TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Savannah Guthrie told the potential kidnappers of her mother Nancy Guthrie on Saturday that the family is prepared to pay for her safe return, as the frantic search for the 84-year-old Arizona resident has entered a seventh day.
“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted on social media, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
The “Today” show host was referencing a message that was sent to the Tucson-based television station KOLD on Friday afternoon, according to Kevin Smith, a spokesperson for the FBI office in Phoenix.
KOLD said it received an email related to the Guthrie case on social media that day but declined to share specific details about its contents as the FBI conducted its review.
The station was one of multiple press outlets that received alleged ransom letters during the week. At least one letter made monetary demands and established Thursday evening and the following Monday evening as deadlines.
In a news conference Thursday, law enforcement officials declined to affirm that the letters were credible but said all tips were being investigated seriously. They also said one letter referenced Nancy Guthrie´s Apple watch and a specific feature of her property.
Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026 (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
The video released Saturday was the third this week that pleaded with potential kidnappers.
Investigators think Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her home just outside Tucson last weekend. DNA tests showed blood on Guthrie´s front porch was a match to her, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said. Authorities have not identified any suspects or ruled anyone out.
The sheriff said Friday that he was frustrated that a camera at Nancy Guthrie´s home was not able to capture images of anyone the day she went missing.
Investigators have found that the home´s doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday and that software data recorded movement at the home minutes later. But Nancy Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so none of the images were able to be recovered.
“It is concerning, it´s actually almost disappointing, because you´ve got your hopes up,” Nanos told The Associated Press in an interview. “OK, they got an image. `Well, we do, but we don´t.´”
President Donald Trump, speaking on Air Force One on Friday, said the investigation was going “very well.”
“We have some clues that I think are very strong,” Trump said, while en route to his Florida estate. “We have some things that may be coming out reasonably soon.”
They were back in Nancy Guthrie´s neighborhood on Friday.
The sheriff´s department posted on social media to say access was restricted to the road in front of the home to give investigators space. Journalists staked out there were directed to move.
The Catalina Foothills Association, a neighborhood group, told residents in a letter that authorities were resuming searches in the area immediately.
“I know we all stand together in our collective disbelief and sadness and greatly appreciate your willingness to speak with law enforcement, share camera images and allow searches of your properties,” the association president said in the letter.
The sheriff said Thursday that investigators have not given up on trying to retrieve camera recordings.
“I wish technology was as easy as we believe it is, that here´s a picture, here´s your bad guy. But it´s not,” Nanos told the AP. “There are pieces of information that come to us from these tech groups that say `this is what we have and we can´t get anymore.´”
The sheriff also said he had no new information about the note to the TV station or other purported ransom letters sent to some media outlets, saying the FBI is handling that side of the investigation.
Meanwhile concern about Nancy Guthrie´s health condition has grown, because authorities say she needs vital daily medicine. She is said to have a pacemaker and have dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff´s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.
“Her conditions, I would imagine, are worsening day by day,” Nanos said. “She requires medication. And I have no way of knowing whether they´re getting that medication to her.”
The kidnapping has captured the attention of Americans, including Trump, who said he was directing federal authorities to help investigate.
___ Weber reported from Los Angeles.
In this image provided by NBCUniversal, Savannah Guthrie, right, her mom Nancy speak, Wednesday, April 17, 2019, in New York. (Nathan Congleton/NBCUniversal via AP)
The home of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, is seen from above, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Caitlin O’Hara)
A man walks his dogs passed Nancy Guthrie’s home in the early morning of Saturday, in Tucson, Ariz. Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
The latest turn in the Nancy Guthrie investigation doesn’t come with a dramatic arrest or a named suspect—it comes with something quieter, more modern, and strangely unsettling: video. A routine convenience store camera. A “vehicle of interest” that may or may not matter. And investigators moving with the kind of urgency that suggests they can’t afford to ignore any thread, even the thinnest one.
A Case That Moves in Fragments, Not Answers
There are investigations that advance like a straight line: suspect identified, motive explored, evidence revealed. Then there are investigations like this—fragmented, tense, and publicly unresolved—where the outside world learns the case in pieces: a tip, a tow, a brief official statement, a neighbor’s memory, a camera angle that might matter.
