Savannah Guthrie blames herself in 1st interview since mother's abduction
Published in Entertainment News
NEW YORK — “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie broke down in tears during her first interview since the disappearance of her mother, at one point blaming herself for the apparent abduction.
“Do you think it was because of me?” Guthrie recalled asking her siblings.
“That it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought, ‘Oh, that girl, that lady has money and we could make a quick buck.’ I mean, that would make sense, but I don’t know. But, yeah, that’s probably … it’s just too much to bear,” she continued. “To think that I brought this to her bedside — that it’s because of me.”
She added: “And I have to say, ‘I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry. … I’m so sorry. If it is me, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.'”
Guthrie opened up about her guilt during a sit-down with close friend and “Today” show alum Hoda Kotb, marking the first interview she has given since her mother vanished more than 50 days ago. She said she hoped her return to set may spark a breakthrough in the case, which has for weeks remained mostly a mystery with few answers.
Nancy, who at 84 years old is barely mobile and suffers from a heart condition, has not been seen or heard from since Jan. 31.
Authorities believe Savannah’s sister, Annie Guthrie, was the last person to spend time with their mother prior to her disappearance. She said they went out to dinner with her husband, Tommaso Cioni, that night and that they dropped her back off at her home in Tucson, Arizona, between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m.
Concern for the Guthrie matriarch began to swirl the following day, and she was reported missing around noon, after she did not show up for remote church services as she usually does.
Guthrie said the back doors of the residence were found propped open when they arrived on the property on Feb. 1. Before that, the “Today” show host said she received a call from Annie, who told her for the first time that something had happened to their mother.
“My sister called me and I said ‘is everything OK?’ And she said ‘no, she said ‘mom’s missing,'” Guthrie revealed, adding that she at first believed her mother had some sort of medical episode.
“And I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ She said, ‘She’s gone,'” she continued. “And she was in a panic and I was in a panic. ‘I’m like, call my mom. And she’s like, I did.'”
A subsequent search of Nancy’s home turned up her blood in the doorway, leading investigators to immediately suspect foul play.
Authorities have since released images of a possible suspect — stills lifted from a Ring doorbell cam — but they have yet to identify him. The FBI Phoenix office has described this person as “a male, approximately 5’9 – 5’10, with an average build.” He is also wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack in the clip.
“Yeah, it’s just totally terrifying,” Guthrie said, trying to understand the “terror” her mother experienced. Of the suspect photo, she added: “And I can’t imagine that that is who she saw standing over her bed. I can’t. That’s too much.”
Investigators have announced few other breaks in the case. Guthrie said they family did receive ransom notes amid the investigation, but she said she believes only two of them were real.
“We don’t know anything,” Guthrie tearfully told Kotb on Thursday. “We don’t know anything.”
She added, definitively: “We need to know.”
The Guthrie family is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to Nancy’s return home.
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