Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has revealed that after learning more about the scene of the crime, he concluded Savannah Guthrie‘s mom, Nancy Guthrie — who’s been missing since Saturday night — is in danger.
“We don’t want anybody to lose hope,” Nanos told Us Weekly exclusively on Monday, February 2. “But in the same sense, just as there’s hope, there’s also things that point to us that say, ‘This lady’s in danger.’”
“It does have to do with what was described to us about the scene,” he continued. “I’ve been doing this for 50 years. When something doesn’t sit well, it doesn’t sit well.”
He added, “Something unusual at that house occurred that made us go, ‘Wow … something’s wrong here. Something doesn’t fit.’”
Search-and-rescue teams were deployed using drones and dogs to look for the 84-year-old. Authorities have also been supported by volunteers, Border Patrol — and the homicide team.
“I get briefed on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times, of different search-and-rescue operations. And rarely do we ever, ever call out homicide,” Nanos said. “But this one came across with some information that was concerning to me, that I just thought, ‘We need to do this from two angles.’ I need to do the search-and-rescue team [and] do their mission. But I need to bring in my homicide team because there’s something that’s not right here. And I need them to start their criminal side of the investigation, and we’ll get together.”
He continued, “We really do hope it’s a search-and-rescue mission and we find her and she’s safe and sound. But we’d be foolish — it would be unjust if we didn’t look at what’s in front of us and go, ‘We need to act, and we have to.’”
Nanos previously told Us that Guthrie was “safe in her own home asleep” and “taken,” adding, “And that should never happen.”
There are additional serious factors that could place her life at risk.
“We talked with her medical professionals … and we know the meds she needs, and going without her meds can be fatal,” Nanos explained. “And 24 hours later, time is of the essence here.”
Nancy was last seen on Saturday, January 31, with Nanos confirming to Us that it was Annie Guthrie, Savannah’s older sister, who was the last person to see her when she dropped her off at her home. (Nancy shared daughters Annie and Savannah, 54, and son Camron Guthrie with late husband Charles Guthrie, who died at the age of 49 after suffering a heart attack.)
Nanos explained that Nancy’s family “weren’t alerted” to her being missing until around 11 a.m. the following day, and police weren’t noticed until 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, February 1, leading officials to investigate a timeline “anywhere from 9:30 p.m. to 11 [a.m.]” as the window of when Nancy disappeared.
Nanos noted in a separate interview with CBS News on Monday that he believes the mother of three was “abducted,” telling the outlet, “She didn’t walk from there. She didn’t go willingly.”
Nanos said that it’s a “possibility” Savannah being a “national figure” could be connected, but law enforcement is “not getting that sense” at the time. “We keep working with Savannah and her security team to understand any kind of threat or potential threat that they may have been working and we’re just not there,” he told Us.
Savannah was noticeably absent from Monday’s episode of the Today show as she spends time with her loved ones in Arizona amid the search for her mother.
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