Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Monday, February second, and we
Speaker 1: have a breaking update in the search for Today's Show
Speaker 1: host Savannah Guthrie's mom, who has gone missing in Arizona.
Speaker 1: Police now say this was a crime. Welcome to this
Speaker 1: episode of Amy and TJ Robe. We were just listening
Speaker 1: to the update out there. This story has changed even
Speaker 1: in the past hour. But Savannah Guthrie, host of the
Speaker 1: Today Show, her mom went missing over the weekend. In
Speaker 1: robes not giving us a lot, but they are saying
Speaker 1: this was a crime as she did not leave on
Speaker 1: our own.
Speaker 2: Yes, this is a chilling update. We learned Nancy Guthrie.
Speaker 2: She's eighty four years old, and police made it very
Speaker 2: clear that she doesn't have any mental issues. She is
Speaker 2: sharp as attack I believe, is what they said. So
Speaker 2: this isn't an issue of an eighty four year old
Speaker 2: old elderly woman wandering off. No, she has physical challenges
Speaker 2: though they said she couldn't walk fifty yards on her own.
Speaker 2: And more importantly, they say there is medication that she
Speaker 2: needs that if she doesn't get in the next twenty
Speaker 2: four hours, it could be fatal. So they are up
Speaker 2: against the clock. That is disturbing, but the language they
Speaker 2: used to describe why they have shifted their focus now
Speaker 2: from searching for Nancy Guthrie to now investigating a crime.
Speaker 2: That is a very dramatic and traumatic shift.
Speaker 1: So we woke up this morning really to this news.
Speaker 1: They say she was last seen on Saturday at nine
Speaker 1: forty five there in Tucson, Arizona, where some family members
Speaker 1: were at the house. So that's why they know she
Speaker 1: was at home. They leave next day they family members
Speaker 1: started getting calls from people at they say church that
Speaker 1: Savannah Guthrie's mom hadn't showed up as expected. So then
Speaker 1: they go to the house, start looking for it, then
Speaker 1: report her missing around noontime on Sunday. Now that's the
Speaker 1: information we had. They said it was a vulnerable adult
Speaker 1: that they were looking for. They had search and rescue
Speaker 1: teams out. That is the news we had this morning.
Speaker 1: It has now changed in the past hour. Robes we
Speaker 1: should go through now what the sheriff out there has
Speaker 1: said and again and he is so concerned, I would
Speaker 1: use the word beg. He is begging the public for help.
Speaker 2: They are begging the public for help because they say
Speaker 2: technology is going to help them solve this crime. They say,
Speaker 2: we need to depend on technology. We need cameras, we
Speaker 2: need anyone who had a sighting of Nancy Guthrie or
Speaker 2: anything unusual in that neighborhood. They are asking for the
Speaker 2: public's help. And yes, babe, it sounded like they were
Speaker 2: begging for the public's help.
Speaker 1: This was.
Speaker 2: A quote that the sheriff gave that just sent chills
Speaker 2: up and down my spine. He said, we do, in
Speaker 2: fact have a crime scene. We do in fact have
Speaker 2: a crime And he said, we don't see this as
Speaker 2: a search mission as much as we do a crime scene.
Speaker 2: And obviously the questions are, how what did you find
Speaker 2: in Nancy Guthrie's home? What is making this so obvious
Speaker 2: to the point where you can say the public is
Speaker 2: not at risk?
Speaker 1: He I mean he kind of headed a little bit
Speaker 1: on that with Denney. He was asked that question directly,
Speaker 1: and I mean he almost stuttered and he's, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know. They just don't have a lot of answers,
Speaker 1: it seems right now. The answer they have is that
Speaker 1: this is a crime, and this is a crime scene
Speaker 1: that they are processing. And he said, they know she
Speaker 1: did not leave on her own. What that means did
Speaker 1: she leave willingly? I say, meaning did she walk out
Speaker 1: of there? Did she walk out?
Speaker 2: They said no, because they said she could not walk
Speaker 2: fifty yards on her own, that she physically just is
Speaker 2: not able to wander off or to go anywhere, and
Speaker 2: again making it very clear that it would not dementia
Speaker 2: related in any way. And then there are a lot
Speaker 2: of questions about why this happened, how this could have happened.
