Chapter 1: What happened to Savannah Guthrie's mother?
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I'm Craig Melvin. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. I've always been a glass half full kind of guy. And now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that way too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their triumphs, their challenges. Their stories are funny and quite candid. So I hope you'll join me each week. And who knows?
You might just come away with your own glass half full. Search Glass Half Full with Craig Melvin from today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
Do you feel ready to do this?
No. I'll never be ready to talk about what's happened.
But I have a lot to say. Tonight, my emotional conversation with Savannah Guthrie about her mother's disappearance. I just thought, where are you? Where are you?
She taught me to be strong. Mm-hmm. She showed me. Because no one ever learns anything by being told. You only learn by being shown. She showed us.
Tell me what you thought when you saw those images of the person who took your mother.
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Chapter 2: How did Savannah feel when she first learned about her mother's disappearance?
This was unlike any interview I've ever done. It's a conversation both unbearable and yet somehow, because of who Savannah is, inspirational. On the weekend, her family's life changed forever. Savannah was having fun with her kids while her husband, Mike, was away. Take me back to the day.
Tell me what you were doing and what happened. I had given Mike for Christmas a boys' trip to go play tennis, and so he had been gone for the weekend. So I took my kids actually to Carson's so we could all hang out.
That's our friend and colleague, Carson Daly. We had a beautiful day.
fun night together and then i came home and really it just got home at the same time that mike came home we were just saying hi putting down our stuff and the kids were running around and my sister called me and i said is everything okay and she said no she said mom's missing and i said what what are you talking about she said she's gone and she was in a panic i was in a panic
Her sister Annie was at Nancy's house in Tucson, Arizona, along with her husband Tommy. Nancy's friends had called them after she did not show up to watch an online church service.
I'm like, call 911. She's like, I did. We've called them. They're here. You know, she tried really hard to... figure it out before she worried us you know before she called and they were kind of running around the house we thought that she must have had like some kind of medical episode in the night and that somehow you know the paramedics had come because the back doors were propped open and
but her phone was there and her purse was there and all her things. And it just didn't make any sense. Annie and Tommy had already called all the hospitals, but then I'm like, I'm going to call the hospital. So then I started calling the hospitals and the police were there and talking to her at the same time. And it was just chaos. That was like two o'clock in the afternoon, but
You know, I was on a plane at 7.30 to Phoenix and then two-hour drive down to Tucson and I probably got to my sister's house at two in the morning and my brother was already there.
You saw Annie and Cam when you got to their house. Tell me about that moment.
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Chapter 3: What details emerged about the night of the abduction?
Who took my mom? Who took this? Who took her from her bed? It doesn't make sense. I don't understand. My brother, you know, he spent his career in the military and worked in intelligence and is a fighter pilot and is brilliant. And he saw very clearly right away what this was. And even on the phone, when I called him, he knew. He knew. And he said, I think she's been kidnapped for ransom.
And I said, what? Well, why? And then, I mean, it sounds so, like, how dumb could I be? But I just, I didn't want to believe. I just said, do you think because of me? And he said... I'm sorry, sweetie. Yeah, maybe. But I knew that. You did? I hope not. I don't know that it's because she's my mom. And somebody thought, oh, that girl, that lady has money. We can make a quick buck.
But yeah, that's probably... Which is... too much to bear to think that I brought this to her bedside, that it's because of me. And I just say, I'm so sorry, Mommy. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry to my sister and my brother and my kids and my nephew and Tommy and My brother-in-law, I'm like, so sorry. I'm so sorry. If it is me, I'm so sorry.
At that point, Nancy Guthrie had been missing for nearly 24 hours, and as searches got underway, strange clues would begin to emerge. When we return, Savannah tells me about those disturbing ransom notes.
I think most of them, it's my understanding, are not real. But I believe the two notes that we received, that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real.
On the morning of February 2nd, America woke up to the unfathomable news.
Breaking overnight, Nancy Guthrie, Savannah's 84-year-old mother, now at the center of a missing persons case.
Then the Pima County Sheriff confirmed what Savannah and her family feared most. Their mother had been abducted.
We believe now that we do in fact have a crime scene, that we do in fact have a crime scene. And we're asking the community's help.
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Chapter 4: What were the family's initial reactions to the ransom notes?
That's what you said, I remember. She is a devoted friend. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her and you'll see. You're lucky to be in her company, even if for a moment.
See it. Investigators put out a timeline. Nancy had been dropped off at home at about 9.50 p.m. Saturday, January 31st. The next morning, at 2.28 a.m., her pacemaker disconnected from an app on her cell phone, suggesting that that was around the time she was taken. In the days that followed, notes demanding payment were sent to media outlets.
We are aware of a ransom letter that was sent to the local media and then to national outlets.
The ransom notes or ransom requests came. A lot of people wondered, are those true? Did you believe those to be real?
There are a lot of different notes, I think, that came. And I think most of them, it's my understanding, are not real. You know, a person that would send a fake ransom note really has to look deeply at themselves. Yeah. But I believe the two notes that we received that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real. Really? Which is why we responded. We received your message and we understand.
We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her.
No response came. But on day 10, the investigation made a leap forward.
Tonight, the first chilling images shedding light on what happened at Nancy Guthrie's house the night she was abducted.
Authorities were able to recover footage from Nancy's doorbell camera. Chilling images of a masked man trying to obscure the lens. In his waistband, a gun. Tell me what you thought when you saw those images of the person who took your mother. I mean, it's just absolutely terrifying.
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Chapter 5: How did Savannah cope with the media attention during the investigation?
Leads poured in after the release of that video, but nothing so far has led to the masked man or to Nancy. The investigation continues with authorities asking neighbors for home security footage from both the time Nancy disappeared to as far back as January 11th, when it's possible a suspicious person appeared near the house, something law enforcement and Google are trying to confirm.
