Nancy Guthrie Investigators Share Update on Suspect’s Motive in Kidnapping Case

“We believe we know why he did this.”

Nancy Guthrie and daughter Savannah Guthrie standing outside with fans

Credit: Getty

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos shared an update on the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance on March 12.
Speaking to NBC Nightly News, Nanos shared that they believe they know why Savannah Guthrie’s mother was kidnapped.
Nanos also shared a warning that the kidnapper could strike again.

Pima Country Sheriff Chris Nanos has shared an update on the investigation into the suspected kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie’s mother. During a March 12 appearance on NBC Nightly News, Nanos revealed that he and his fellow investigators have strong suspicions about the kidnapper’s motives.

“We believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted,” he said.

Savannah Guthrie and mom Nancy Guthrie on set of Today

Savannah Guthrie and mom Nancy Guthrie on the set of Today in 2023.Getty

However, he added that he can’t rule out the possibility that the kidnapper could commit another abduction. “We’re not 100 percent sure of that, so it’d be silly to tell people, ‘Yeah, don’t worry about it. You’re not his target,’” he went on. “Don’t think for a moment because it happened to the Guthrie family you’re safe. Keep your wits about you.”

He also shared that he and his team are still following the same “strong beliefs” about the incident.

“I think it’s come out from day one,” he said. “From day one, we had some strong beliefs about what happened, and those beliefs haven’t diminished.”

NBC correspondent Liz Kreutz added that Nanos was “intentionally” choosing not to share further details for the “integrity of the investigation.”

Savannah Guthrie in a yellow top and sweater speaking to the camera

Savannah Guthrie recently shared a video amid the search for her mom Nancy.Savannah Guthrie/Instagram

Nancy, 84, was first reported missing on February 1. The following day, Nanos confirmed that the case was being investigated as a kidnapping, stating that Nancy was likely “taken from the home against her will, possibly in the middle of the night.”

Savannah stepped back from her role as co-host of the Today show following her mother’s disappearance. She returned to the set to visit colleagues earlier this month. Although she intends to return to her role, no timeline has been confirmed.

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Savannah Guthrie and her family pay tribute to Nancy.NewsNation/YouTube

Savannah recently shared an update on the search for her mom, announcing that she and her family had increased the reward for information from $100,000 to $1 million. “We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home,” she said in the video update. “Hope against hope. As my sister says, we are blowing on the embers of hope.”

FBI agents have reportedly quizzed employees at the Mexican restaurant where Nancy Guthrie filmed a “Today” show segment with daughter Savannah just months before she was kidnapped.

The 84-year-old matriarch tagged along with her daughter for a nostalgic tour of Tucson and the places she visited growing up — including the Mexican eatery.

Federal agents showed up at the restaurant to ask if workers recalled seeing anyone “suspicious” while the Guthries were there filming, according to NewsNation’s Brian Entin.

Savannah and Nancy Guthrie seated at a table with flowers and drinks.
Nancy and Savannah Guthrie frequently dined at the El Charro Café in Tucson, Arizona.Facebook/Savanah Guthrie
In addition to any dodgy characters, Entin claimed workers were also asked if there was “anyone who wanted to take pictures or who got angry or who was lingering around in a creepy way.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if the workers passed any valuable details to investigators.

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The restaurant was one of several places featured in the October segment that the feds have returned to as the hunt for the missing grandmother has continued, Entin said.

While Entin stopped short of identifying the restaurant, El Charro Cafe — a historic downtown Tucson site — previously proudly shared footage of the segment being filmed there.

Exterior of El Charro Cafe with customers visible through the windows.
The FBI has reportedly spoken with employees at El Charro Cafe — where Nancy and Savannah visited while filming a “Today” show segment just months before Nancy vanished.Rebecca Noble for NY Post
After the segment resurfaced and started going viral following Guthrie’s Feb. 1 abduction, the chef, Carlotta Flores, told The Post the Guthrie family had been regulars for years.

“I have absolutely nothing to say but wonderful things about their family. If you think about your grandmother, that’s the way [Nancy] is,” Flores gushed.

“She’s a humble, proud mom who only wants good things for her family. She is proud of her children. She just happens to have a daughter who is in the limelight.”