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00:02do you feel ready to do this no I'll never be ready to talk about what's happened but
00:14I have a lot to say tonight my emotional conversation with Savannah Guthrie about
00:20her mother's disappearance I just thought where are you yeah where are you she taught
00:28me to be strong she showed me because no one ever learns anything by being told you only learn by
00:41being shown she showed us tell me what you thought when you saw those images of the person who took
00:48your mother I mean it's just absolutely terrifying and I can't imagine that that is who she saw
00:55standing over her bed someone knows something we talk about family faith and her future so how
01:04about coming back you know everyone's wondering I can't come back and try to be something that I'm
01:10not but I can't not come back because it's my family when times are hard you want to be with
01:18your family
01:24good evening I'm Hoda Kotb it's the story that has horrified the nation and it hit us so hard here
01:30at NBC the abduction of Savannah Guthrie's beloved mom Nancy as we follow developments in this case
01:37we have marveled at Savannah's strength and her courage well tonight that courage it is on full
01:44display as she opens up about her raw and deeply painful journey over these last eight weeks
01:51this was unlike any interview I've ever done it's a conversation both unbearable and yet somehow
01:58because of who Savannah is inspirational
02:04on the weekend her family's life changed forever Savannah was having fun with her kids while her husband
02:11Mike was away take me back to the day tell me what you were doing and what happened I had
02:18given Mike
02:18for Christmas a boys trip to go play tennis and so he had been gone for the weekend so I
02:23took my kids
02:23actually to Carson's and so we could all hang out that's our friend and colleague Carson Daly we have
02:31beautiful fun night together and then I came home and really it just got home at the same time that
02:38Mike
02:39came home and we're just saying hi putting down our stuff and the kids are running around
02:44and my sister called me and I said is everything okay and she said no she said mom's missing
02:53and I said what what are you talking about she said she's gone
03:00and she was in a panic I was in a panic
03:04her sister Annie was at Nancy's house in Tucson, Arizona along with her husband Tommy Nancy's friends
03:11had called them after she did not show up to watch an online church service
03:16I'm like
03:18call 911 and she's like I did we've caught them they're here you know she
03:24tried really hard to
03:26figure it out before she worried us you know yeah she called and they were kind of running around the
03:33house we thought that she must have had like some kind of medical episode in the night and that
03:42somehow you know the paramedics had come because the back doors were propped open but her phone was
03:50there and her purse was there and all her things and it just didn't make any sense Annie and Tommy
03:57had already called all the hospitals but then I'm like I'm gonna call the hospital so then I started
04:03calling the hospitals and and the police were there and talking to her at the same time and it was
04:08just
04:08chaos you know that was like two o'clock in the afternoon but you know I was on a plane
04:14at 7 30
04:14yeah to Phoenix and then two-hour drive down to Tucson and I probably got to my sister's house at
04:20two in the morning and my brother was already there
04:27you saw Annie and Cam when you got yeah to their house tell me about that moment just disbelief and
04:37hugging each other and I think we were on the phone with the sheriff and trying to really make clear
04:44this isn't that case that you are used to where someone wanders off she can't wander off
04:49she was in tremendous pain her back was very bad on a good day she could walk down to the
04:56mailbox
04:56and get the mail but most days not so there was no wander off and the doors were popped open
05:03yeah and
05:04there was blood on the front doorstep and the ring camera had been yanked off yeah and so we were
05:12saying
05:12this is this is not okay yeah something is very wrong here did you guys talk about what could have
05:21happened well we talked about everything but it's just it's impossible to believe yeah yeah I still don't
05:30believe it I still many times a day remember and it's like being punched in the face like what are
05:42you
05:42talking about my mom where's my mom my little mom what do you mean someone took her who took my
05:54mom who
05:56took this who took her from her bed doesn't make sense I don't understand my brother you know he spent
06:10his
06:10his career in the military and worked in intelligence and fighter pilot
06:16and it's brilliant and
06:20he saw a very clearly right away what this was
06:26even on the phone when I called him he knew
06:31and he said I think she's been kidnapped
06:34for ransom
06:36and I said
06:37yeah
06:39what
06:39well why what and then I mean it sounds so like how dumb could I be but I just I
06:46didn't want to believe
06:47I just said do you think because of me
06:56and I'm sorry sweetie but yeah maybe
07:03but I knew that
07:05you did
07:06I hope not
07:07I don't know
07:10yeah
07:10that it's because
07:12she's my mom
07:14and somebody thought
