American journalist and NBC’s Today host Savannah Guthrie has opened up about the suspected kidnapping of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, saying she fears that her public profile may have caused the kidnapping.
Speaking in an interview alongside co-host Hoda Kotb, released on NBC’s Today show on Thursday, Ms Guthrie struggled to hold back tears as she recounted how she found out her mother had gone missing.
“My sister called me. I said, ‘Is everything OK?’ And she said, ‘No. Mum’s missing,’” she said. “I was in a panic.”
Initially, she said the family suspected paramedics had taken her mother for an emergency, noting that doors were left open while her personal belongings, including her phone and purse, were inside.
However, they later suspected that it might have been otherwise.
“There was blood on the front doorstep, and the ring camera had been yanked off,” Ms Guthrie said, adding that her mother had been in severe back pain and was unlikely to have wandered off.
She revealed that her brother, who has an intelligence background, raised the alarm over the phone, suggesting it could have been a kidnapping.
“He said, ‘I think she’s been kidnapped for ransom.’ I said, ‘Do you think because of me?’ I hoped not,” she said.
The broadcaster admitted she had been blaming herself, believing that her fame had made her family a target.
She added, “To think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me. I’d just say, ‘I’m so sorry, mummy. I’m so sorry.’”
Multiple ransom notes had been sent to media outlets, though Ms Guthrie believes not all are real.
“I think most of them are not real. But the two notes we saw and responded to, I think those are real,” she said.
Ms Guthrie has since stepped back from her presenting duties, including planned coverage of the Winter Olympics.
Ms Guthrie’s mother was last seen on January 31 at her home in Catalina Foothills, near Tucson.
The family has made repeated public appeals and is offering a $1 million reward, along with an additional $100,000 from the FBI, for anyone with helpful information about the abduction.
