The desperate search for 84‑year‑old Nancy Guthrie, mother of Today show co‑anchor Savannah Guthrie, has now stretched into its third week.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has joined the conversation with a direct message for Nancy’s potential kidnappers.
DNA collected
Nancy Guthrie vanished from her home near Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 1, 2026, and investigators believe she was taken against her will.
DNA collected from a glove found near her home and inside the house so far hasn’t matched any records in an FBI database, officials said – a frustrating turn in a case that has drawn national attention.
However, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos remains hopeful as the search for Nancy Guthrie continues, but warns concern will grow if tips begin to taper off.
“Because let’s face it, you’ve been around enough to know that when these tips dry up, this case goes cold. We believe somebody out there knows who did this. We need that person to call,” Nanos said Wednesday, according to KGUN.
Federal authorities have released surveillance footage showing a masked man wearing gloves and a 25‑liter Ozark Trail backpack, walking near Nancy’s front door around the time of her disappearance.
The FBI describes the suspect as a male roughly 5’9″–5’10″ with an average build and has offered a $100,000 reward for information that leads to her location or an arrest. The FBI has also broadened tips outreach, with more than 13,000 leads reported, and law enforcement executing search warrants at homes near Nancy’s residence — though no arrests have been made.
Personally invested
It also seems that President Donald Trump is personally and emotionally invested in Nancy’s disappearance. Shortly after Savannah Guthrie made her first public plea, President Trump reached out to her and Savannah thanked Trump for calling her.
”I spoke with Savannah Guthrie, and let her know that I am directing ALL Federal Law Enforcement to be at the family’s, and Local Law Enforcement’s, complete disposal, IMMEDIATELY,” he later wrote on Truth Social.
Now, Trump is assuring that authorities will pursue “very, very severe” consequences for those involved if Nancy is found dead, including supporting the death penalty for her kidnappers.
In an interview with New York Post, he confirmed the Justice Department would seek the harshest punishment available: “The most, yeah — that’s true.”
Executions are rare
Arizona allows the death penalty, but executions are rare. Only two have been carried out since 2022, in part due to a nearly two-year pause under the Democrat-led state government that was lifted in late 2024. Most of the 109 inmates on Arizona’s death row have been waiting decades.
At the federal level, the stakes are higher. The government can pursue capital punishment in the most notorious cases — like Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, and white supremacist mass murderer Dylann Roof. With Nancy Guthrie still missing, federal prosecutors could weigh their options if evidence points to her death.
Savannah has made multiple heartfelt public appeals, sharing videos urging anyone with information to come forward. Her family, all officially cleared as suspects, has stayed closely involved in the search.
”We need to know, without a doubt, that she is alive and that you have her,” the siblings said in a video shared on Feb. 4. ”We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us.”
Meanwhile, neighbors around Nancy’s Tucson neighborhood have tied yellow ribbons to trees and mailboxes as symbols of hope.