Speaker 2: This is such a bizarre, strange story. An eighty four
Speaker 2: year old woman who was with family until almost ten
Speaker 2: pm on Saturday night. Something happens after ten pm before
Speaker 2: she's supposed to go to church in the morning on Sunday.
Speaker 2: What could that have possibly been?
Speaker 1: We talked about. He was not giving a lot of details.
Speaker 1: He's being very careful right now because it's early in
Speaker 1: investigation rooms. But it was telling some things, he said.
Speaker 1: It was telling to hear him say that the search
Speaker 1: and rescue has been called off, like all the planes,
Speaker 1: the helicopter, the drones, all those volunteers for whatever reason, robes.
Speaker 1: They don't think it's necessary. They don't think it's going
Speaker 1: to produce any results if they keep searching areas. What
Speaker 1: that means She's not just roaming around out there, they believe.
Speaker 1: Now at least it sounds like there was something specific
Speaker 1: and she was an somewhere.
Speaker 2: Because to that point this was also Look, these are
Speaker 2: all the things you don't want to hear. If someone
Speaker 2: you love is missing her cell phone, they have it.
Speaker 2: She does not have her cell phone with her, she
Speaker 2: does not have her possessions with her, that is fighting.
Speaker 2: There's no way to know where she is, how to
Speaker 2: contact her. I just, you know, all of us put
Speaker 2: ourselves in that shoe as the daughter or a family
Speaker 2: member of your eighty four year old mother. And we
Speaker 2: know Savannah really well, worked with her for many, many years,
Speaker 2: and I just I cannot even imagine the agony that
Speaker 2: she and her family must be feeling right now, because
Speaker 2: it's hard enough dealing with a tragedy, but not knowing
Speaker 2: where your mom is, not knowing who is with her,
Speaker 2: not knowing if she's suffering, not knowing how she's going
Speaker 2: to be. I mean, the clock is ticking twenty four
Speaker 2: hours until they said, I mean, he used the words
Speaker 2: if she does not get the medication that she needs,
Speaker 2: it could be fatal. So they are up against the
Speaker 2: c and you know, he said this, we don't. I'm
Speaker 2: curious what your take is on this, babe. The sheriff said,
Speaker 2: we don't need another bad, tragic ending. We need some help.
Speaker 2: So if they don't think she wandered off, if they
Speaker 2: don't believe that she is someone who they could be
Speaker 2: searching for, and something that they found at her home
Speaker 2: is cementing this fact that they've made very clear that
Speaker 2: a crime occurred. I'm trying to create scenarios in my
Speaker 2: head and I can't come up with one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's this is what happens.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: They have to do what they have to do and
Speaker 1: not give as much information to preserve the integrity of
Speaker 1: the investigation as this has now become a national story,
Speaker 1: and so we're all chomping at the bit for information
Speaker 1: and this is just it's going to drive ourselves crazy.
Speaker 1: But to hear, I guess the most important thing Robes
Speaker 1: is if he feels there is a chance to recover
Speaker 1: her safely. That's how he's talking now. So whatever is
Speaker 1: going on, he is at least telling the public that
Speaker 1: we believe she's out there and we need to get
Speaker 1: to her soon because of this medicine. That means there's
Speaker 1: a chance, or at least they think she could. They
Speaker 1: have time. It's ticking, but they have time to recover
Speaker 1: her and have a good outcome. That's the best I
Speaker 1: can take out of what he said. But everything the update.
Speaker 1: We were debating when to do this episode and waiting
Speaker 1: for updates, and then we were sitting here and saying,
Speaker 1: oh my goodness, this story has just completely changed.
Speaker 2: It's changed because at first they weren't necessarily saying that
Speaker 2: it was a crime scene. They said they were concerned
Speaker 2: based on what they found in the home. But now
Speaker 2: they have taken it to a whole new level calling
Speaker 2: it an active crime scene. And they also said this
Speaker 2: and this will be interesting. They do have a lot
Speaker 2: to go through. They are reviewing video from Nancy Guthrie's home.
