Savannah Guthrie's mom, Nancy Guthrie, is believed to have been kidnapped from her Arizona home on the morning of Feb. 1
Credit: Savannah Guthrie/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Savannah Guthrie told KOLD News 13 it has been months of “agony and unending trauma” for her family since the disappearance of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie
- Nancy was last seen at her home in Arizona on Jan. 31
- The FBI said this week that it was still investigating several ransom notes for their potential legitimacy in the case
The last five months since Nancy Guthrie's appearance have been "agony" for Savannah Guthrie's family, the Today host said in a new statement.
“It is five months of agony and unending trauma for our family," Savannah, 54, said in a statement to local Arizona news outlet KOLD News 13, published on Wednesday, July 1. "There is not a moment that goes by that we aren't actively trying to find our mom."
Savannah thanked "the people of Tucson for holding her in their hearts, as well as both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Office for their tireless work on behalf of our family."
"Bring her home," the statement concluded.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told KOLD that the investigation into Nancy's kidnapping remains active.
Credit: Savannah Guthrie/Instagram
“Especially when you throw in genealogy – now, you've got… this may not be the bad guy, but this person might be the bad guy's relative three times over,” Nanos told the outlet. “So, that has to be broken down to see if this might be someone of interest to us.”
The Pima County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) has been investigating Nancy's disappearance since Feb. 1. She was last seen near her home on Jan. 31 after her family dropped her off. Her family reported her missing on Feb. 1 when she missed a church service.
In the five months since Nancy's disappearance, multiple ransom notes have been sent to media outlets, including KOLD and TMZ, PEOPLE previously reported.
On Thursday, July 2, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona announced that Derrick Callella of Hawthorne, Calif., pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment using a telecommunication device for sending fake ransom notes, PEOPLE previously reported.
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Callella, 42, allegedly admitted to calling and sending text messages pertaining to a bitcoin transfer to Guthrie's family on Feb. 4, per the announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"Callella acknowledged that he knew an earlier ransom demand had been made," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in its press release. "Callella also admitted that his actions were meant to harass the family by seeking information about the investigation into the missing person's disappearance."
Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty
Callella faces a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both, plus one year of supervised release. He is set to be sentenced on Sept. 10.
On Wednesday, July 1, the FBI announced that there have been "several ransom notes" that have not yet been ruled out.
The FBI's Phoenix office said that while some of the notes "have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy," other ransom demands "may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such."
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