Savannah Guthrie Responds to ‘Cruel Speculation’ That Family Was Involved in Mom’s Disappearance

Guthrie spoke with her ‘Today’ colleague Hoda Kotb for her first interview since her mother Nancy Guthrie was abducted

Savannah Guthrie is speaking out following ongoing speculation related to the disappearance of her mother, Nancy Guthrie. In a recent interview, she addressed what she described as “cruel speculation” circulating during an already difficult time.

Savannah was asked by Kotb about the speculation that swirled in February that a family member could have been responsible for her mother’s abduction. “When you talk about the cruel speculation, the whispers, the innuendo that it was somebody in your family, how did you weather that?” Kotb asked.

“It’s unbearable,” Savannah said. “And it piles pain upon pain. There are no words, there are no words. I don’t understand and I will never understand.”

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos shared in a statement on Feb. 16 that the Guthrie family, including all siblings and spouses, had been cleared as possible suspects in Nancy’s kidnapping. They had never been officially identified as suspects by police.

“The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case,” the sheriff said at the time. “To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel. The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple.”

Savannah’s sister Annie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni, were among the last to see Nancy alive. Nancy visited their nearby home the night before she was abducted.

In her interview with Kotb, Savannah said that “no one took better care” of her mother than her sister and brother-in-law.

“And no one protected my mom more than my brother,” she continued of her brother Camron Guthrie. “And we love her and she is our shining light. She is our matriarch. She’s all we have.”

Elsewhere during the discussion, Savannah described learning about her mother’s disappearance when Annie called her “in a panic.” They initially thought Nancy must have had a medical episode and was at a local hospital. She described the “chaos and disbelief” of trying to figure out where her mother was.

“From the very early moments Annie and Tommy were saying, ‘This isn’t that case that you are used to where someone wanders off. She can’t wander off,’ ” Savannah said of her sister and brother-in-law. “My mom, she was in tremendous pain. Her back was very bad… on a good day, she could walk down to the mailbox and get the mail, but most days not. So there was no ‘wander off.’ And the doors were propped open and there was blood on the front doorstep and the Ring camera had been ripped off, and so we were saying, ‘This is not okay. Something is very wrong here.’ “

It’s been multiple weeks since Nancy, 84, was last seen alive on Jan. 31 after she had dinner with family. She was later reported missing one day later when she failed to attend a virtual church service.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and FBI believe Nancy was kidnapped by an armed man, who was seen in surveillance footage appearing to tamper with her doorbell camera.

“I’m glad and grateful to the investigators and the technology companies that were able to find that video,” Savannah said in her Today interview. “Do I hope at least with people of good heart and compassion stop the irresponsible and cruel speculation that had started to swirl? I’m glad that people saw what came to our door.”

The Guthrie family has boosted the reward for any information leading to Nancy’s recovery or an arrest in the case to $1 million, while the FBI’s reward of $100,000 remains active. Savannah’s family also donated $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“We also know that we are not alone in our loss. We know there are millions of families that have suffered from this uncertainty,” Savannah said before announcing the donation on Instagram in February. “We hope that the attention that has been given to our mom and our family will extend to all the families like ours who are in need.”

She added at the time, “Please, if you hear this message; if you’ve been waiting and you haven’t been sure, let this be your sign to please come forward, tell what you know and help us bring our beloved mom home so that we can either celebrate a glorious, miraculous homecoming or we can celebrate the beautiful, brave and courageous and noble life that she has lived,” Savannah said. “Please be the light in the dark.”

The FBI is urging anyone with tips or leads to call 1-800-CALL-FBI in addition to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office number, 520-351-4900