07:17oh that girl
07:19that lady has money
07:20we can get
07:21make a quick buck
07:22but yeah that's probably
07:25which is
07:28too much to bear
07:31to think that I
07:32brought this to her bedside
07:37that it's because of me
07:41and I just say I'm so sorry mommy
07:44I'm so sorry
07:48I'm sorry to my sister and my brother
07:51and my kids and my nephew
07:53and Tommy
07:56and my brother-in-law
07:57just I'm like so sorry
07:59I'm so sorry
08:01if it is me I'm so sorry
08:03I'm so sorry
08:06at that point Nancy Guthrie had been missing for nearly 24 hours and a search has got underway
08:11strange clues would begin to emerge when we return Savannah tells me about those disturbing
08:18ransom notes I think most of them it's my understanding are not real but I believe the two notes
08:27that we received that we responded to
08:31I tend to believe those are real
08:48on the morning of February 2nd America woke up to the unfathomable news
08:56working overnight Nancy Guthrie Savannah's 84-year-old mother now at the center of a missing persons case
09:04then the Pima County Sheriff confirmed what Savannah and her family feared most
09:08their mother had been abducted
09:11we believe now that we do in fact have a crime scene
09:15that we do in fact have a crime
09:18and we're asking the community's help
09:20two days later Savannah and her siblings made their first public plea
09:26our mom is our heart and our home
09:30she is 84 years old
09:33her health her heart is fragile
09:36how is it possible
09:39that we are having to make a video
09:42speaking to a kidnapper who took an 84-year-old woman in the dead of night
09:52in her pajamas with no shoes without her medicine and to beg for mercy
10:02I remember you said talk to her talk to her talk to her
10:06that's what you said I remember she is a devoted friend
10:10she is full of kindness and knowledge
10:13talk to her and you'll see
10:16you're lucky to be in her company
10:18even if for a moment
10:22see it
10:25investigators put out a timeline
10:27Nancy had been dropped off at home at about 9.50 p.m. Saturday January 31st
10:32the next morning at 2.28 a.m.
10:36her pacemaker disconnected from an app on her cell phone
10:39suggesting that that was around the time she was taken
10:43in the days that followed
10:45notes demanding payment were sent to media outlets
10:48we are aware of a ransom letter that was sent to the local media
10:51and then to national outlets
10:53the ransom note notes or ransom requests came
10:57a lot of people wondered are those true
10:59did you believe those to be real
11:02there are a lot of different notes I think that came
11:05and I think most of them it's my understanding are not real
11:11you know
11:13a person that would send a fake ransom note
11:16really has to look deeply at themselves
11:19yeah
11:19but
11:21I believe
11:22the two notes that we received
11:24that we responded to
11:27I tend to believe those are real
11:29really
11:31which is why we responded
11:33we received your message
11:35and we understand
11:38we beg you now
11:40to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her
11:45no response came
11:47but on day 10 the investigation made a leap forward
11:51tonight the first chilling images shedding light on what happened at Nancy Guthrie's house the night she was abducted
11:57authorities were able to recover footage from Nancy's doorbell camera
12:01chilling images of a masked man trying to obscure the lens
12:05in his waistband a gun
12:08tell me what you thought when you saw those images of the person who took your mother
12:13I mean it's just absolutely terrifying
12:16yeah
12:17and I can't
12:19imagine that that
12:22is who she saw standing over her bed
12:26yeah
12:28I can't
12:30investigators are gleaning every clue from that video that they can
12:34the backpack is a model sold exclusively at walmart
12:38forensic analysis suggests the man is between five foot nine and five foot ten
12:43with almond shaped eyes and facial hair
12:46for the family the video also put a painful issue to rest
12:52and I'm glad and grateful
12:54to the investigators and the technology companies
12:59that were able to find that video
13:01to I hope at least with people of good heart and compassion stop
13:09the irresponsible and cruel speculation
13:16that had started to swirl
13:19let's talk about that for a minute
13:20I'm glad that people saw
13:22what came
13:24to our door
13:26when you talk about the cruel speculation the whispers
13:30the innuendo
13:32that it was somebody in your family
13:34how did you and your siblings even weather that
13:37it's unbearable
13:39and it piles pain upon pain
13:45I don't understand I'll never understand
13:50yeah
13:50but we are not looking at those people
13:52yeah
13:53yeah
13:53yeah
13:54we are looking for the light
13:58and my family
14:00we are strong
14:03and no one took better care of my mom
14:09than my sister and brother-in-law
14:13and no one protected my mom more than my brother
14:18leads poured in after the release of that video
14:21but nothing so far has led to the masked man or to nancy
14:25the investigation continues with authorities asking neighbors
14:29for home security footage from both the time nancy disappeared
14:34to as far back as january 11th when it's possible a suspicious person appeared near the house
14:41something law enforcement and google are trying to confirm