They're still working to determine the model of the gun the man was carrying, as well as attempting to analyze mixed and partial DNA from an unknown source found in the home. It has now been 55 days since Nancy vanished. A lot of people were frustrated, I think, with the investigation. How did your family feel about the way the investigation was conducted?
Well, it's still going. Yeah. And people have worked tirelessly, tirelessly, and we see that. Mm-hmm. But we need answers. Mm-hmm. We cannot be at peace without knowing. We have to know. Mm-hmm. And someone knows. Someone knows.
You're focusing on people in Tucson. Somebody there must have seen or known something and maybe forgot about it or didn't pay attention to it.
Yeah.
Something, right?
How can someone vanish without a trace? How? Someone knows something. Even if that something is someone's been acting strange for the last seven, eight weeks, even if it's just that, somebody knows.
When our conversation continues, Savannah shares stories about the woman at the center of it all, her remarkable mother.
She wasn't one of those moms that, oh, my kid can do no wrong or everything you do is perfect. Therefore, like, if she believes in you, you could take that to the bank.
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Chapter 6: What impact did this experience have on Savannah's faith?
She does what's right. She walks in faith, but not a fake, pious, put-on faith, but like a grounded, earthy, she-fought-for-it faith. Where did her faith come from? She grew up in the church, and she grew up Catholic. But she really, she and my dad really had their own
experience, which we Baptists would have called a conversion experience, you know, when they were married and in their 20s and they had us three kids. Annie always used to say, God was the sixth member of our family. And that's true.
I mean, I was lucky enough to meet Nancy. We all were. What is the best part of being her daughter?
My mom is so strong and sure and resolute. She also is a truth teller and she really doesn't suffer fools. And, you know, she wasn't one of those moms that, oh, my kid can do no wrong or everything you do is perfect. And she, therefore, like if she believes in you, You could take that to the bank. I used to say, she's a noble creature. She would just scoff at that. Oh, please. No, I'm not.
But she is, and she was. And I don't know whether to talk about her in present tense or past tense. I don't know. But I know where she is. Mm-hmm. You know, she's with God.
Either way. Either way. Do you picture her in heaven? Do you have an image of what that looks like?
Yeah, I do imagine her. She used to say that she imagined that when you passed away, that on your first night in heaven, God would take you on a tour just for you. and show you the universe. This is how I made this. And this is how I made that.
And she really loved that thought because she was so curious, you know, she's, she's such a journalist, you know, she, she of course was, got her master's in journalism and was going to be a newspaper reporter when she was young, but then met my dad and they had a family and,
After Savannah's father died suddenly of a heart attack when she was just 16, her mom taught her the meaning of strength and resilience.
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Chapter 7: How did Savannah's family support each other during this crisis?
She had to mother two teenagers and one young adult just starting making his way into the world. I remember moments in my childhood and those days after my dad died. She was so strong. But some mornings, before dawn, when she thought we were still sleeping, I would hear her crying at my door. To not be alone in her grief. She took care of her mother, her brother, who had Down syndrome.
She invited to come live with us. She worked part-time to make ends kind of meet. She stayed strong for us. She was resolute. She was real. So she taught me to be strong. But she taught me to be true. She showed me. Because no one ever learns anything by being told. You only learn by being shown. She showed us.
And next, I asked Savannah how she's able right now to put the lessons from her mother into practice. How did you navigate that part of your life? How were you speaking to your kids?
We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her.
In the initial days, you and your sister and brother sat together in all the despair you sat and managed to think of words to say, things to convey. Were you able to do that in that moment?
Well, my siblings are amazing. And we are.
While Savannah and her siblings have experienced unspeakable anguish since their mother's abduction, their closeness has made them stronger. I talked about how brilliant my brother is.
This is Cameron Guthrie. I'm speaking for the Guthrie family.
My sister is equally brilliant and also has special powers of intuition and faith and language. and depth and heart. Mama, if you're listening, we need you to come home. I mean, the first thing that I posted about it was for people to pray. And it's my sister Annie who said that to me. She said, Savannah, I think you need to ask people to pray.
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Chapter 8: What are Savannah's thoughts on returning to the Today Show?
Yeah. And I'm not done. But God doesn't tell us not to wrestle with Him. This isn't some cheap faith. This is real. And God doesn't ask us to be stoic. And my mom taught me that. We are at an hour of desperation.
Even for a person immersed in faith, this has been a time of testing for Savannah, filled with questions and doubts. But once again, she is finding comfort in her mom's example.
One of my mom's best friends told me that she had been going through a hard time, and she said to my mom, Nancy, how do you keep your faith? And my mom said to her, well, where else would I go? Can I hold that with me? Where else would I go? But faith is how I will stay connected to my mom. God is how I'm holding hands with my mom. And it's not easy. And I have cried out, where are you?
Where are you?
We may not get an answer. Some people don't. Savannah knows her family is not unique in their despair.
We know there are millions of families that have suffered with this kind of uncertainty.
That's why, in addition to offering a $1 million reward for information about Nancy's disappearance, they also made a $500,000 donation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Who are we to think that this broken world wouldn't touch us? Of course it will. And God is the only thing that makes it bearable. My mom could not bear to see this pain. For her, she would say, Oh, honey, don't worry about me. Don't worry about me. She would. She would. But she couldn't stand to see us suffer. She could not bear to see our sadness. And I won't let sadness win for her.
I saw her grieve. I saw her world shatter. I saw it. And I saw her get up. And I saw her believe. And I saw her love. And I saw her smile. And I saw her laugh. I saw her joy. And I may not do it as well as her, but I will do it. I will do it for my kids. I will. I will not fall apart. I will not let whoever did this take my children's mother from them. I will not let them take my joy.
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