Inside the Untold Story of the Savannah Guthrie Family Kidnapping Case that Is Shaking America — And Why Brother-in-Law Was 'Prime Suspect'

Savannah Guthrie and her siblings are in agony, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Her face a mask of exhaustion, the 54-year-old Today show host, flanked by sister Annie, 56, a writer, poet and jewelry designer, and brother Camron, 61, a retired Vermont Air National Guard pilot, issued a tearful thank-you to the public for their prayers – and a desperate plea for help finding their 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, who authorities confirmed was taken from her Arizona home in the early morning hours of Feb. 1 in a "possible kidnapping or abduction."

The siblings then offered a heartbreaking plea to Nancy's potential abductor in the nearly four-minute video posted Feb. 4, imploring: "Our mom is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light. She has grandchildren that adore her."

Explaining their mother is in "constant pain" and without her life-saving medication, the NBC star begged for proof of life, adding, "Her health, her heart is fragile."

The clock has been ticking since Nancy was first reported missing, but the investigation has been bogged down by mixed messages, finger-pointing and false starts.

The investigation began at 12:15 p.m., about 20 minutes after Nancy was reported missing from her $1million home in Tucson's affluent Catalina Foothills community. But on Feb. 5 – five days later – Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos admitted there were still no suspects.

That didn't stop the speculation. Just the day before, he'd admonished "irresponsible" media outlets for sharing "unverified accusations or false information" about the identity of the perp.

Amid the fevered finger-pointing, former NewsNation journalist Ashleigh Banfield stood out, claiming on her Feb. 3 podcast that an "impeccable" high-level law enforcement source had ID'd Tommaso Cioni, Nancy's son-in-law and Annie's husband, as a possible prime suspect, alleging that Annie's car, used to drive Nancy home the night she went missing, had been towed.

Claims about Cioni, who teaches science at a local charter school, were further muddied by shifting information about the case.

On Feb. 2, for example, Sheriff Nanos said at "9:45 in the evening (on Jan. 31) her children left her off" at her home, with some media reports indicating Annie was the last person to see Nancy after they enjoyed a family dinner and game of mahjong.

But on Feb. 4, The Sun reported Nanos had confirmed it was Cioni who drove Nancy back to the home where she lives alone after being widowed in 1988 when her husband, Charles, a mining engineer, suffered a heart attack.

By Feb. 5, Nanos would say only it was "family," declining to be specific. Asked Feb. 5 if he had cleared anyone who saw Nancy on Jan. 31 as a suspect, Nanos clarified, "I wouldn't say anyone's ruled out yet."

Other information was more definitive: According to a new timeline released Feb. 5, electronic evidence confirmed an Uber driver dropped Nancy off at a family member's home at 5:32 p.m. for dinner.

At 9:48 p.m., "family drops Nancy off at home, and garage door opens"; the doors closed two minutes later. Then, at 1:47 a.m. Feb. 1, Nancy's "doorbell camera disconnects." At 2:12 a.m., "software detects person on camera." (Hopes were dashed when it became clear that no video is available because Nancy did not have a subscription to the camera service.)

Finally, at 2:28 a.m., the missing woman's "pacemaker app shows disconnect from phone," suggesting she was removed from her home around that time.

While the sheriff assured Nancy is "sharp as a tack" with no cognitive issues, he confirmed she has mobility issues and "couldn't walk 50 yards" unassisted. Time was running out, Nanos warned, as going without medication for even 24 hours "could be fatal."

Nancy's prescriptions, authorities confirmed, were left behind along with her wallet and car and, reportedly, her Apple Watch.

The sheriff refused to confirm or deny forced entry to the house, but DNA from blood droplets on the steps outside its entrance were determined to be Nancy's, while a doorbell camera appeared to be absent from its mount on the front-door frame.

For her part, Banfield reported that multiple Nest home security cameras had been "smashed," something the sheriff would not confirm. Now, a source close to Savannah echoes that information, telling RadarOnline.com that "signs point to an inside job."

The source revealed that "the cameras that were smashed inside the home were there to protect their mother. Only a very few people have access to them – they were installed to make sure nothing happened to their mom, like if she fell when home alone."

According to the source: "Whoever this possible abductor is, they went inside the house and knew where those cameras were pointing. They were able to smash the cameras before their motion was visible in the recordings or streams. To do this, it takes a chilling level of intel."

And then there are the ransom notes, which were received by a handful of media outlets and swiftly turned over to detectives, who've been coordinating with the FBI. TMZ reported the note it received demanded "a specific substantial amount" of cryptocurrency "in the millions" and verified that the Bitcoin address listed "is real."

The note also described an item the sender said "was damaged" at Nancy's home. Mary Coleman, an anchor for Tucson's KOLD 13 News, told CNN the note her station received via email contained "information that only someone who is holding (Nancy) for ransom would know – some very sensitive information and things that people who (were) there when she was taken captive would know."

On Feb. 5, the FBI confirmed the first deadline to pay a ransom was set for 5 p.m. that day – and that the decision was the family's alone to make. A second deadline was set for Feb. 9.

Officials also announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to Nancy's return.

In the Guthrie siblings' video, Savannah confirmed, "We, too, have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media," making it clear "we are ready to talk."

However, she added: "We live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us."

The FBI had not at that point authenticated those notes but on Feb. 5 confirmed one arrest had been made for a fake ransom demand.

Less than a week before her mom went missing, Savannah had just returned to the Today studios on Jan. 26 after taking some time off to recover from surgery to remove a polyp and nodule from her vocal cords.

She was ramping up to join her colleagues for a high-profile spot at the Olympic Games in Milan. She was also reflecting back on what another tough era taught her: On Jan. 21, the Emmy-winning journalist opened up on former Today co-host Hoda Kotb's new podcast about her 2009 divorce from first husband Mark Orchard, a BBC journalist, calling it "the most difficult time" of her life.

It took years to recover, Savannah admitted. She later found love again, marrying communications consultant Michael Feldman, 57, dad to their kids Vale, 11, and Charley, 9. But she credits that hard time with strengthening her faith.

"I realized I didn't have to be perfect to be loved by God. I didn't even have to be close, because I was definitely a failure," she revealed. "And I really felt loved and carried by God and that was such an important, integral moment of life."