Officials in Arizona have said that they are not treating any family members of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie, as suspects in the disappearance of the 84-year-old woman. In a statement on social media, the Pima County Sheriff’s office said the family has been cooperative in the investigations.
“The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said, adding that “To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel. The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple.”
84-year-old Guthrie reported as missing on February 1, and her children, including Savannah and her two siblings, Annie and Camron, have made repeated video pleas for their mother's safe return.
‘Not a case of burglary gone wrong’
Authorities believe that Guthrie was forcibly taken from her Tucson home in the middle of the night of January 31.
Though the circumstances that led to her disappearance are yet unclear, the Pima County Sheriff's Department had earlier rejected reports that it was a case of burglary gone wrong.
"Any reports indicating otherwise are inaccurate," the sheriff's department statement said.
Authorities identify Walmart backpack
So far, the only definitive lead the authorities have obtained is surveillance videos of a person with a backpack who was wearing a ski mask, long pants, a jacket, and gloves outside Guthrie’s front door the night she vanished.
According to Sheriff Nanos, the 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack was the only clothing item that had been “definitively identified.”
“This backpack is exclusive to Walmart and we are working with Walmart management to develop further leads,” Nanos told The Associated Press.
The suspect’s clothing “may have been purchased from Walmart but is not exclusively available at Walmart,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Monday. “This remains a possibility only.”
The FBI said the suspect in the surveillance footage is a man about 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a medium build.
Even as the Guthrie family clings to the hope of her safe return, authorities have expressed concern about her health because she needs vital daily medicine. She is said to have a pacemaker and has dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues.
