The search for Nancy Guthrie has taken a heavy turn. President Donald Trump is now sending out a warning to the people behind Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping: if they don’t let her go and if she’s harmed, they’ll be facing the “most severe” federal consequences possible.
In a brief phone call with the New York Post on Monday (February 16), Trump addressed the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy, the mother of Savannah Guthrie from the TODAY Show. Now, during the conversation, Trump was asked if the punishment meant the DOJ would request the death penalty. Trump responded, “The most, yeah, that’s true.”
That statement dropped just hours after Savannah made an emotional public plea, two weeks after her mother was taken. Fighting back tears, she spoke straight to whoever may have her beloved. mother.
“I just wanted to come on … it’s been two weeks since our mom was taken and … I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope and we still believe,” Savannah said with tears in her eyes. “And I wanted to say that 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.”
Meanwhile, the investigation is moving, but it’s complicated. Over the weekend, more gloves were discovered in the same general area where a black glove had previously been found near Nancy’s home in the Catalina Foothills, just outside Tucson.
According to the Post, three additional gloves turned up Sunday afternoon, about two miles from Guthrie’s house. The items were described as a leather work glove, a woven blue glove, and a red glove that looked like it may have been peeled off quickly. All of them were sitting out in the open, near the highway, the kind of place where something could easily be tossed from a moving car.
Investigators haven’t confirmed whether the gloves are connected to the disappearance. But law enforcement is taking it seriously enough that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department was alerted. Authorities are also testing DNA from a black nitrile glove previously recovered to see if it matches gloves worn by a possible suspect seen in doorbell camera footage from February 1.
And while officials are determined, they’re also being real about the timeline. Chris Nanos, the Pima County sheriff, told the New York Times that cases like this don’t always wrap up quickly.
“Maybe it’s an hour from now,” he said. “Maybe it’s weeks or months or years from now. But we won’t quit. We’re going to find Nancy. We’re going to find this guy.” Whew!
Right now, no suspects have been publicly named, and no arrests have been made. Authorities did swarm a nearby home after receiving what they called a lead, and while multiple people were reportedly detained at the time, officials later confirmed no arrests came from that action.