Savannah Guthrie's tearful message to captors to 'do the right thing'
Today show host Savannah Guthrie pleaded with her mother's captors to 'do the right thing' and return the 84-year-old woman two weeks after she went missing.
In a somber video message on Sunday, Guthrie said she and her two siblings, Camron and Annie, 'still have hope' and that their mother Nancy is alive and 'still believe' she will be returned to them.
'And I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is that it's never too late, and you're not lost or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing,' the television host said on Instagram.
'We are here and we believe, and we believe in the essential goodness of every human being, and it's never too late,' she concluded the video, which she captioned 'bring her home.'
Nancy Guthrie was taken from her $1 million home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona in the early morning hours of February 1.
FBI details the suspect’s tactical gear
Two weeks have now passed without any suspects in custody, as federal authorities await the results of DNA testing from a glove found near Nancy's home.
Feds say it matches the kind of glove worn by a masked figure caught on her doorbell camera the night of her abduction.
The masked man, who authorities say was carrying a 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack, was seen yanking the camera from the door frame after he apparently tried to obscure the camera with a bunch of flowers he ripped from Guthrie's entranceway.
Federal authorities believe the suspect is approximately 5ft 9in to 5ft 10in with an average build.
Authorities have also collected DNA belonging to an unidentified individual - someone not known to Guthrie or her family - that was said to be found at Nancy's property.
Additionally, authorities have said blood was found on Nancy's front porch.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department has now sent the evidence to a private forensic laboratory in Florida, 2,000 miles from Tucson after reportedly refusing to send it to the FBI's own world-class crime lab in Quantico, Virginia.
Former FBI agent slams delay in DNA processing
Jason Pack, a retired FBI supervisory special agent with more than two decades of experience, slammed the decision - warning that investigators risk losing precious time as they wait for the DNA to be processed.
'If the FBI has the lead, Quantico is the logical answer, and I'd expect evidence to be wheels-up before the sun sets today,' he told Fox News.
Pack then warned that authorities cannot afford to hesitate particularly when Guthrie, who has serious medical needs, remains missing.
'In a case involving a vulnerable 84-year-old woman who is without her heart medication, where every hour matters, you don't wait for FedEx on Monday morning,' he said, adding that 'authorities cannot afford to lose a weekend debating how to process evidence.'
Authorities have not confirmed when the newly obtained evidence will arrive at the lab, or how long results might take.
The warnings come as investigators dramatically escalated their search late on Friday night, sealing off roads and deploying heavily armed SWAT teams and FBI agents to a home about two miles from Guthrie's upscale Catalina Foothills residence.
The gray range rover
The operation marked what Pack called a 'significant escalation' - a signal investigators may be acting on specific intelligence rather than chasing blind leads.
Agents detained multiple individuals during the operation and stopped a gray Range Rover in a nearby Culver's parking lot.
The SUV's contents were examined, concealed from public view under a tarp, and the vehicle was ultimately towed away for further forensic analysis.
But Pack cautioned that the dramatic searches represent only the beginning of the real investigative work.
'They'll be going door to door, looking to talk face to face with neighbors,' he said.
'They want to identify patterns of life for each of the people detained.'
'If someone says, "I wasn't home that night," a neighbor's Ring camera might tell a different story. Investigators are building the box.'
'DNA that doesn't belong to Nancy Guthrie or anyone close to her has already been identified at her property. Gloves have been recovered,' Pack said.
'All of that evidence needs to get to a lab.'
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Guthrie's captor sends chilling note demanding $65,000 from her family
A man who claims to know the identity of Nancy Guthrie's kidnapper has sent a chilling note demanding $65,000 from her family.
The mother of NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie disappeared in the early hours of February 1 after being dropped off at her home in Tucson, Arizona.
A masked man was caught on Nancy's doorcam but was so well covered he couldn't be easily recognized in the footage released on Tuesday.
The demand was first made on Wednesday in an email sent to TMZ, demanding a single Bitcoin, which is worth about $65,000, as payment for their information.
After no money was sent to the account the writer provided, they sent another email to the gossip site just after 8am on Thursday - this time with ominous threats.
'I am not being taken seriously,' the second email read.
Further 'ominous' statements were supposedly made in the email were not disclosed at the request of police and the FBI.
The anonymous email author claimed in the note that they would need money 'to lay low after identifying the kidnapper for fear of retaliation'.
They further noted concerned over being 'incriminated like that Carlos guy' - a delivery driver who was briefly detained by police despite having no involvement.
The FBI offered a $50,000 reward, but that money always comes with strings attached and usually takes months to be paid.
The first email claimed they tried to reach Guthrie's brother Camaron and sister Annie by email and text, but were unsuccessful.
'If they want the name of the individual involved then I want 1 Bitcoin to the following wallet. Time is more than relevant,' it read.
Other details were omitted at the request of investigators.
Continue reading on the captor asking for money:
Report: Investigators recovers glove matching footage of Nancy Guthrie's abductor
Investigators have discovered a black glove near Nancy Guthrie's home that looks similar to the one her abductor wore in the chilling doorbell camera footage.
The item was recovered by detectives about one and a half miles from the 84-year-old's home on Wednesday, the 10th day into the search for her.
The Daily Mail understands the lone glove, found lying in a small shrub, was bagged up and taken by authorities.
They did not give a definitive answer on who it belonged to.
On Tuesday, the FBI released shocking footage of a masked man wearing thick latex gloves as he tried to obscure the camera on Nancy's front porch.
That clip was the latest development in the missing persons case in over a week.
The latest evidence retrieval comes as TMZ received a third ransom note earlier in the day, demanding one Bitcoin in exchange for information on Nancy's kidnapping.
Nancy, the beloved mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on January 31 after returning home from dinner and a game night with her other daughter, Annie.
She was reported missing on February 1 after her church friends grew worried when she failed to show up for services.
Nancy has not been seen or heard from since.
TMZ received the fresh note before 5am Pacific Time, and said the correspondence stated the sender has tried unsuccessfully to get in contact with Camron Guthrie, Nancy's son, and Annie, her eldest daughter.
In the message, the sender reportedly said they had information on the identity of the suspect who was seen at Nancy's $1milion Tucson home the night she vanished.
'If they want the name of the individual involved then I want 1 Bitcoin to the following wallet. Time is more than relevant,' the note allegedly read.
The Bitcoin address listed in the note is reportedly legitimate and different from the one in an original ransom note that TMZ and two local news stations in Arizona also received.
Click here to carry on reading about the recovered glove:
