Nancy Guthrie’s garage door closed, and the 14-hour mystery over her abduction began

It started out as a routine night for Nancy Guthrie.

At about 5:32 p.m. Saturday, he left his home in the hills north of Tucson to have dinner at a family member’s house. Authorities said he took an Uber to dinner but was driven home by his family.

The 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie returned home at 9:48 p.m. when the garage door opened, authorities said. Data shows the door closed after two minutes.

A mysterious timeline

Much of the next few hours remain a mystery, but they may hold the key to what happened to him. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said authorities believe he was kidnapped and are currently working on a ransom note demanding money for his return.

Few details have emerged about how he was taken from the home. But a rough timeline from Sunday morning offers some clues:

• 01:47 The house’s doorbell camera is disconnected.
• 2:12 a.m.: Security camera software detected a person or possibly an animal in the home, but no video was available.
• 2:28 a.m.: Nancy Guthrie’s pacemaker was disconnected from her cell phone. It looks like his phone never leaves his house.

The family discovered him missing late Sunday morning after someone from the church noticed he was not attending church and reached out to his family. The first 911 call to authorities came in just after noon, and sheriff’s officials were at the home by 12:15 p.m.

blood found

His family and authorities noticed that the 84-year-old was nowhere to be found, but his essential belongings (cell phone, wallet, car and medications) were still at home.

Although Guthrie was sane without cognitive problems, he had physical ailments that prevented him from walking long distances, authorities said.

“This isn’t someone who just walks away,” Nanos said. “He couldn’t walk 50 meters on his own.”

Authorities said they believed he was “taken from his home against his will” but did not uncover any further leads.

In the images reviewed by The Times, traces of blood droplets could be seen near the door of the house. Nanos confirmed on Thursday that they tested some blood from outside the house for DNA; It turned out that this only matched Nancy Guthrie.

Nanos said other evidence for DNA is also being processed, but that will take more time.

The FBI assigned members of the cellular analysis investigative team as well as the critical incident response team from Quantico to process the evidence.

“At this time, we believe Nancy is still there. We want her home,” Nanos said at Thursday’s news conference. He said a massive team of local and federal partners is still “working around the clock.”

concern for his health

Nancy Guthrie lived alone in her ranch-style home in the Catalina Foothills area.

He received the daily medications he needed to survive. Looks like he was deprived of that medicine. Without this, Nanos said, his life would be in danger.

“This is the fourth or fifth day and we don’t know if he’s still taking his medication and that could mean it could be fatal,” Nanos said Thursday.

Multiple news outlets also reported receiving possible ransom notes demanding money in exchange for Nancy Guthrie’s release. The FBI appears to be taking the memo seriously, noting that it includes a deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday.