Savannah Guthrie has been in indescribable pain since her mother, Nancy Guthrie, was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona, home on Feb. 1.
“It is five months of agony and unending trauma for our family,” the “Today” show host told KOLD 13 News on Wednesday.
“There is not a moment that goes by that we aren’t actively trying to find our mom.”
Savannah, 54, went on to thank the Tucson community “for holding her in their hearts,” as well as both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department “for their tireless work” on the case.
She concluded her statement, “Bring her home.”
Just before Savannah spoke out on the painful anniversary of Nancy’s kidnapping, a report was published claiming that “none of the ransom notes” that have been received “are believed to be genuine.”
(There have been several ransom notes and demands for millions of dollars worth of bitcoin sent since the 84-year-old went missing, including to the Guthrie family, 13 News, 13 KGUN 9 and TMZ.)
“The FBI and its task force partners have received several ransom notes over the course of this investigation. Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy,” the FBI said in response to the aforementioned report.
The bureau, though, noted that “other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such. This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case. The FBI has and will continue to offer all assistance possible in the investigation — however, local authorities remain the lead.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos echoed those sentiments on Wednesday, insisting there was no “truth” to the report.
“We have a number of notes that we are actively looking at and will continue to actively investigate,” he elaborated to 13 News, adding that the teams are still receiving tips, though not as many as before.
Nanos also shared that they are working with Google on the video components of the case, as well as with labs across the country on DNA testing.
According to the sheriff, they have “divvied up” the work, with the FBI handling the ransom notes and his department focusing on the forensic aspects.
“We have a lot of DNA that we’re still working with,” Nanos said, adding that “new technology” and the concept of genealogy are also coming into play.
He stressed that those factors have made the investigation longer — but more thorough.
“Especially when you throw in genealogy,” he explained. “This may not be the bad guy, but this person might be the bad guy’s relative three times over. … So that has to be broken down and looked at to see if this might be somebody that should be of interest to us.”
Nanos added, “I know this is the five-month mark, and our thoughts are still and have been and will always be with the whole Guthrie family.
“I can’t imagine — I don’t even wanna think about being in that place. Here you are, five months later, and you still have no answers. The best I can tell the family is we’ll continue to work this case. We’re not giving up.”