Today Show host Savannah Guthrie’s brother desperately pleaded with their mother’s captors to ‘reach out’ after the first ransom deadline passed.
Camron Guthrie spoke solemnly in the short video posted to the news anchor’s Instagram page on Thursday, as the search for their mother, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, stretched into a fifth day.
‘Whoever is out there holding our mother – we want to hear from you,’ Camron began, noting: ‘We haven’t heard anything directly’ as ransom notes demanding millions of dollars for Nancy’s release were only sent to local news stations as well as TMZ.
‘We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward,’ he continued.
‘But first, we have to know that you have our mom,’ Camron said, reiterating the family’s call on Wednesday night for proof of life.
‘We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact.’
Savannah captioned the short video, ‘Bring her home.’
Nancy was mysteriously taken from her $1 million home in Tucson, Arizona early Sunday morning following a dinner with her eldest daughter, Annie, and her son-in-law Tommaso Cioni.
Camron Guthrie pleaded with his mother’s captors on Thursday to reach out to the family directly after the first ransom deadline passed
Nancy, a mother-of-three, was taken from her house early Sunday morning. She is pictured with Today Show host Savannah Guthrie and her eldest daughter, Annie, at the Metropolitan Opera in December
She traveled to her daughter’s home, about 30 minutes away, at around 5.30pm in an Uber on Saturday night, and a family member then dropped her back off at her house at around 9.50pm, where she entered through her garage door, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos announced Thursday.
Hours then went by before her doorbell camera disconnected at 1:47am Sunday, but at 2:12am, a person was detected by the camera’s sensors. At 2:28am, Nancy’s pacemaker app – a device tracking her heartbeat – cut off from her phone’s Bluetooth, Nanos said.
Nancy was then reported missing after she failed to show up for church services later on Sunday morning.
In the aftermath, local news stations and TMZ received a chilling ransom letter demanding millions of dollars for Nancy’s release.
It had a deadline of 5pm local time on Thursday, which has since elapsed.
Investigators said Thursday that the ransom did not include any proof of life or a way for the Guthrie family to make contact.
However, it did set a secondary deadline of Monday for them to meet demands of millions in Bitcoin for her return home.
FBI officials also told reporters that the ransom note has not been verified as legitimate, but it is being taken ‘very seriously’ as an investigative lead.
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Today Show host Savannah Guthrie is pictured with her mother
The siblings told their mother’s captors that they were ‘ready to talk’ in a video message Wednesday night
Savannah Guthrie’s full statement addressing missing mom’s captors
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Still, Nanos said Thursday the sheriff’s department is no closer to finding a suspect and that no one has been ruled out.
‘We’re not there, we’re just not there yet,’ Nanos said, before delving into some of the evidence that was found at Nancy’s home, including the blood droplets and the doorbell camera that was removed from the 84-year-old’s front porch during the time of her kidnapping.
The sheriff said that the blood was ‘rushed through’ for DNA processing, but ‘the results were minimal.’
‘It, it, it came back to Nancy. That’s what we know,’ he continued, adding that more items have been submitted for DNA testing, but have not come back yet.
FBI Special Agent Heith Janke then insisted that the wide-ranging investigation has not ruled anyone out as suspects, and said that agents are ‘analyzing information from all digital sources, which includes banks, social media companies, phone companies, and any other organization where a digital footprint could have been captured.’
Despite the fact that no suspects have been identified in the case, the FBI made an arrest on Thursday, saying an imposter was charged for allegedly sending a fake ransom note.
Blood droplets are seen outside Nancy’s home in Tucson after she went missing. A doorbell camera was also removed before police officers arrived at the scene
FBI says ‘imposter’ was arrested for sending fake ransom demand
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Camron’s message on Thursday was not the first time the siblings decided to address their mother’s potential captors directly – saying in a video message Wednesday night they were ‘ready to talk.’
But they said they wanted proof that the potential kidnappers were not using fraudulent images of Nancy before they sent any money.
‘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. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us,’ Savannah said through tears.
She then told the public how their mother ‘is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light.
‘She’s funny, spunky and clever,’ Savannah continued in the emotional plea. ‘She has grandchildren that adore her and crowd around her and cover her with kisses.’
At that point, the Today Show host decided to speak directly to her mother.
‘Mommy, if you are hearing this, you are a strong woman. You are God’s precious daughter,’ the journalist said.
