‘Very strong’ clues in Nancy Guthrie abduction, Trump says, as authorities race against time to find her
Investigators once again scoured the desert brush outside the Tucson home of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie, as authorities examined a new text message that may be linked to her abduction.
At the same time, President Trump said Friday night on Air Force One that investigators had “very strong” leads and believed “we could get some answers pretty soon.”
“We have some things, I think, that will come out soon, from the DOJ or the FBI or whoever, for sure. A lot has happened in the last few hours. A lot has happened in the last few hours regarding this terrible situation,” he said.
Little is known about the new message and whether it is linked to the kidnappers.
FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s officials confirmed they were aware of the message and said they were “actively reviewing the accuracy of the information provided in the message.”
Guthrie was last seen by his family just after 9.45pm on Saturday; This matched the opening and closing of the garage door that night, authorities said.
About four hours later, at 1:47 a.m., authorities said the doorbell camera was disconnected. An empty frame for a camera had previously attracted attention in his home.
Then at 2:12 a.m., security camera software at Guthrie’s home detected a person or an animal on one of the home’s cameras, but Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said they were unable to recover that footage and did not know which camera recorded the movement.
About 15 minutes later, at 2:28 a.m., Nancy’s pacemaker app showed that the connection to the phone had been lost, Nanos said. Apparently this was exactly when he left his house, because his phone was left behind.
His family discovered him missing when they went to check on him at home after he didn’t show up for church just before noon on Sunday. Nanos said they called 911 almost immediately.
An earlier ransom note appears to be at the center of efforts to find him.
Although the entire note was not published, some details were shared with the public. The letter includes an initial deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday and a second deadline of Monday, said Heith Janke, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix division. He declined to say what was demanded at each deadline or whether there was a threat if the deadlines were not met.
Nancy’s son, Camron Guthrie, is a video Pleading statement to the kidnapper on Thursday afternoon, around the original deadline for the ransom letter.
“Whoever is holding our mother there, we want to hear from you,” he said. “We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach us and we need a way to contact you so we can move forward.”
Harvey Levin, founder of celebrity news site TMZ, reviewed one of three identical letters sent to media outlets and told CNN on Thursday that “the Monday deadline is much more important.”
TMZ reported He received the alleged note via email earlier this week, saying the letter demanded millions in cryptocurrency for Guthrie’s release. Levin said Thursday night that TMZ confirmed the bitcoin address was real.
Family and authorities are particularly concerned because Nancy Guthrie has many physical ailments and requires daily medication, which she appears to be without. Authorities said they have not yet received evidence that Guthrie is alive, but are acting on that assumption despite genuine concerns that he may be dead.