14:45they're still working to determine the model of the gun the man was carrying
14:49as well as attempting to analyze mixed and partial dna from an unknown source found in the home
14:56it has now been 55 days since nancy vanished a lot of people were frustrated i think with
15:07the investigation how did your family feel about the way the investigation was conducted
15:14well it's still going yeah and yeah people have worked tirelessly tirelessly
15:24and we see that but we need answers we cannot be at peace without knowing we have to know
15:38and someone knows someone knows you're focusing on people in tucson
15:44somebody there must have seen or known something and maybe forgot about it or didn't pay attention to it
15:49something right how can someone vanish yeah without a trace how someone knows something even if that
16:01something is someone's been acting strange for the last seven eight weeks even if it's just that somebody knows
16:15what's the case
16:16when our conversation continues savannah shares stories about the woman at the center of it all
16:21her remarkable mother she wasn't one of those moms that oh my kid can do no wrong or everything
16:29you do is perfect therefore like if she believes in you you could take that to the bank
16:49you speak about your mom always
16:52in the present tense yeah
16:56i mean she is present tense to me
17:02all of us who know savannah know that her mother nancy has always been her light
17:07and her role model how about just tell me about your mommy yeah um my mom is she's incredible
17:23she has that wisdom about her she's funny and a little um mischievous i would say in her humor
17:37she does what's right
17:41she walks in faith but not a fake pious put on faith but like a grounded earthy
17:55she fought for it faith where did her faith come from she grew up in the church and she grew
18:03up catholic
18:05but she really she and my dad really had their own experience um which we baptists would have called a
18:14conversion experience you know when they were married and in their 20s and they had us three kids
18:23and he always used to say god was the sixth member of our family
18:29and that's true i mean i was lucky enough to meet nancy we all were
18:36what is the best part of being her daughter
18:39my mom is so strong and sure and resolute she also is a truth teller and she really doesn't suffer
18:49fools and you know she wasn't one of those moms that oh my kid can do no wrong or everything
18:56you do
18:57is perfect and she therefore like if she believes in you you could take that to the bank i used
19:07to say
19:07she's a noble creature she would just scoff at that oh please no no i'm not you know but
19:14she is and she was and i don't know whether to talk about her in present tense or past tense
19:22i don't know but i know where she is
19:29you know she's with god either way either way do you picture her in heaven do you have an image
19:37of what that looks like yeah i do imagine her she used to say that she imagined that
19:48when you passed away that on your first night in heaven god would take you on a tour just for
19:55you
19:56and show you the universe this is how i made this and this is how i made that and she
20:04really
20:04loved that thought because she was so curious you know she's she's such a journalist you know
20:11she she of course was
20:14got her master's in journalism and was going to be a newspaper reporter when she was young
20:19but then met my dad and they had a family and
20:24after savannah's father died suddenly of a heart attack when she was just 16
20:29her mom taught her the meaning of strength and resilience
20:33and i remember my mom saying in those early days when daddy died like
20:41you have to get up and decide and do just decide and do and she hadn't had read that in
20:51a book that
20:52meant a lot to her and her grief and so i remember i always remember that so i'm trying to
21:01decide and do
21:03she showed us how to survive the unimaginable when she lost my dad she was 46 years old
21:11she had three kids she had never worked outside the home she had to get up she had to find
21:18a job
21:20she had to mother two teenagers and one young adult just
21:25she was starting making his way into the world i remember moments in my childhood
21:32and those days after my dad died she was so strong but some mornings
21:40before dawn when she thought we were still sleeping i would hear her crying at my door
21:50to not be alone in her grief
21:55she took care of her mother
21:57her brother her brother who had down syndrome she invited to come live with us
22:06she worked part-time
22:12to make ends kind of meet
22:16she stayed strong for us
22:20she was resolute
22:24she was real
22:26so she taught me
22:31to be
22:32to be strong
22:33but she taught me to be true
22:37she showed me
22:40because no one ever learns anything by being told
22:43you only learn by being shown she showed us
22:47she showed you
22:49and next i asked savannah how she's able right now to put the lessons from her mother into practice
22:57how did you navigate that part of your life how were you speaking to your kids
23:17we beg you now
23:19to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her
23:23in the initial days you and your sister and brother sat together in all the despair you sat and
