Sheriff in Nancy Guthrie Case Says Abductor Could ‘Absolutely’ Strike Again

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos warned locals, ‘Keep your wits about you.’

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaks to the media in Tucson, ariz., on Feb. 3, 2026. He answered questions about the search for Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of NBC host Savannah Guthrie.Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

The sheriff investigating the disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother suggested Thursday that other residents of the Arizona neighborhood where the woman is said to have been abducted from may also be targeted.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, went missing from her Tucson-area home on Jan. 31 and was reported missing a day later, officials said. No suspects have been named and no arrests have been made as few details about the case have been released to the public in the past week or so.

“We believe we know why he did this. And we believe that it was targeted, but we can’t, we’re not 100 percent sure of that, and so it’d be silly to tell people, ‘Yeah, don’t worry about it, you’re not his target.’ Don’t think for a minute that because it happened to the Guthrie family, you’re safe,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told NBC News on Thursday.

The sheriff advised residents in the area, “Keep your wits about you,” warning a potential suspect in the case may “absolutely” strike again.

Nanos’s comments to the outlet represent the first significant new update about the case, although he did not provide any specific details about the investigation. He suggested that recent findings supported the law enforcement agency’s initial beliefs about the case.

“I think from day one we had some strong beliefs about what happened, and those beliefs haven’t diminished,” Nanos said, without elaborating more.

In mid-February, the FBI released video footage and images of a masked male wearing gloves and a gun holster who appeared to try and tamper with the doorbell camera at Nancy Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Hills, located in the metropolitan Tucson area.

Officials described the subject as having a medium build and being between 5 feet, 9 inches and 5 feet, 10 inches tall. DNA evidence that was recovered in the case did not return a positive match in the FBI’s national database, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office said last month, while DNA testing showed that blood found at Nancy Guthrie’s home belonged to the woman.

The Guthrie family and officials have warned that Nancy Guthrie takes daily medication to live and added that she had mobility problems. A reward of $1 million is being offered by the Guthrie family for credible information about the woman’s whereabouts.

“Someone out there knows something that can bring her home. Somebody knows, and we are begging you to please come forward now,” Savannah Guthrie announced in an Instagram post in late February.

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of U.S. journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie, who went missing from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 1, 2026, embraces Savannah in an undated photograph. Courtesy NBC/Today/Handout via Reuters

Separately, the FBI is providing a $100,000 reward for any information about the case leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect. A local crime stoppers organization said it has a reward of $102,500 in the case.

Earlier this month, Nanos told NBC’s “Today” show that he believes that “the investigators are definitely closer” in finding the woman or a suspect. “We got a lot of intel, a lot of leads, but now it’s time to just go to work,” he added.

The family and law enforcement officials are asking anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.