Savannah Guthrie’s recent public plea for the return of her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, was a “deliberate” tactic to reach the kidnapper after authorities’ limited updates on the investigation.
“It was aimed directly at residents of Tucson and southern Arizona,” former FBI Agent Jason Pack exclusively tells Page Six.
“The family chose a local television station, not a national platform. That is not an accident,” Pack says. “NBC and its platforms would likely have aired it if asked. They targeted their own neighborhood. That tells you they believe someone local has information, or more likely, someone local has not checked their cameras yet because they assumed somebody else already did.”
On Sunday, the “Today” show host pleaded with the kidnappers in a statement to “hyper-local” station KVOA, which Pack says was a “deliberate” move.
Pack went on to explain how staying relevant in the news cycle is an “uphill fight,” and investigators “have not helped keep the case in front of the public.”
“Law enforcement has not held a press conference in over a month, and it had been nearly three weeks since the family last made any public appeal before Saturday night,” Pack explains. “When investigators go dark and the media moves on, tip volume likely drops. That is just the nature of it.”
But Pack defends that while authorities have been quiet, it doesn’t mean the investigation has “stalled.”
“Weeks of search warrant returns, subpoena responses, lab work, and digital forensics are likely being worked and plotted against a timeline right now,” Pack believes. “The public does not see that work. It happens behind closed doors, and it takes time.
“Investigators are said to be pursuing genetic genealogy options and checking commercial DNA databases beyond the national system, but nothing official has come back. That process is slow. It has also broken cases far colder than this one.”
The Guthrie family’s statement carries “real operational weight” when it comes to residents checking their surveillance footage.
“Agents and deputies on that special task force should go back, ask to collect the footage directly, and review it themselves, even when a resident says there is nothing on it,” he says. “The resident does not know what nothing looks like to a trained investigator. Sometimes the most important frame in an investigation is the one the homeowner already dismissed.
“If you can’t solve a seven-week-old kidnapping with DNA, thousands of hours of video, a million-dollar reward, and the full weight of the FBI, then the answer is probably sitting in somebody’s Ring camera footage they haven’t looked at yet.”
The Guthrie family’s statement to KVOA read, “We are deeply grateful for the outpouring from neighbors, friends and the people of Tucson. We are all family now.
“We continue to believe it is Tucsonans, and the greater southern Arizona community, that hold the key to finding resolution in this case. Someone knows something. It’s possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant.”
The statement continued, “We hope people search their memories, especially around the key timelines of January 31 and the early morning hours of February 1, as well as the late evening of January 11.
“We desperately ask this community for renewed attention to our mom’s case – please consult camera footage, journal notes, text messages, observations or conversations that in retrospect may hold significance. No detail is too small. It may be the key.”
The statement ended, “We miss our mom with every breath and we cannot be in peace until she is home. We cannot grieve; we can only ache and wonder. Our focus is solely on finding her and bringing her home. We want to celebrate her beautiful and courageous life. But we cannot do that until she is brought to a final place of rest.”
Nancy was reported missing on Feb. 1 after failing to attend a virtual church service.
Authorities believe Guthrie was abducted in her sleep and “harmed” in the process, as a trail of her blood was seen outside of her home.
Video and photos of a masked individual were released to the public on Feb. 10.
The images showed the individual breaking into Nancy’s home with gloves and a backpack.
While a number of people have been questioned throughout the investigation, no suspects have been arrested in the kidnapping. The investigation remains ongoing.
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