In a heartfelt television interview that ran March 26–27, 2026, TODAY anchor Savannah Guthrie said she believes at least some of the ransom notes sent after her mother went missing are legitimate, while condemning those who circulated fake demands during her family’s ordeal.
The 54-year-old sat down with former co-anchor and close friend Hoda Kotb for a two-part interview about the abduction of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, who disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona home in the early hours of February 1. The investigation has now lasted nearly 60 days with no public suspects, despite an active FBI probe and disturbing doorbell camera video of a masked, armed person.
Guthrie described her view of the many ransom demands sent after her mother’s disappearance. “I believe the two notes that we received that we responded to, I tend to believe those were real,” she told Kotb in the Thursday broadcast, and she said most of the other notes appeared not to be authentic.
Authorities have confirmed at least one note was a hoax. Derrick Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California, was arrested and charged in February for sending a fake ransom demand, compounding the Guthrie family’s distress.
Guthrie expressed strong condemnation for those exploiting her family’s pain, saying that anyone who would send a fake ransom note “really has to look deeply at themselves.”
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen Saturday, January 31. She typically joined friends and neighbors to watch online church services on Sunday mornings. When she didn’t appear on the morning of February 1, a friend contacted Nancy’s daughter Annie, who lives nearby. The family reported her missing that day, and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department quickly concluded Nancy had been taken from her home against her will.
The case grew more unsettling when the FBI released doorbell camera footage showing a masked, armed figure. Guthrie called watching the footage “absolutely terrifying,” saying she cannot imagine that masked figure was what her mother saw standing over her bed—”it’s too much.”
Beyond ransom notes, Guthrie addressed painful online conspiracy theories alleging family involvement. On February 16, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the Guthrie family had been “100% cooperative” and were cleared as suspects “in the first few days.”
Still, the speculation caused deep harm. Guthrie called the rumors “unbearable” and “pain upon pain,” defending her siblings and stressing that her sister and brother-in-law cared for their mother and that her brother protected her.
Kotb, who left TODAY in January 2025 after 17 years but returned to fill in during Guthrie’s absence, described Guthrie as living in “a tortured limbo” and said the interview was gut-wrenching. She noted Guthrie’s composure despite the strain, observing both “a desperation and also a steeliness.”
Savannah Guthrie has stayed away from hosting since her mother’s disappearance, though she briefly visited the TODAY studios in New York on March 5 and is expected to resume duties in the coming weeks. Her current priority is finding her mother.
The family asked people across Southern Arizona to check security footage, texts, and records from three key dates: January 11, January 31, and the early hours of February 1. Investigators suspect January 11 may have been a reconnaissance or trial run by the suspect.
“We continue to believe it is Tucsonans, and the greater Southern Arizona community, that hold the key to finding a resolution in this case,” the family said in a March 22 statement. “Someone knows something. It’s possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant.”
The family is offering a $1 million private reward for information leading to Nancy’s safe return, with the FBI adding $100,000. Despite limited public updates, officials say the investigation remains active.
Authorities ask anyone with information to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900, or 88-CRIME. The family’s plea is urgent and simple: someone needs to come forward.