Savannah Guthrie ‘livid’ over accusation that brother-in-law involved in mom’s disappearance, claims Megyn Kelly
As the search for Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother stretches past 40 days, the Today show co-anchor is reportedly “livid” over early reporting that claimed her brother-in-law and sister were involved in her mother’s disappearance.
Guthrie’s former NBC colleague Megyn Kelly claimed on an episode of SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Show last week that Guthrie was furious after journalist Ashleigh Banfield suggested that Guthrie’s brother-in-law could be a prime suspect in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, who vanished from her Arizona home on February 1.
The 84-year-old disappeared from her home in the affluent Catalina Foothills neighborhood outside Tucson in the early morning hours that day in what investigators believe to be an abduction. Authorities have since released footage of an armed suspect appearing to tamper with the home’s doorbell camera, but have not publicly identified the person they believe abducted her.
Early in the investigation, on a February 3 episode of Banfield’s podcast, Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield, Banfield cited a law enforcement source who claimed that Tommaso Cioni, the husband of Savannah’s sister, Annie Guthrie, was possibly being eyed as a suspect.
Banfield continued to stand by her reporting, even after the Pima County Sheriff’s Department publicly cleared the family of having any involvement. That allegation has infuriated Guthrie, according to Kelly, who claims she may be planning to sue the journalist.
“I have not been able to confirm that the Guthrie family wants to sue Ashleigh Banfield, but I have confirmed that Savannah is livid about that report and definitely does not suspect her or her brother-in-law,” Kelly said during the March 12 episode of her show.
“Can you blame her? I mean, of course, she loves her sister, I’m sure she loves her brother-in-law, and I’m sure she genuinely doesn’t believe they had anything to do with it.”
Kelly said the situation places journalists and family members in very different positions.
“All of us are in a different boat – you know, we have to be more objective in assessing the possible suspects, the possible people connected with it, and law enforcement certainly does.”
Two days after Banfield’s report, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos appeared to push back on speculation surrounding suspects, telling reporters his department had not identified anyone as a person of interest.
“Nobody’s eliminated, but we just really don’t have enough to say, ‘This is our suspect, this is our guy, we know – or our gal.’ We don’t know that,” Nanos said during a press conference at the time. “And it’s really kind of reckless to report that someone is a suspect when they could very well be a victim.”
He continued: “To the media, I plead with you to be careful of what it is we put out there, because we don’t have anybody here listed as a suspect, and you could actually be doing some damage to the case, but you can do some damage to that individual, too. Social media is kind of an ugly world sometimes.”
Banfield first aired the allegation days after the disappearance, citing a single law enforcement source who suggested Cioni might be under scrutiny. She later doubled down on the claim even after Nanos publicly said there were no suspects.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a producer for Banfield’s podcast said the journalist “stands by her reporting” and “her ironclad source.”
Investigators say Cioni and his wife were the last known people to see Nancy Guthrie before she vanished. The couple had dinner with her the night before the disappearance, according to authorities.
Investigators continue to analyze new evidence recovered from cameras around Nancy Guthrie’s home.
Early in the investigation, authorities released video of the armed suspect appearing to tamper with Nancy’s front doorbell camera the day of her disappearance. Now, several outlets report that new photos have been recovered as authorities try to piece together what happened to Nancy and where she may be.
ABC News reported Friday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, that the new photos were taken from motion-activated cameras pointed at Nancy’s swimming pool, backyard and side yard before the suspected abduction. People were seen in the back and side yards, but nothing was deemed suspicious, according to the sources.
The cameras didn’t catch anything the day Nancy was believed to be taken from her home as she slept, which one source told ABC News was “odd.”
Fox News later reported that the FBI does not currently plan to release the new photos.
In a statement shared with The Independent on Friday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it “continues to analyze various forms of evidence in the Nancy Guthrie case, including material from laboratories as well as images and videos captured by cameras.” Officials declined further comment.
Speaking on Today last week, Nanos acknowledged that investigators cannot rule out the possibility that the suspect could target others.
“Well, absolutely, absolutely,” he said. “I mean, criminal minds are criminal minds.”
Nanos added that authorities believe they understand the motive behind the crime but are not ready to publicly disclose it.
“We believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted, but we can’t – we’re not 100 percent sure of that, and so it’d be silly to tell people, ‘Yeah, don’t worry about it. You’re not his target.’ No, you could be,” Nanos warned.
Investigators are also examining a possible internet outage in the neighborhood around the time Nancy disappeared.
“There was a timeline when things went offline. So we’re looking into that. Why did that occur? We checked with our power companies. We checked with others in the neighborhood,” Nanos said.
The FBI and local authorities are offering a combined $200,000 reward for information that could help solve the case. The Guthrie family has also offered a $1 million reward for Nancy’s safe return.
In an emotional Instagram video posted February 24, Savannah Guthrie acknowledged the painful uncertainty surrounding her mother’s fate.
“We still believe that she can come home,” she said.
Her most recent post, shared on March 2, showed yellow flowers placed at a makeshift memorial outside Nancy Guthrie’s home.
“We feel the love and prayers from our neighbors, from the Tucson community and from around the country,” she wrote. “Please don’t stop praying and hoping with us. Bring her home.”
