President Trump will order the death penalty for those responsible if Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy Guthrie, is not returned alive and unharmed.
Trump, during a brief chat with The Post on Monday, said that Nancy’s suspected kidnappers would face “very, very severe” and “the most severe” federal consequences if the 84-year-old is found dead as the search for Savannah’s mom enters its third week.
“The most, yeah — that’s true,” the commander-in-chief, 79, added when asked whether that meant the DOJ would request the death penalty.
Arizona is one of 27 US states that have the death penalty, and the state has carried out two executions since 2022.
Federal charges are common in high-profile cases such as this one – particularly if the case contains an interstate component or if a federal statute is violated.
Trump previously weighed in on Nancy’s disappearance shortly after she was first reported missing on Feb. 1.
Follow live updates on Savannah Guthrie’s missing mom, Nancy, for the latest news
“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 wrote on Truth Social on Feb. 4.
“We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely,” the president added. “The prayers of our Nation are with her and her family. GOD BLESS AND PROTECT NANCY!”
Nancy was last seen around 9:48 p.m. on Jan. 31 after having dinner and playing games with her daughter Annie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who has been leading the investigation, confirmed that investigators are still eyeing Nancy’s disappearance as a kidnapping and not a burglary gone wrong.
“This is somebody who disappeared from the face of the Earth, and now we have a camera that says here’s the person who did this,” he told the Daily Mail on Monday.
Nanos, however, acknowledged that authorities have not yet been able to pin down a clear motive.
“That’s what makes me say this is a kidnapping,” he continued. “The motivation for it is where we get stuck, right?”
“Is it for money? I mean, we had the one demand where they asked for money,” Nanos added. “But is it really for money, or is it for revenge for something?”
Savannah, meanwhile, released a new plea to her mom’s suspected abductors in an Instagram video released Sunday.
“I wanted to say to whoever has her, or who knows where she is, that, it’s never too late,” the “Today” anchor, 54, two weeks after her mom was first reported missing. “And you’re not lost, or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing.”
“And we are here, and we believe,” Savannah added. “And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being. And it’s never too late.”
Read the full article here
