Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona home was a peaceful escape. Now it’s been declared a ‘crime scene’
By Amanda Musa, CNN
(CNN) — Surrounded by vast desert, the long and windy road that leads to Nancy Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills is dotted with prickly cacti and attractive houses.
Come nightfall, the unincorporated community north of Tucson, Arizona, is plunged into secluded darkness. That stillness is what drew Nancy and her family to the area decades ago.
“The quality of life is laid back and gentle,” the mother of “Today” anchor, Savannah Guthrie, said of her community in November.
Three months later, authorities say Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home in the serene neighborhood where she lives alone and was last seen Saturday night.
Nancy’s disappearance became national news, bringing renewed sorrow to the quiet community that brought healing to Savannah’s family after her father died.
“When I go back I’m so — it’s like my whole soul is home, my spirit is home, I feel my father in the wind,” Savannah said in November. “The desert, the cactus, the animals: It’s such a unique place, it’s a beautiful place to visit.”
‘Daughter of the desert’
Nancy and her husband, Charles Guthrie, lived in Australia, where Charles worked as a mining engineer, when Savannah was born in 1971. The family relocated to Arizona when Savannah was young and remained settled there.
The family was left shattered when Charles, who was adored by many, died of a heart attack in 1988. Savannah was 16 years old at the time, according to a Father’s Day essay she wrote for Today in 2014.
“My father was a seemingly unlikely mix of qualities: always strong, sometimes terrifying, loyal to the end, and disarmingly gentle and tender when it counted,” Savannah wrote.
Tall, affectionate and funny, Charles moved through life demanding moral clarity, which could be intimidating, Savannah said. But he was also known for turning “a mundane trip to the post office into a rip-roaring tale,” she said.
Savannah, the youngest of three siblings, stayed in Arizona for college, attending the University of Arizona. Her sister, Annie Guthrie, didn’t wander far either.
“We had a spoken or unspoken pact that on the weekends, even though we were college girls, one of us would always stay home on one of the weekend nights so that my mom wouldn’t be alone,” Savannah said in 2017. “That was just something we did together as sisters.”
In a “Today” show segment about her Tucson roots last fall, the NBC host called herself a “daughter of the desert.”
In the segment, Savannah and Nancy dined together at a local restaurant — one of many times the host featured her mom on the morning show.
Nancy called Tucson “wonderful” during the segment: “Just the air, the quality of life is laid back and gentle.”
“I like to watch the javelinas eat my plants,” she added with a laugh, referring to pig-looking animals that are often seen in the area.
Serene and secluded community
Perched along the Santa Catalina Mountains, the Catalina Hills community is known for outdoor activities, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, not crime scene investigations and reports of kidnappings.
“People feel unsettled, I would not say fearful, but obviously, this is shocking,” said Nancy’s neighbor, Jeff Lamie, who described the area as quiet and safe.
“We’ve lived here six years. It’s actually a wonderful, wonderful neighborhood,” Lamie told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
The community has a population of around 53,000 people, with a median age of 56, according to the most recent US Census data.
Homes in the desert community are spaced out and tucked away behind desert foliage, according to Lamie, who says most properties sit on lots that are over an acre.
Mountain search and rescue crews are scouring the dense terrain and asking neighbors to check the scrub for any evidence, Lamie added.
“We’ve all been looking and being aware and reviewing the ring cameras,” Lamie told CNN. “And unfortunately, thus far we can’t provide any assistance in that regard.”
A life of integrity
Savannah often speaks highly of her mother and their close relationship. During a celebration of her mom’s 80th birthday on “Today,” the anchor described her as someone who “lived a life of integrity and loyalty.”
“We lost my dad suddenly and shockingly,” Savannah recalled in a 2023 interview. “And my mom was so strong, and set aside her own grief in many ways, just to be there and make sure we could all move forward together.”
Nancy continued to raise her children on her own, Savannah has said.
“She loves us, her family, fiercely, and her selflessness and sacrifice for us, her steadfastness and her unmovable confidence is the reason any of us grew up to do anything.”
Heart-wrenching phone call
Savannah was supposed to fly to Italy on Monday for NBC’s much-anticipated coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics. With that big international trip coming up, she spent much of last weekend with her husband and two kids.
But her plans were shattered when a family member called her and said Nancy was missing. It was “the worst phone call of her life,” said an NBC producer who knows Savannah personally.
A source familiar with the matter said Savannah immediately scrambled to fly to Tucson.
Authorities in Pima County said Nancy’s family members searched her home in vain before calling 911 to report her missing around noon local time on Sunday.
NBC mobilized its considerable resources to help one of the network’s biggest and best-loved stars. Savannah’s co-hosts on the “Today” show shared the Pima County Sheriff’s Department’s tip line phone number, 520-351-4900, all across television and social media.
On Monday morning, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Savannah had been in touch with his office, and “she has a security team that’s been in touch with us throughout the night.”
CNN’s Brian Stelter and Elise Hammond contributed to this report.
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