Savannah Guthrie 'Paying Whatever It Takes' to Keep the Search Active for Missing Mom Nancy Nearly Four Months After Abduction
Savannah Guthrie is bankrolling her own team of investigators in the desperate search for her missing mom.
May 27 2026, Published 1:46 p.m. ET
Savannah Guthrie is dipping into her own fortune to keep the desperate search for her abducted mother, Nancy Guthrie, going as long as possible, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Today co-host’s 84-year-old mom has now been missing for 116 days, and insiders said the NBC star has assembled her own team of private investigators in a bid to uncover what happened and keep the seemingly stalled case alive.
Savannah Guthrie 'Refuses to Rely on Law Enforcement'
Savannah Guthrie is bankrolling a team of investigators to help find her missing mom.
"Savannah is paying whatever it takes to keep this search active," one source told Hollywood insider Rob Shuter, who wrote about it on his Naughty But Nice Substack.
"She refuses to rely solely on law enforcement," the spy dished about how the Pima County Sheriff's Office has shifted operations to a smaller, long-term task force after the massive search in the first month of the case failed to turn up any leads into Nancy's whereabouts.
Nancy was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early hours of February 1 by an unknown intruder, and hasn't been seen or heard from since despite desperate pleas by Savannah and her family to possible kidnappers and a $1 million reward for the elderly grandmother's recovery.
Chris Nanos No Longer in Touch With Guthrie Family
Sheriff Chris Nanos is no longer personally in touch with the Guthrie family about Nancy's case.
According to Shuter's sources, Savannah has assembled an elite team of private detectives, ex-federal agents and security experts working around the clock to chase down leads and uncover what happened to her missing mother.
It comes after the morning show personality became increasingly wary of Sheriff Chris Nanos' much-criticized handling of her mother's case, and his own admission that he's no longer in direct contact with Nancy's family.
Nanos revealed that he no longer spoke to the Guthries personally on May 18, as the case is now in the hands of his detectives and FBI agents.
The embattled lawman noted, "If they need the family for anything, they get in touch with them and the family. It works both ways."
'Money Doesn't Matter' to Savannah Guthrie
Savannah Guthrie will keep paying private investigators in the desperate search for her missing mom.
“That was incredibly upsetting for Savannah,” another insider revealed to Shuter about Nanos' lack of contact with Nancy's family. "She expected urgency and direct communication. Instead, she feels the investigation became distant and procedural."
To keep the investigation going with her private team has come at an "enormous" financial cost to the NBC star, but Savannah won't stop until she has answers into what happened to her beloved mother.
"Money doesn’t matter to her right now," the source claimed. "This is about finding her mother. If more investigators, more security or more resources help, she’ll keep paying for them."
"She still believes her mom can be found,” the insider added. "That’s why the private investigators are still working every single day."
DNA Evidence Is in the Hands of the FBI
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DNA evidence found at Nancy Guthrie's home is being examined at the FBI's Quantico lab.
The most significant developments in the case have come courtesy of the FBI, who in April were finally able to get hold of the mixed DNA found at Nancy's home for further testing at their elite Quantico, Virginia, crime lab.
Nanos had already sent DNA samples found at the house to a private lab in Florida, much to the dismay of the FBI, which had hoped to use its state-of-the-art lab for more intensive testing far earlier on in the investigation.
The bureau is now attempting to separate the “mixed” DNA sample in hopes of developing an individual genetic profile.
