The search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie has entered its seventh week, with investigators focusing on a vacant home near her Arizona residence as they follow new leads in a case authorities believe may involve a targeted abduction.
Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen in the early hours of Feb. 1 at her home in the Catalina Foothills. Surveillance footage showed a masked individual, reportedly armed, approaching the property shortly before she is believed to have been taken. Authorities have not publicly identified the person.
According to Brian Entin, a correspondent for NewsNation, FBI agents are now inquiring about a nearby property that was vacated shortly before Guthrie’s disappearance.
“Some of the things that they’re talking about is there’s one neighbor that moved out before Nancy disappeared, and they are asking more questions about that situation,” Entin said on his program this week.
“Not to say that that has anything to do with what happened. But that is something the FBI agents are asking about,” Entin said.
Entin, who has been reporting from outside Tucson for weeks, suggested that the investigation reflects a broader strategy by the investigators to revisit potential leads as the case develops. In a separate interview with Parade, retired Pima County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Bob Krygier, a former SWAT commander, noted that vacant properties can be significant in cases like this. He described them as potential “home bases or staging locations” for suspects.
“It would provide them a cover story to be at those locations at different times,” Krygier said, noting that a location like that would enable suspects to stay “under the radar” while also keeping watch on neighborhood routines.
“A location like [a vacant home], out of the prying eye of the neighborhood, could also be a location to set up surveillance equipment without anyone knowing,” he added. Krygier pointed out that investigators frequently return to previous locations or follow up on tips as new information becomes available.
“Believe it or not, new viable leads pop up all the time,” he said, explaining that witnesses often recall details that at first seemed unimportant to them. Authorities have been canvassing Guthrie’s neighborhood for weeks, reviewing security footage and interviewing residents, but her whereabouts are still unknown.
Amid the ongoing investigation, Savannah Guthrie briefly returned to social media for the first time in nearly three weeks, sharing an Instagram Story on Friday in recognition of World Down Syndrome Day.
The post highlighted a segment on Best Buddies, a nonprofit that supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Savannah Guthrie has not publicly commented on recent developments in the case, but her limited reappearance reflects the ongoing strain on the family as the search for her mother continues. She made a surprise visit to the show earlier this month and said that eventually she has every intention of returning.
She thanked her coworkers for their love and support and for “caring about my mom as much as I do.”
“I wanted you to know that I’m still standing, and I still have hope and I’m still me. I don’t know what version of me that will be, but it will be,” Guthrie told the Today team during her visit.
“I have every intention of coming back. I don’t know how to come back, but I don’t know how not to. You’re my family and I would like to try,” Guthrie told the team, per Today.
Guthrie’s return to the show has not yet been set. Hoda Kotb and Sheinelle Jones, both of whom went to school with Guthrie, have mostly taken her place today, along with her co-anchor Craig Melvin.