Speaker 2: There were cameras inside the home. She lives by herself,
Speaker 2: we know that much. She does have some folks who
Speaker 2: work for her and help her throughout her day. So
Speaker 2: they are doing I'm sure all of those interviews, but
Speaker 2: those cameras looking to see what that video shows, I
Speaker 2: would think would be their most valuable bit of information
Speaker 2: at this point, but also looking for other people's videos.
Speaker 2: Maybe people have those ring cameras, the door cameras, the
Speaker 2: surveillance people these days pretty much, Yeah, someone on your
Speaker 2: street or multiple people on your street have security cameras.
Speaker 1: You know, he railed against And I wrote this down
Speaker 1: because it jumped out when he was talking about technology,
Speaker 1: how much they needed out as much as going to
Speaker 1: help he specifically it might have been the first thing
Speaker 1: he said, license plate readers. Now he's specifically the first
Speaker 1: thing that he's talking about. Yeah, he almost went on.
Speaker 1: It wasn't necessarily political, but he took a moment to say, yeah,
Speaker 1: politicians out here, every time you talk about this technology
Speaker 1: and say it's going to be used wrong, it's going
Speaker 1: to violate your paid No, in the hands of the
Speaker 1: right people, these are wonderful tools. We have license plate readers.
Speaker 1: That jumped out at me. What is he does he
Speaker 1: know he's looking for a.
Speaker 2: Car already probably And look, this reminds me a little
Speaker 2: bit of what happened in Ohio where we had I
Speaker 2: hate to keep calling him the dentist and his wife,
Speaker 2: but the Tepie murders. We kind of had a similar
Speaker 2: situation where it was this bizarre you found these this
Speaker 2: couple murdered, their children are alive, there's no forced entry,
Speaker 2: and they seemingly were beloved in the community. What could
Speaker 2: have happened? It was technology that broke that case. They
Speaker 2: found the license plate of the ex husband and this
Speaker 2: is how it led to an arrest, and they were
Speaker 2: able to track him and his movements based on surveillance
Speaker 2: cameras and license plate readers, those things that are now
Speaker 2: everywhere and we see it more and more and more
Speaker 2: now being used effectively to solve crimes and mysteries like
Speaker 2: this man.
Speaker 1: But he says he definitely Robes is going to need
Speaker 1: it on this one. I think it We didn't know
Speaker 1: what was going on. But the other thing they said
Speaker 1: this before we got this update, homicide detectives had been
Speaker 1: called to the scene. Now that's it's just not normal
Speaker 1: procedure if you don't think there's a crime. So when
Speaker 1: we first heard that, that was the first thing that
Speaker 1: perkure ears up a little bit this morning and just
Speaker 1: hoping she had wandered off. But they have been from
Speaker 1: the jump saying nope, her mind is sharp. This ain't that.
Speaker 2: Yes, they found something, and they he even said, like
Speaker 2: I understand you guys want details. That makes so much sense.
Speaker 2: We just can't give them to you. But it is
Speaker 2: interesting if you think about we cover this kind of
Speaker 2: thing all the time with a missing person. Usually you
Speaker 2: have to wait twenty four hours and there are procedures
Speaker 2: before they'll actually even investigate something like this. There was
Speaker 2: clearly something at the home that put all of that
Speaker 2: to bed. They immediately began investigating this in a very
Speaker 2: specific way.
Speaker 1: And we did hear from the Guthrie family, in particular
Speaker 1: Savannah Guthrie this morning, who was, of course, as you'd imagine,
Speaker 1: she was not on set. In fact, the sheriff did
Speaker 1: say she has made it to Arizona and she is
Speaker 1: out there with her family as they try to find
Speaker 1: her mother. But we will let you know the words
Speaker 1: that Savannah Guthrie and her family hat this morning. Stay
Speaker 1: hear all right, We continue here on Amy and TJ.
