of interest or vehicles connected to this case.”
Asked last Thursday whether he feared she was dead, Nanos acknowledged he did, but added, “We operate from a position that until we know, she’s out there, she’s alive, and we’re going to continue thinking that way until we find her.”
Nanos also confirmed reports that DNA test results had determined that blood found on the porch steps at the front door to the victim’s home came from her.
The FBI on Thursday offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.
(Reporting by Evan Garcia in Tucson, Arizona; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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