Tuesday will mark two months since Savannah Guthrie‘s 84-year-old mother was abducted, and the Today anchor is sharing new details about the day she went missing. In a new interview with Today’s Hoda Kotb, who has been filling in for Guthrie, she recalled getting a call from her sister saying their mom was missing. The family initially thought Nancy might have had a medical episode, and paramedics had come to the Arizona home, since the octogenarian’s back doors were propped open.
“We thought maybe they came and there was a stretcher and they took her out the back,” Guthrie said. “But her phone was there, and her purse was there, and all her things. And it just didn’t make any sense.” When Guthrie arrived at her mother’s house, she realised there was no “wander off,” as she put it. “The doors were propped open, and there was blood on the front doorstep,” she said. “And the Ring camera had been yanked off. So we were saying, ‘This is not OK. Something is very wrong here.’”
Guthrie said that her brother, a former fighter pilot, identified Nancy’s disappearance as an abduction right away. “He said, ‘I think she’s been kidnapped for ransom,’” she said, adding that she didn’t want to believe it at first. Guthrie said she worried initially that the abduction was because of her status as a national figure, but added that she still doesn’t know that for sure due to a lack of communication with the abductors. Although authorities reported that some of the ransom requests were believed to be false, Guthrie said that the ones the family replied to, she believed, were real. Crying, she said she felt sorry for impacting her family.
When Kotb asked how Guthrie reacted to seeing images of the abductor taken from Ring camera footage, Guthrie worked hard to keep her composure. “It’s absolutely terrifying,” she said. “It’s totally terrifying. And I can’t imagine that that is who she saw standing over her bed. I can’t. That’s too much.”
Guthrie said she saw her mother’s house as “hallowed ground,” since her mom “loved and treasured” the abode. “That’s my mom’s safe haven,” she said. “It was really hard to see that violated, and the terror that she must have felt is unbearable.”
Regarding her return to Today, Guthrie said she drew inspiration from a memory of advice her mother gave her after Savannah’s father died. “You have to ‘decide and do,’” she said. “I have to decide and do every day,” she said. “I’ve felt terrible grief, and I’ve felt unfathomable love and comfort. The goodness and kindness of God is remarkable and in equal measure to my sorrow.” Guthrie said her faith was “strong and resolute.” (NBC has not yet announced the date Guthrie will return to the anchor couch.)
Once, when praying, Guthrie said she heard a voice. “It said, ‘You do know where she is. She’s with me,’” she said. “So whether she’s on this earth still or whether she’s in Heaven, I know where she is.”
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The interview will conclude on Friday.
Since Nancy’s disappearance, Guthrie has been in Arizona with her family. They offered a $1 million reward for Nancy’s return, which would be in addition to the FBI’s $100,000 reward. The authorities’ best leads have come from the aforementioned Ring doorbell footage, which showed a masked man entering the house. Police have detained several persons of interest but have not charged anyone. As of March 5, the FBI has reported receiving more than 13,000 tips about Nancy’s abduction, though none have proffered solid leads.
From Rolling Stone US
