A body was found in southeast Tucson on Thursday as authorities continue to search for the 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, who was reported missing on February 1. Authorities believe TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother was taken from her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson, Arizona, the night before, and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos also shared a chilling update on the kidnapping motive.
The discovery of the body kicked off an investigation. As per Tucson Police Department, the Operations Division East officers responded to a desert area near Kolb Road, between Escalante and Irvington on March 12, in reference to the dead individual, as per KVOA.
Is it Nancy Guthrie?
The report does not indicate that the body has been identified yet. However, it is not Guthrie in all likelihood. The Tucson Police Department said that foul play was not suspected based on preliminary information.
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However, in Guthrie’s case, they do believe foul play was involved and that she was taken from her home after dinner with daughter Annie Guthrie. Her son-in-law Tommaso Cioni is believed to have dropped her home after dinner that fateful night, making the two – who live close by – among the last people to have seen Guthrie before she was taken. Sheriff Nanos has made it clear that the Guthrie family members are not suspects in the case.
While more details on the newly discovered body are awaited, Sheriff Nanos shared his thoughts about the kidnapper’s motive with NBC News. His Pima County Sheriff’s Department is the lead on the case and is being assisted by the FBI.
Nancy Guthrie kidnapping motive: Sheriff shares update
Nanos said that he believed Guthrie was ‘targeted’ and the person responsible could ‘absolutely’ strike again.
“We believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted, but we, we can’t, we’re not 100% sure of that,” Nanos said, adding, “So it’d be silly to tell people, ‘Yeah, don’t worry about it. You’re, you’re not his target.’ Don’t think for a minute that because it happened to the Guthrie family, you’re safe. No, keep your wits about you.”
He added that he was intentionally withholding their theory and other details in the case, stating that the integrity of the investigation was of paramount importance.
Meanwhile, the FBI questioned staff at a Mexican restaurant in Tucson, while retracing steps linked to Guthrie and her daughter Savannah, as per a report in The Mirror US.