Feb 2 (Reuters) – Investigators believe the 84-year-old mother of U.S. journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie was abducted, a local sheriff in Arizona said on Monday, after she vanished from her home near Tucson and was reported missing over the weekend.
“We believe 100% right now she could not have walked away from that home,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told CBS News. “I believe she was abducted, yes. She didn’t walk from there. She didn’t go willingly. We don’t believe that.”
Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her home on Saturday night, when she was visited by her children, and was reported missing on Sunday afternoon. She has limited mobility and could not have left her home unaided, Nanos told a press conference earlier on Monday, when he said her disappearance was being treated as a crime.
Nanos later expanded on his remarks in an interview with CBS to say he believes she was abducted.
Guthrie’s family was especially worried because she needs to take daily medication.
“She’s 84, she needs her meds, her family needs her too,” Nanos told reporters, imploring the public to send in tips. “This is not dementia-related, she is as sharp as a tack. The family wants everybody to know this isn’t somebody who just wandered off.”
Savannah Guthrie did not appear in her usual seat on NBC’s “Today” show on Monday morning, which broadcasts from New York City.
“Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom,” the presenter said in a statement read out by her colleagues.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Diane Craft)
