Fighting back tears, Savannah Guthrie pleaded Wednesday with her mother's abductor to return the 84-year-old to her Tucson home and reunite her with her family.
At the end of a new video she posted on social media — in which she and her siblings also sent messages of strength and love to their mother — Savannah Guthrie directly addressed any possible abductor, asking them to reach out to the family, but also demanding proof that their mother is alive.
"We too have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. We as a family, we are doing everything that we can," said Guthrie, the high-profile host of NBC's "Today" show.
"We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know — without a doubt — that she is alive, and that you have her.
"We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us," she said.
The video was posted shortly after Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos issued a statement saying investigators had not identified any persons of interest or suspects in Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.
Joined on a couch by her sister Annie and brother Camron, Savannah Guthrie said: "Our mom is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her and you will see."
She also spoke directly to her mother. "Mommy, if you are hearing this, you are a strong woman. You are God's precious daughter, Nancy. We believe and know, that even in this valley, He is with you. Everyone is looking for you mommy, everywhere. We will not rest, your children will not rest, until we are together again."
"We speak to you every moment, and we pray without ceasing, and we rejoice in advance for the day that we hold you in our arms again. We love you, Mommy."
Nancy Guthrie lives alone in the family's longtime Catalina Foothills home, where she was last seen about 9:45 p.m. Saturday. She was reported missing midday Sunday after someone at her church called the family to say she wasn't at services there. Family members searched her home and the neighborhood, then called 911.
Nanos has said investigators believe she was abducted from her home Saturday night or Sunday morning.
On Wednesday afternoon investigators returned to the home near North Campbell Avenue and East Skyline Drive. News reports said law enforcement officers appeared to take something from the garage.
Nanos provided no updates Wednesday about the investigation, other than to emphasize there were no suspects. He scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. Thursday.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings on Wednesday pleaded on social media for the return of their mother, Nancy, who investigators say was taken from her Tucson home over the weekend.
The siblings' emotional plea posted on Instagram came a day after reports of possible ransom letters being sent to various media organizations.
Investigators have confirmed the letters, but have not said whether they are believed to be legitimate.
Nanos has said the FBI reviewed the letters and decided to forward at least one of them to Savannah Guthrie.
The sheriff has said he continues to believe Nancy Guthrie is alive and that authorities intend to bring her home.
Savannah Guthrie tearfully pleaded in the video, "She is 84 years old. Her health, her heart, is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer."
She described her mother as funny, spunky and clever, a lover of fun and adventure. "She has grandchildren who adore her. They crowd around her and cover her in kisses."
Her sister Annie also spoke, reading to the camera from a prepared statement, as did Savannah. "Nancy is our mother. We are her children. She is our beacon," Annie said.
"She holds fast to joy and all of life's circumstances. She chooses joy day after day," she continued. "We are always going to be merrily human; just normal human people who need our mom."
"Mama. Mama. If you're listening, we need you to come home," Annie said.
Savannah Guthrie thanked well-wishers for their prayers, posting the video not long before a candlelight prayer service in her mother's honor was starting at Tucson's St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church.
"We feel them," she said of the prayers. "We continue to believe that she feels them, too."
