More than five months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona home, a retired FBI agent is drawing new attention to the case by comparing it to a decades-old unsolved kidnapping involving a baseball legend's mother.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, the mother of NBC "Today" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was last seen at her Catalina Foothills home on January 31 and reported missing the next morning after she failed to appear for a Sunday church livestream - something her family said she never missed. Investigators later upgraded the case to a homicide investigation, though no suspect has been publicly named and Nancy has not been located.
This week, former FBI special agent Jennifer Coffindaffer pointed to similarities between Guthrie's case and the 2012 kidnapping of Violet "Vi" Ripken, mother of Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. In a post on X, Coffindaffer noted that Vi Ripken was blindfolded, bound, and photographed by an abductor who never wore a mask - details she said "mirror" elements of Guthrie's case.
Vi Ripken was released unharmed after roughly 24 hours, and her kidnapper was never identified or caught. "Could Nancy's case be a similar scenario?" Coffindaffer asked, while stopping short of suggesting the cases are connected.
Coffindaffer also noted that elder abductions like Guthrie's remain exceedingly rare, citing FBI data showing fewer than 700 of nearly 50,000 tracked kidnappings involved victims 70 or older.
Through it all, the Guthrie family's faith has remained the visible constant. Savannah has repeatedly thanked viewers on-air for their prayers, telling them, "We feel your prayers." A combined reward of more than $1.2 million remains active for information leading to Nancy's safe return.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or Tucson's 88-CRIME tip line at 520-351-4900.
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