An old drawing of a blue umbrella and falling raindrops has given Savannah Guthrie the words for what nine months without her mother feels like.
Guthrie, the 54-year-old “TODAY” co-anchor, posted a photo of that drawing to Instagram on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, nine months after someone took her mother, Nancy Guthrie, 84, from her home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson, Ariz.
Her daughter Vale, now 12, drew the umbrella and the rain. Beneath the umbrella, the child wrote a single line: “I know it might not seem like it but I really need my mommy.”
Guthrie wrote in her caption that she had come across the old drawing that day, and that it “says so much about how I feel.” She also shared an old photo of her mother.
“Cannot Move Forward,” She Wrote
Life around the family may look normal on the surface, Guthrie wrote, because the adults are trying to stay strong for young children — but it is not, and never will be. Her siblings Annie and Cam, their spouses Tommy and Kristine, and her husband Michael Feldman were among those she wrote for, along with all of Nancy Guthrie’s grandchildren.
The family aches for her and cries out for answers, she wrote, and “cannot move forward.” She thanked those who have shown the family kindness, asked anyone with information to come forward and urged people to keep praying.
“Our mom was a light in this world,” Guthrie wrote. The family wants to honor her and give her the dignity she deserves, she added. The family has offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery. “The reward is still available. Please. We are begging you.”
Guthrie and her two siblings have made direct appeals to whoever took their mother, online and on the air. In an August post, she appeared to address the abductors. She wrote that they might be frightened, conflicted or angry about being in the situation, and that they had a way out — to say what they know.
In a March interview, Guthrie said explaining the investigation to her children was hard because parents want to protect them. Vale was writing to her constantly, she said, asking whether there were any leads, anything new, any hope. She and Feldman, who also have a son, Charley, nine, were trying to hand the children a little more certainty than the family has, so they can grieve.
A Doorbell Camera Goes Dark
The last sighting of Nancy Guthrie came on Saturday night, Jan. 31. She arrived for dinner at her daughter Annie’s home at 5:32 p.m., and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, dropped her off at her own house around 9:48 p.m. Police say Cioni waited until she was inside before driving off. The garage door closed at 9:50 p.m.
At 1:47 a.m. Feb. 1, the doorbell camera at the house disconnected. About 25 minutes later, software on a camera picked up someone, or possibly an animal, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said. Her pacemaker app disconnected from her phone at 2:28 a.m.
On the morning of Sunday, Feb. 1, a friend called the family after Nancy Guthrie missed an online church service. The family notified the sheriff’s department around noon, and deputies arrived at 12:15 p.m. and determined she was missing under “concerning” circumstances. Officials have said she has limited mobility and relies on daily medication. On a missing person flier, she was described as 5-foot-5, 150 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
The Man in the Face Mask
Nanos confirmed by Feb. 2 that investigators were treating the disappearance as a crime. “I believe she was abducted, yes,” he told CBS News. Investigators obtained Nest doorbell video of an apparent suspect: a man of average build, roughly 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10, wearing a face mask and gloves and carrying a black Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.
Blood drops outside the front door were later confirmed to be hers. Two ransom notes surfaced in the days after the abduction. The first demanded payment in bitcoin, while the second said the 84-year-old had died shortly after she was taken. Officials released the full text of both over the summer, hoping someone would recognize the handwriting, the syntax or the shift in tone between them.
The FBI is investigating the case as a kidnapping for ransom. A hair recovered from Nancy Guthrie’s home was tested and “came back with no results,” the sheriff said July 30. The sheriff has said the family is cleared of any involvement.
“This Case Isn’t Cold,” Nanos Says
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department posted a statement from Nanos on X on Oct. 30, two days before Guthrie’s post. “The Nancy Guthrie Task Force continues to work with our labs in hopes of furthering our DNA analysis in this investigation,” the sheriff said.
The task force traveled to Florida early in October to meet with laboratory scientists about advancing the investigation, the department said, and several ideas were discussed. The department continues to work with its partners, and it urged the public to call in tips. “We want to remind the public that no tip is too small,” the statement said.
Nanos told KVOI AM 1030’s Bill Buckmaster Show in a radio interview, “This case isn’t cold because we still have evidence that we’re working with.” Labs in Kansas, San Francisco, Washington and Phoenix are also contributing, he said. “We’re constantly talking about what we can do with the evidence we have, and how we can get to a point where we feel comfortable that we can make an identification,” Nanos added.
As of Nov. 1, no suspect has been named in the case, despite investigators releasing photos and video clips of a masked suspect on Nancy Guthrie’s front porch and publishing alleged ransom notes. Anyone with information can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or 88-CRIME, or leave an anonymous tip at 520-882-7463.