Nancy Guthrie, 84, has been missing since Saturday night, when her daughter dropped her off after having dinner together, say police
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Savannah Guthrie and mother Nancy Guthrie.Credit : Savannah Guthrie/Instagram
Fear and disbelief have swept through the tight-knit Arizona community where police believe Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, was abducted from her home over the weekend.
“We’re in shock,” neighbor Jeff Lamie, 59, tells PEOPLE. “This is really shocking. We just hope that she returns safely.”
Nancy was reported missing by her daughter Annie after Nancy failed to show up at church on Sunday, Feb. 1.
That church, Lamie tells PEOPLE, “was a big part of her life.”
Nancy seemed to be enjoying life in her later years, he says. “She was active. We would see her driving. She seemed engaged. We’d see her in the front yard and she seemed very happy.”
The mother-of-three was last seen at about 9:30 p.m. on Sat., Jan. 31, at her home in Tucson, after she and Annie went out to dinner, police said. She was reported missing from the home where she has lived for decades at about noon.
Authorities believe Nancy was taken against her will, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said at a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
Though police say they have no suspects or persons of interest currently, they have said they believe Nancy is still alive.
“We have nothing else to go on but the belief that she is here,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said in an interview with NBC’s Liz Kreutz, which aired on the Today show on Wednesday, Feb. 4. “She’s present. She’s alive, and we want to save her.”
On Sunday afternoon, residents said they wondered what was going on when they notice a mounting police presence in the usually quiet community. “It’s a very safe area,” Laura Gargano, 63, who is on the board of the local neighborhood association, tells PEOPLE.
“I started hearing overhead choppers,” she says, noting that she thought there had been a burglary. “Then I saw an update on my phone and I got out of my pajamas and ran down here.”
News of the presumed abduction has left residents feeling unsettled. “People move to this neighborhood because it’s always considered one of the best ones to live in,” she says. “This has been a sort of beautiful mecca for people.”
Nancy is thought of very fondly in the neighborhood, Gargano tells PEOPLE. “She is very sweet,” she says. “The first time I went over and introduced myself to her she just welcomed me in.”
Like others, Gargano hopes Nancy returns home soon. “If not, that would be devastating,” she says.
Law enforcement previously announced in a press conference Tuesday, Feb. 3, that “biological DNA evidence” was found at Nancy’s home, but did not specify its nature.
A trail of what appears to be blood could be seen on the front steps of the home, PEOPLE confirms.
Remnants of an apparent camera were removed from the front door area, PEOPLE confirms.
Savannah, 54, has not appeared on the Today show this week. She has been with her family in Arizona while police investigate what happened to her mother.
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