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Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said he believes he knows why Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of TODAY Show anchor Savannah Guthrie, was "targeted" by a kidnapping suspect who could "absolutely" strike again.
“We believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted, but we, we can’t, we’re not 100% sure of that,” Nanos told NBC News Thursday (March 12) night. “So it’d be silly to tell people, ‘Yeah, don’t worry about it. You’re, you’re not his target.’ Don’t think for a minute that because it happened to the Guthrie family, you’re safe. No, keep your wits about you.”
Nanos declined to give additional details on theories stemming from Guthrie's disappearance, which was reported on February 1. Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer questioned whether local authorities were actually close to making an arrest in Guthrie's disappearance as they have turned away civilian search groups while the search extends into its 40th day on Thursday.
"Wondering why Sheriff Nanos keeps turning away proven very capable civilian search experts like EquuSearch and the real Cajun Navy? Is LE close to an arrest and they know what happened to Nancy so they don't want to waste the valuable resources of these groups? But why won't the sheriff at least acknowledge these groups? Half glass full. Hoping LE is getting closer," Coffindaffer wrote on her X account.
Authorities identified the woman whose body was found near a canal in Phoenix after it was confirmed that she wasn't tied to the investigation into the disappearance of Guthrie earlier this week. Alex Fleming, 42, was identified as the woman whose remains were located last Friday (March 6) more than 100 miles from Guthrie's home in Tucson where she was reported missing on February 1.
The confirmation came after the Pima County Sheriff's Office told TMZ it has "not been notified of any connection reference that case to the Nancy Guthrie case." The Phoenix Police Department issued a statement obtained by the California Post confirming it had located a body along a canal.
“Details on the call indicated that an adult female was on the nearby canal bank and was unresponsive,” the Phoenix Police Department said in a statement. “When officers arrived, they located the woman, who was ultimately pronounced deceased on scene.”
Authorities haven't released any information about the located body as of Monday (March 9). The investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance has no clear suspects nor strong leads more than a month after being launched.
Savannah, her sister, Annie Guthrie, and brother-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, carried flowers while being escorted by Pima County Sheriff's Department deputies to the memorial site in front of Nancy's home in a video shared by NewsNation reporter Brian Entin last week. Savannah also shared a photo of flowers at the memorial on her Instagram account on Monday.
"We feel the love and prayers from our neighbors, from the Tucson community and from around the country 💛," Savannah wrote. "Please don’t stop praying and hoping with us. Bring her home."