That’s the atmosphere surrounding the search for Nancy Guthrie in Arizona, where law enforcement has now obtained surveillance footage from a Circle K in Tucson after receiving a tip about a “vehicle of interest.” The development, reported widely on February 7, 2026, adds another layer to a disappearance that authorities have treated as a possible kidnapping or abduction from the start.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, mother of NBC’s Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on the evening of January 31, 2026. She had dinner and played games at the home of her daughter Anne and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni, who dropped her off at her residence in the Catalina Foothills area north of Tucson around 9:48 p.m. A roughly 15-minute drive separates the drop-off location from the Circle K on Oracle Road where the footage was captured.
She failed to appear at church the next day, February 1, prompting family to report her missing around noon. Pima County Sheriff’s Department investigators arrived to find signs of disturbance: blood on or near her door, her Ring doorbell camera disconnected or removed (possibly ripped off in the dead of night), and indications she was taken against her will around 2:30 a.m. Nancy, who uses a pacemaker, requires daily heart medication, and has mobility issues, is considered a vulnerable adult—making time a critical factor in the search.
The FBI’s Phoenix Field Office joined the investigation early, classifying it as a kidnapping case and offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to her recovery or the arrest and conviction of those involved. No suspects or persons of interest have been publicly named, and authorities emphasize that leads remain under active review.
The Circle K Lead: A Glimpse Through Surveillance
On Friday, February 7—six days into the search—law enforcement visited a Circle K convenience store on Oracle Road following a tip that a “vehicle of interest” may have been captured on its cameras. A Circle K spokesperson confirmed to multiple outlets, including NBC News and the Daily Mail, that officers were granted access to the store’s surveillance video.
Details about the vehicle remain limited and unconfirmed by officials. Some reports describe it resembling a grey 2021–2023 Nissan Rogue, with footage allegedly showing it pulling up to a pump around 10 p.m. and a woman exiting the passenger side—though these specifics are not officially verified and may stem from secondary accounts. The store is located near the home of Nancy’s daughter Anne, roughly half a mile away in some estimates, placing it in a plausible radius for activity shortly after the drop-off.
Investigators have stressed that it is standard procedure to collect video from nearby businesses and residences, and they have not confirmed whether this vehicle is directly linked to the disappearance. Still, the move reflects a broader effort to reconstruct movements in the hours surrounding Nancy’s last sighting.
This isn’t the only vehicle-related development. On the same day, authorities towed a blue Subaru SUV—believed to belong to Nancy—from her home’s garage to an impound lot. FBI agents were also seen removing a wired camera or device from the roof of her property, following a neighbor’s tip. Earlier neighborhood reports mentioned a suspicious large, unmarked white van parked in the area days before she vanished, adding to the mosaic of potential leads.
Ransom Notes, New Messages, and Family Pleas
The case has been complicated by purported ransom demands, including notes requesting millions in Bitcoin with deadlines that have passed or are looming. Authorities arrested a California man, Derrick Callella, after one note proved false, but they continue to evaluate subsequent messages—including a “new message” acknowledged by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and FBI on February 6 and 7.
In response, the Guthrie family released a video plea on social media over the weekend (entering the eighth day of the search), with Savannah Guthrie and siblings stating, “We received your message… we will pay.” The carefully worded statement—likely vetted by FBI behavioral analysts—aims to open communication, encourage proof of life, and potentially enable tracking if payment occurs. “We want her home,” they emphasized, underscoring Nancy’s health vulnerabilities.
The Broader Search and Community Impact
Searches have focused on the Catalina Foothills neighborhood—known for its dark skies (due to stargazing protections) and secluded feel. Neighbors describe the area as “pitch-black” at night, with some security cameras “blinded” by low light, potentially allowing activity to go unnoticed. Drone footage and ground teams have combed the property and surroundings, but no breakthroughs have been publicly announced.
The emotional toll is evident. Family members, including Savannah Guthrie, have shared public appeals, while the community grapples with shock. “I don’t want to imagine what happened,” one resident told the BBC. Sheriff Chris Nanos has remained cautiously optimistic at times, noting “strong clues” but no firm answers.
As investigators review the Circle K footage—potentially analyzing plates, occupants, timestamps, or direction of travel—the case remains in that uneasy space between fragments and resolution. Every piece of video, every towed vehicle, every tip could be the turning point—or another dead end. For now, the search continues, driven by urgency for an 84-year-old woman who needs her medication and the desperate hope of a family waiting for her safe return.