23:29managed to think of words to say things to convey
23:33were you able to do that
23:36in that moment
23:39well my siblings are
23:42amazing
23:44and we are
23:47a unit
23:49while savannah and her siblings have experienced unspeakable anguish since their mother's
23:54abduction their closeness has made them stronger
23:58i talked about how brilliant my brother is this is cameron guthrie i'm speaking for the guthrie
24:03family that my sister is equally brilliant and also has
24:09special powers of
24:10of intuition
24:13and faith
24:14and language
24:18and depth and heart
24:20mama
24:21if you're listening
24:23we need you to come home
24:25i mean the first thing that i posted about it
24:30was for people to pray and it's my sister annie who said that to me
24:35she said savannah i think you need to ask people to pray and i haven't posted one thing
24:42or said one thing that the three of us haven't decided together
24:48you were there you were getting updates from law enforcement but how were you passing the time
24:54what were you doing during the days we had to move houses many times because
25:01people came and not everyone is respectful unfortunately there was a night we had to
25:09leave in the dark in the desert
25:13hold hands me and my sister and brother and i get into a car waiting for us
25:20to because the people outside were closing in
25:25so we found a place that was safe and then then we couldn't really leave too much so those days
25:35are
25:35a blur yeah crying and praying
25:40one of the images that stayed with me through all of this was you and annie and tomaso walking up
25:49and
25:50looking at the flowers and at the notes the three of you arm in arm in that moment connected
25:56i thought that was so beautiful and at the same time as i saw that i thought
26:02i wonder if savannah's going inside and what that must have felt like for you to go inside
26:07of your child at home your mom's house yeah i mean this is the house that we grew up in
26:16it's really the only house i've ever known and remember
26:20so we moved there when i was about four i think it's the house where all of our memories are
26:27good and bad so it's hallowed ground savannah's sister and brother-in-law live near the childhood
26:34home they were there every day for my mom they made it possible for her to stay
26:44in the house we grew up in that she loved so much so annie and tommy made that possible for
26:50her
26:51yes they were close yes a letter have her space and it's just a way in which this is just
27:02even more excruciating for them and all that they've been through tell me
27:08while you were spending all this time in tucson your kids were home how did you navigate
27:15that part of your life how were you speaking to your kids what did they know what do they know
27:26well
27:29it's so hard with kids because you know you want to protect them yeah this is the longest i ever
27:36was
27:36away from my kids i would never go for a trip not for work not for anything and be gone
27:42so long
27:43um and i have so many beautiful friends that came and cared for them and lifted them and
27:56took their minds off things and they all would write me all the time mama any leads
28:04any leads you hear anything you know any any hope we tried to talk to them and try to give
28:17them a little
28:17more certainty than we have to let them grieve
28:32are they noticing that you're different your kids i think they do yeah try not to be different but also
28:44not doing them any favors by putting on some facade kids know yeah they do and
28:56they'd be more disturbed by something that felt not real
29:03that my kids are my joy and they were my mom's joy
29:08a family leaning on each other getting through one day at a time relying on faith
29:15next savannah tells me how this ordeal has both solidified and challenged her faith god doesn't tell
29:21us not to wrestle with him this isn't some cheap faith this is real
29:46the guthrie family asked for prayers and the response was overwhelming at saint phillips in the hills
29:54episcopal church in tucson more than 400 people attended a candlelight vigil to pray for nancy's safe
30:01return did you wrestle with your faith throughout this you're resolute and strong like your mama but
30:08did you at some point during all of this have to wrestle with it yes yeah and i'm not done
30:17but god doesn't tell us not to wrestle with him this isn't some cheap faith
30:25this is real and god doesn't ask us to be stoic and my mom taught me that we are at
30:37an hour of desperation
30:39even for a person immersed in faith this has been a time of testing for savannah filled with questions
30:46and doubts but once again she is finding comfort in her mom's example
30:53my mom's best friend told me that she had been going through a hard time and she said to my
30:58mom
30:58Nancy how do you keep your faith and my mom said to her but where else would i go
31:11and i hold that with me where else would i go
31:17but faith is how
31:20i will stay connected to my mom
31:25god is how i'm holding hands with my mom
31:29and it's not easy and i have cried out where are you where are you
31:39we may not get an answer some people don't savannah knows her family is not unique in their despair
31:48we know there are millions of families that have suffered with this kind of uncertainty
