Savannah Guthrie’s recent public appeal for the return of her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, was a “deliberate” tactic to contact her kidnappers after authorities had limited updates on their investigation.
“It was directly targeted at the residents of Tucson and southern Arizona,” former FBI agent Jason Pack exclusively told Page Six.
“My family chose a local TV station over a national platform, and that’s no coincidence,” Pack said. “NBC and their platforms probably would have aired it if asked. They targeted their own neighborhoods. So either they believe someone local has the information, or it’s more likely that someone local hasn’t checked the cameras yet because they thought someone else had already done so.”
On Sunday, the “Today” show host accused the kidnappers in a statement to “hyperlocal” station KVOA, but Pack insisted it was a “deliberate” action.
Pack went on to explain how staying relevant in the news cycle is an “uphill battle” and that investigators are “not helping to keep this case in front of the public.”
“Law enforcement had not held a press conference in over a month, and as of Saturday night, nearly three weeks had passed since the family’s last public complaint,” Pack said. “As the investigators go dark and the media continues to report, the amount of snitching will probably go down. That’s just the nature of it.”
But Pack defends the authorities’ silence, saying that doesn’t mean the investigation is “at a standstill.”
“We’re likely to see several weeks of search warrant returns, subpoena responses, lab work, and digital forensics planned out right now,” Pack believes. “The work is not visible to the public, it happens behind closed doors, and it takes time.
“Investigators are said to be pursuing genetic genealogy options and checking commercial DNA databases beyond national systems, but no official results have been returned. The process is slow. They have also solved cases much colder than this one.”
The Guthrie family’s statement has “actual operational weight” when it comes to residents checking surveillance footage.
“Task Force staff and agents should ask residents to go back to the scene and collect footage in person and review it themselves, even if residents say they don’t see anything,” he says. “Residents don’t know that a trained inspector doesn’t see anything. Sometimes the most important framework for an inspection is one that the homeowner has already fired.”
“If DNA, thousands of hours of video, a $1 million reward, and the full force of the FBI can’t solve a seven-week-old kidnapping, the answer probably lies in Ring camera footage that no one has seen yet.”
“We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from our neighbors, friends, and the people of Tucson. We are all family now,” the Guthrie family said in a statement to KVOA.
“We continue to believe that the people of Tucson, and the community of southern Arizona, hold the key to solving this case. Someone knows something. Members of this community may have information they don’t even realize is important.”
The statement continued: “We hope people will explore their memories, especially around the key timelines of January 31st and the early morning hours of February 1st, and the late night hours of January 11th.”
“We implore this community to take a renewed interest in our mother’s case. Please take note of camera footage, diary notes, text messages, observations and conversations that may be important in retrospect. No matter how small, it could be the key.”
“We miss our mother with every breath. We can’t feel safe until she comes home. We can’t grieve. We can only feel the pain and wonder. Our focus is just finding her and bringing her home. We want to celebrate her beautiful and brave life, but we can’t do that until she’s taken to her final resting place.”
Nancy was reported missing on February 1st after failing to attend a virtual church service.
Authorities believe Guthrie was abducted while she was sleeping and was “harmed” in the process, with blood stains seen outside her home.
Video and photos of the masked person were released on February 10th.
The images showed the person entering Nancy’s home with gloves and a backpack.
A number of people have been questioned throughout the investigation, but the kidnapping suspect has not yet been arrested. The investigation is still ongoing.