Speaker 1: Ropes with the breaking news. We were in the middle
Speaker 1: of in the middle of another meeting, and we're distracted
Speaker 1: because we saw the updates coming on the screen that's
Speaker 1: in front of us, saying that in fact, Savannah Guthrie's mother,
Speaker 1: the disappearance is now being treated as a crime. They
Speaker 1: say they do have a crime scene at her home.
Speaker 1: And this woman eighty four years old, described as eighty
Speaker 1: four five five, one hundred and fifty pounds, blue eyes,
Speaker 1: and brown hair. They had flyers out looking for but
Speaker 1: now this is a crime scene. Search and rescue has
Speaker 1: been called off. They said, they sent those folks home.
Speaker 1: They'll continue to canvas maybe for information in the neighborhoods,
Speaker 1: but just going and walking fields and neighbor that's not
Speaker 1: happening anymore because they think this was a specific crime.
Speaker 1: We did hear from the family, I guess first in
Speaker 1: this tifically from Savannah, And I mean, how much can
Speaker 1: they say here Rode right now, all the emphasis is
Speaker 1: on trying to find this woman.
Speaker 2: Yes, and of note, and this would be an obvious
Speaker 2: question because we heard some of the q and a
Speaker 2: that followed the press conference, and one of the first
Speaker 2: questions from a reporter was are there any threats against
Speaker 2: Savannah Guthrie? Do you know if potentially this crime that
Speaker 2: occurred against her mother and Nancy Guthrie had anything to
Speaker 2: do with Savannah being who she is in the public eye,
Speaker 2: a very prominent journalist and national figure. And they said,
Speaker 2: we do not know, we're not aware of any threats,
Speaker 2: but that Savannah is there in town and is obviously
Speaker 2: cooperating with police. They say, the FBI is aware of
Speaker 2: the case. US Customs and Border Protection also assisting in
Speaker 2: this case, so they have all hands on deck trying
Speaker 2: to investigate every detail of this crime.
Speaker 1: And again we had two statements, I guess we got
Speaker 1: one from the family and then one specifically from Sava.
Speaker 1: I think there was a separated here, but hearing from
Speaker 1: the family said actually this was from NBC News. They
Speaker 1: put this one out earlier, saying we can confirm this
Speaker 1: is a missing person's case and the family is working
Speaker 1: closely with law enforcement. Then they gave the number for
Speaker 1: people to call and said the family is grateful for outreach,
Speaker 1: thoughts and prayers. Again that came through NBC News earlier today.
Speaker 2: Yes, and there have been a couple statements. As you
Speaker 2: point out, they said, right now, our focus remains on
Speaker 2: the safe return of our dear mom. We thank law
Speaker 2: enforcement for their hard work on this case. And again
Speaker 2: every statement that goes out encouraging anyone with information to
Speaker 2: contact the Pima County Sheriff's Department. I mean, we always
Speaker 2: hear a call for help, a call for action, and
Speaker 2: those tips are always. Oftentimes what breaks a case like
Speaker 2: this open someone knows something, someone saw something, someone might
Speaker 2: not even realize they captured something on their home surveillance video.
Speaker 2: And so when people start to look and they find things,
Speaker 2: this is what we have seen time and time again
Speaker 2: crack these types of cases.
Speaker 1: I tholl that was interesting, he said earlier he said
Speaker 1: if you see something, just take a picture. He actually
Speaker 1: said that take a picture. If you think you might
Speaker 1: see her, let's just see. I mean, they seem to
Speaker 1: some degree, they seem like they don't have much of
Speaker 1: anything other than that crime scene, and they are I
Speaker 1: just you can tell.
Speaker 2: Rose.
Speaker 1: We watch enough of these press conferences. He was pleading
Speaker 1: with the government, with the public. Please please please.
Speaker 2: Yeah, your heart just goes out to the Guthrie family
Speaker 2: to just again to not know and to hope that
Speaker 2: someone has information that will give them the information that
Speaker 2: they need to find Nancy Guthrie. But of course, we
Speaker 2: will stay on top of this story, bring you any
Speaker 2: new developments that may occur. But certainly, as always, we
Speaker 2: appreciate you listening to us. I made roboch alongside my
Speaker 2: partner DJ Holmes. We will talk to you very soon