A former FBI agent has told The Post that Nancy Guthrie may have been abducted and taken to Mexico, as further clues point to the theory that the mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie was the victim of a targeted attack.
Nancy Guthrie could have been abducted and taken to Mexico, a former FBI agent says — as further clues point to the theory that the 84-year-old mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie is the victim of a targeted kidnapping.
The search for the missing grandmother was in its fifth day Thursday, and the Pima County Sheriff’s department in Tucson, Arizona, has no suspects.
Officials best lead seemed to be a random note that was sent to TMZ and two local TV stations — which included some insider details about the crime as well as a demand for millions of dollars in Bitcoin.
“I feel that this was targeted,” former Special Agent Tracy Walder at the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office told The Post.
“Her house is set pretty far back… It’s on almost an acre of land. This isn’t a place where the houses are really close together and people are looking for whatever’s an easy opportunity,” she said.
“I don’t think some kind of botched robbery, because if it’s a robbery, you don’t want to burden yourself with a person that you’re taking out,” added Walder, who also previously served as Staff Operations Officer at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center.
“I think this is someone who probably established a pattern of life for Nancy. Sat in her neighborhood, figured out her comings and goings. Was this Sunday dinner a thing she always did? It’s known that she had staff who helped her because of her mobility issues. It sounds like she doesn’t have staff 24 hours a day. So when do they leave? When do they come?” said Walder.
So far, authorities have focused their visible search efforts on the immediate vicinity of Nancy’s home in the Catalina Foothills, low-crime suburb of Tucson that was carved out of desert decades ago.
But, Walder believes that behind the scenes, law enforcement are looking further afield.
“I definitely think that they would be expanding out the search, particularly all the way towards the border,” Walder said.