31:56that's why in addition to offering a one million dollar reward for information about nancy's disappearance
32:01they also made a 500 000 donation to the national center for missing and exploited children who are
32:09we to think that this broken world wouldn't touch us of course it will
32:17and god is the only thing that makes it bearable my mom could not bear to see this pain yes
32:24for her she
32:25would say oh honey don't worry about me don't worry about me she would she would but she couldn't stand
32:33to
32:34see us suffer she could not bear to see our sadness
32:39and i won't let sadness win for her i saw her grieve i saw her world shatter
32:52i saw it and i saw her get up and i saw her believe and i saw her love and
33:03i saw her smile and i saw her laugh
33:06i saw her joy and i may not do it as well as her but i will do it i
33:14will do it for my kids
33:16i will i will not fall apart i will not let whoever did this take my children's mother from them
33:27i will not let them take my joy they will not take my sister's joy they will not take my
33:34brother's joy
33:36they will not take our love they will not take our faith
33:42but our anguish is real we need help we need someone to tell the truth yes i have no
33:54anger in my heart i have hope in my heart i have love
34:04that this family needs peace yeah someone needs to do the right thing we are in agony yeah we are
34:15in
34:15agony it is unbearable
34:22and to think of what she went through i wake up every night in the middle of the night every
34:31night
34:33and in the darkness i imagine her terror
34:42and it is unthinkable but those thoughts demand to be thought
34:49and i will not hide my face
34:54and when we return savannah tells me what the future might hold for her and her other family
35:01at the today show i don't know if i can do it
35:08i don't know if i'll belong anymore
35:12but i would like to try
35:17i would like to try
35:33you know it was a hard decision for you and i know you told me about this was coming back
35:38here
35:39leaving arizona to come back to new york why was that so difficult that choice
35:47no i looked out the window the airplane that beautiful desert that she loves where are you
35:56how could i leave you
36:00when savannah came back to new york to her husband and children she knew it meant facing her future she
36:06also knew she would draw strength from her second family all of us at the today show and nbc
36:14one of the enduring images for me
36:17was walking into studio 1a and seeing you there
36:22speaking to everybody what was it like for you
36:25walking back in there
36:29i really wanted to come and see everybody
36:33yeah
36:36i just love
36:38this beautiful place that we
36:41call home where we get to come and be every day i know how much people have prayed for me
36:53and loved me
36:56our thoughts and our prayers are with our dear friend and colleague and her family this morning
37:01she has been braver than i can even imagine she has been so vulnerable i just can't say enough
37:08incredible things about what an amazing spirit she is
37:12all the notes and messages that i have received
37:17they're just so beautiful i just wanted to be with my family they're my family too
37:25and i wanted
37:27to just say that
37:29i love them and i felt them
37:33and their kindness is carrying me
37:37and that that i will be okay
37:41you said something when you were there and you said
37:45i don't know how to come back and i don't know how not to come back that struck me
37:52yeah that's how i feel
37:57to get to be at the today show and have my dream come true it was better than my dream
38:04it was more than all i could ask or imagine so how about coming back i know everyone's wondering
38:12so it's hard to imagine doing it because it's such a place of joy and lightness and
38:21how how i can't come back and try to be something that i'm not
38:28but i can't not come back because it's my family i think it's part of my purpose right now
38:39and i think i can't collapse and i can't fall apart though there are days that i want to
38:49and there are days that i do but i want to get up
38:56i want to smile and when i do it will be real
39:05i will have joy my joy will be my answer
39:11and being there is joyful and when it's not i'll say so
39:19and i have been so grateful to have this family i consider this my family my greater family and when
39:31times are hard you want to be with your family and i want to be with my family
39:37and my sister says being who you are and being as authentic and as real as you are in this
39:49moment
39:50is what you should do and it will be a relief she said some people watch tv and think why
39:56are those
39:56people so happy all the time exactly maybe it's a relief to just be who you are
40:03and so i don't know if i can do it
40:10i don't know if i'll belong anymore but i would like to try
40:22oh everybody's waiting for you just so you know
40:28well i miss everybody you know yeah and it feels good to be with the people that you love
40:33yeah i plan to do my best
40:38and plan to tell the truth and i'm not going to be the same
40:44but maybe it's like that whole poem
40:48more beautiful in the broken places
41:17and i'm not going to be the same thing but i'm not going to be the same thing
41:26that's all for now i'm hoda kotby thanks so much for joining us
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