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By Joshua Rhett Miller and Shane Croucher
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Nancy Guthrie's daughter Savannah said the family is now offering a $1 million reward for the recovery of her mother in a new emotional appeal shared on Instagram.
In the video shared early Tuesday, the "Today" show co-anchor pleads with the public to keep praying for her 84-year-old mother.
"It is day 24 since our mom was taken in the dark of night from her bed, and every hour and minute and second and every long night has been agony since then — of worrying about her and fearing for her, aching for her, and most of all, just missing her, just missing her," Guthrie said in the 4-minute video. "We know that millions of you have been praying, so many people have been praying of every faith and no faith at all, praying for her return, and we feel those prayers. Please keep praying without ceasing. We still believe. We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home — hope against hope, as my sister says: We are blowing on the embers of hope."
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Guthrie, 54, said her family is also acknowledging that Nancy Guthrie may not be alive more than three weeks after she disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona.
"We also know that she may be lost, she may already be gone," Guthrie said. "She may have already gone home to the Lord that she loves and is dancing in heaven with her mom and her dad, and with her beloved brother Pierce, and with our daddy. And if this is what is to be, then we will accept it. But we need to know where she is, we need her to come home. For that reason, we are offering a family reward of up to $1 million dollars for any information that leads us to her recovery."
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Guthrie urged anyone with information about her mother's whereabouts to contact FBI officials at (800) CALL-FBI or reach out to her directly.
"Someone out there knows something that can bring her home," she said. "Somebody knows, and we are begging you to please come forward now."
The FBI's $100,000 reward for information leading to Guthrie's return "remains active," agency officials in Phoenix confirmed Tuesday on X.
Guthrie also said she and her family realize "we are not alone in our loss" while referencing millions of other missing Americans.
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"And for that reason today, we also are donating $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for their work in helping families who are coping with loss and actively looking for those who are lost," Guthrie said. "We are hoping 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 and need prayers and need support."
Guthrie concluded: "So 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 celebrate the beautiful, brave and courageous and noble life that she has lived. Please be the light in the dark. Thank you."
Nancy Guthrie's Disappearance: What We Know
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home on January 31, with relatives reporting her missing the following day. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said investigators believe she was kidnapped or taken against her will, but authorities have yet to announce an arrest in the high-profile case.
FBI officials have released images from a doorbell camera depicting an armed and masked individual outside Guthrie's home on the morning of her disappearance. One of the images had been previously captured, Pima County Sheriff Department officials said Monday.
Investigators are continuing to process evidence recovered from Guthrie's home, including mixed and partial DNA samples, department officials said.
'Not a Professional'
The man caught on camera outside Guthrie's home appears to be a novice criminal who likely hasn’t kidnapped before, a former FBI profiler previously told Newsweek.
Jim Clemente, a former FBI supervisory special agent and profiler who specialized in abductions, said the masked, armed individual caught on a doorbell camera outside Guthrie’s home appeared to be in his late 20s to 40s.
"He has some forensic and criminal sophistication, but is not police or military trained," Clemente told Newsweek earlier this month. "He is not a professional abductor and he has likely not done this before."
The footage, which depicts the suspect wearing a ski mask, backpack, gloves and a jacket, also shows what appears to be a handgun in a holster. At one point, the individual spots the doorbell camera and tries to block it, initially with a gloved hand and then with foliage, video shows.
"He was not prepared to deal with the door camera," Clemente said. "He did not have tools in his hands to force his way into the house in the front."
The suspect spent approximately 40 minutes inside Guthrie’s home after the doorbell camera was disconnected around 1:45 a.m. on February 1, authorities have said. Guthrie’s pacemaker disconnected from her cellphone around 2:30 a.m., indicating she had likely been abducted around that time.
"He also did not wear a mouth covering that would have minimized him leaving DNA in the residence," Clemente wrote in an email. "We shed cells through our breath every minute, every day."
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