It started out as a routine night for Nancy Guthrie.
At around 5:32 p.m. Saturday she left her home in the hills north of Tuscon to have dinner at the home of a family member. She took an Uber to the dinner but was driven home by family, officials said.
The 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie arrived back home at 9:48 p.m., authorities said, when her garage door opened. Data shows the door then closed two minutes later.
A mysterious timeline
Much of the next few hours remain a mysterybut could hold the key to what happened to her. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said officials believe she was abducted and are now studying a ransom note seeking money for her return.
Few details about how she was taken from the house have been revealed. But a rough timeline of Sunday morning offer some clues:
- 1:47 a.m. The home’s doorbell camera disconnected.
- 2:12 a.m.: Security camera software detected a person — or possibly an animal — at the home, but there was no video available.
- 2:28 a.m.: Nancy Guthrie’s pacemaker app disconnected from her cell phone. Her phone doesn’t appear to have ever left her house.
It was not until late Sunday morning that the family discovered she was missing, after someone at church noticed she hadn’t attended and reached out to her family. The first 911 calls to authorities came just after noon and sheriff’s officials were at her home by 12:15 p.m.
Blood found
Almost immediately, family and officials noted suspicious circumstances, with the 84-year-old nowhere to be found, but her essentials — her cellphone, wallet, car and medications — still at home.
While she is of sound mind without cognitive issues, Guthrie does have physical ailments that keep her from walking far, officials said.
“This isn’t somebody that just wandered off,” Nanos said. “She couldn’t walk 50 yards by herself.”
Officials have said they believe she was “taken from her home against her will,” but have not revealed many more clues.
Images reviewed by The Times showed a trail of blood droplets near a door of the home. Nanos on Thursday confirmed they had tested some blood from the outside of the home for DNA, which only appeared to be a match for Nancy Guthrie.
Nanos said other evidence is being processed for DNA but it will take more time.
The FBI has brought in their critical incident response team from Quantico as well as members of their cellular analysis survey team to process evidence.
“Right now we believe Nancy is still out there. We want her home,” Nanos said at a Thursday news conference. He said a massive team of local and federal partners are still “working round the clock.”
Concern for her health
Nancy Guthrie lived alone in her ranch-style home in the Catalina Foothills community.
She took a daily medication that she needs to survive. It appears she has been without that medication. Nanos said her life would be in immediate danger without it.
“This is day four or five and we still don’t know that she’s getting her medication and that could mean itself could prove fatal,” Nanos said Thursday.
Several news outlets have also reported receiving possible ransom notes requesting money in exchange for Nancy Guthrie’s release. The FBI appears to be taking the note seriously and noted it included a 5 p.m. Thursday deadline.
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