EXCLUSIVE: Savannah Guthrie's Emotional Plea to Kidnappers 'Humanized' Her Missing Mother Nancy — As The Ransom Note Deadlines Sparks Panic
Savannah and her family have said they will pay a ransom.
Feb. 5 2026, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
Savannah Guthrie's emotional video plea to her mother's kidnappers was well thought out and executed, a top hostage negotiator exclusively tells RadarOnline.com.
The Today star was flanked by her sister and brother as the united siblings tried to send a message of love to their mom, Nancy, and a message of leniency to her captors.
'Very Well Done' Message of Love
Camron Guthrie sat nearly motionless with his arms crossed for the entire video.
Late Wednesday night, Savannah, her sister, Annie, and brother, Camron, shared an emotional video plea to their missing mother and her kidnappers.
"On behalf of our family, we want to thank all of you for the prayers for our beloved mom, Nancy. We feel them, and we continue to believe that she feels them too," she said, begging the kidnappers, "bring her home."
The journalist knew what she was doing, and what she was saying, as Derek Gaunt, former hostage negotiator and co-author of the book Fight Less, Win More, told Radar.
"She likely didn’t do that in a vacuum," he said. "The authorities knew…Dare I say crafted the message? It was classic and very well done."
'The Negotiations Have Begun'
Nancy Guthrie has not been seen since Saturday.
Gaunt said in hostage situations, it's key to "humanize" the victim, and "Savanah did her best to turn her mom back into a person."
She was also wise to indicate the family is "ready for a dialogue" with the kidnappers, and may even be willing to meet their demands.
"She said, 'we're listening,'" Gaunt explained. "The Bureau clearly understands the negotiations have begun. She talked directly to mom. That clearly will provide a tonal lift for her."
The ransom notes came with a deadline of late Thursday afternoon, and at an earlier update briefing, FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke confirmed their authenticity and said the next move is up to the Guthries.
"We are in communication with the family," Janke said. "While we advise and recommend, from a law enforcement perspective, any action taken on any ransom is ultimately decided by the family."
The Ransom Notes Are Real
A reward for her return has reach $50,000.
One of the notes was emailed to local Tucson tv station, KOLD. News anchor Mary Coleman told CNN the note appeared to be legit.
"There are a few things that we can share as far as what the contents were. A lot of it is information that only someone who is holding her for ransom would know — some very sensitive information and things that people who were there when she was taken captive would know," Coleman said. "So those are things that are concerning. We immediately sent that information over to the sheriff's department."
Coleman said a detective asked for information related to an IP address for the sender.
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Savannah Guthrie indicated she might be willing to talk to the abductors.
The ransom letter also included a "dollar amount" and a "deadline," as well as "other specifics that only Guthrie's abductor might know," Coleman said. "So that definitely raised some red flags."
That included information that only the abductor would know.
"When we saw some of those details, it was clear after a couple of sentences that this might not be a hoax," Coleman confirmed.
