By Evan Garcia and Steve Gorman
TUCSON, Arizona, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Investigators in Arizona searching for the elderly mother of U.S. television journalist Savannah Guthrie are examining a new message that has surfaced in the presumed kidnapping case, the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on Friday.
News of the message came days after a purported ransom note was sent to media outlets and a day after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie’s relatives renewed their appeal to whoever may be holding her to contact the family directly “so we can move forward.”
The first of two deadlines set in the ransom letter, according to law enforcement officials, came and went early on Thursday evening. A second deadline was set for next Monday.
Authorities did not specify the nature or content of the latest communication, or where it was received, but the FBI and sheriff’s department said in a joint statement that investigators were “actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity.”
The statement said nothing else about the message except to call it “one new piece of information” in the investigation.
The elder Guthrie was last seen when family members dropped her off at her home near Tucson on January 31, after she had dinner with them, and relatives reported her missing the following day, authorities said.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said the woman is frail of health, has extremely limited mobility, and could not have left her home unassisted, leading investigators to conclude early on that she had been kidnapped.
Her daughter, co-anchor of NBC’s morning news show “Today” since 2012, posted an online video on Wednesday pleading for her mother’s safe return and appealing to the presumed abductors to open a line of communication with the family.
Nancy Guthrie’s son, Camron Guthrie, followed up with a second video on Thursday evening, around the time that a 5 p.m. ransom deadline elapsed, reiterating the family’s desire to establish direct contact with kidnappers while demanding some proof “that you have our mom.”
On Thursday, five days into the search, investigators had not yet obtained proof of life, or identified a suspect or “person of interest,” Nanos told reporters, adding authorities were operating on the presumption that she was still alive.
On Friday, the sheriff’s department said that detectives had returned to “conduct follow-up at the home and in the surrounding neighborhood,” restricting traffic in front of the residence to ease access for investigators.
(Reporting by Evan Garcia in Tucson, Arizona; Writing and additional reportiong by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
