Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said investigators are “definitely closer” to finding Nancy Guthrie, a month after she went missing from her Arizona home.
The 84-year-old mother of Today show star Savannah Guthrie was abducted from her affluent Catalina Foothills neighborhood, just outside of Tucson, as she slept in the early morning hours of February 1, police say.
The authorities have been desperately searching for Nancy, releasing photos and video of her suspected kidnapper taken on Nancy’s doorbell camera the day she vanished and asking for the public’s help in the case.
“I think the investigators are definitely closer” to cracking the case, Nanos told NBC News’ Liz Kreutz.
He said his department has created a team from its homicide unit to work on Nancy’s disappearance with the FBI and that they are following thousands of leads.
Nanos said authorities are operating under the assumption that Nancy is still alive, but Savannah has acknowledged that her mother may not be.
“We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home,” a visibly distraught Savannah said in an Instagram video last week. “We also know that she may be lost. She may already be gone. She may have already gone home to the Lord that she loves.”
On top of the combined $200,000 that the FBI and local officials are offering for valuable information in Nancy’s disappearance, the Guthrie family is offering a $1 million reward to bring their loved one home.
On Monday, Savannah posted to Instagram a photo of yellow flowers at a memorial for Nancy outside her Arizona home.
“We feel the love and prayers from our neighbors, from the Tucson community and from around the country,” Savannah wrote in the photo’s caption. “Please don’t stop praying and hoping with us. Bring her home.”
Savannah, her sister Annie, and Annie’s husband, Tommaso, visited the memorial Monday, according to multiple news outlets, and left a note that read, “Momma, we miss you so much! Our hearts are broken. We are standing on ash, on scored earth!
“But Mom, though we are surrounded by so much darkness and uncertainty, our love burns bright. We love you Mommy. We miss you so much. Our best friend!!”
