Nancy Guthrie is an 84-year-old woman. She is the mother of Savannah Guthrie, a cohost of The Today Show. She was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona home in the middle of the night on January 31st. She was officially reported missing on Sunday, February 1st, when she was not present at church that morning. The evening of January 31st, she was with her daughter and son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, at their home. They had dinner and played board games until Tomasso drove her back to her home in an affluent neighborhood. Nancy was seen opening her garage door and going inside at 9:50 pm. She was planning to go to bed at this time.
There are some reasons Nancy would be at a higher risk of abduction. Savannah Guthrie, being a cohost puts Nancy on a larger scale for the world to see. Nancy was also seen with her on the Today Show many times with Savannah. She was also an older woman, which increases her risk being a vulnerable adult. She lived in an affluent neighborhood, so this increases her risk because people may want to get into her home.
Intense federal and local law enforcement efforts, including the FBI, DHS, and Border Patrol. There were many weaknesses in this case from law enforcement. The crime scene was reportedly left open and unprotected. The scene has been described as grossly contaminated. Pima County deputies overlooked a roof-mounted camera during their initial inspection of the house. Chris Nanos, the lead Sheriff on the case, is accused of failing to deploy a search plane. Nanos also turned away federal resources and sent evidence to a private lab within his section, which then prolonged the investigation. Nanos may have legal actions against him due to these weaknesses in the case.
The law enforcement questioned all family members, and all were cleared. They looked closely at the son-in-law, Tommaso. They took many bags and boxes of items from their home to investigate; however, he was ultimately cleared as well. The next person of interest was a deliveryman named Carlos. He was detained and handcuffed during a traffic stop in Rio Rico, Arizona, on February 11th. They searched his home and Range Rover in a parking lot. He was then questioned and released with no charges related to the case.
Derrick Callella was arrested for allegedly sending a fake ransom note to the family, but was not considered a kidnapping suspect.
Male, Mustache, Average build, Approximately 5’ 9”-5’ 10”, who was armed and masked at the time, carrying an Ozark Trail hiker pack backpack
The media greatly impacted this case in many ways. It helped bring people together to search for suspects and to receive tips and ransom notes from possible abductors. True crime influencers went to the scene of the crime themselves to see firsthand where Nancy was taken and what was happening at the scene. President Donald Trump contacted Savannah as well in regard to the case. Kold-TV in Tucson, AZ, and TMZ received at least three ransom notes during the investigation of Nancy Guthrie’s abduction. These ransom notes demanded 6 million dollars in Bitcoin, with deadlines for payment in exchange for Nancy Gutherie’s safe return. If the deadline was not met, there would be consequences.
The investigation and search are still ongoing for Nancy Gutherie after 40 days. There is a $1 million reward offered by the family. Nanos stated they believe the incident was targeted, the suspect could strike again, and possibly did not act alone in the abduction. Despite reviewing surveillance footage of the abductor, no one has been officially named a suspect.
