Nancy Guthrie Update: Police Announce Major Decision in Investigation

As the investigation continues into the apparent kidnapping of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie, it sounds like authorities have made a rather significant decision regarding how they will continue to work the case.

A month after the 84-year-old went missing from her home in the Catalina Foothills, an unincorporated community located north of Tucson, the local authorities have made the decision to scale back the number of detectives assigned to the case amid FBI concerns that it has become a "cold case."

Investigation Becoming a 'Cold Case'

The FBI released a series of photos and videos from a door camera earlier this month that showed an armed, masked person at the door of Guthrie’s home on the day that she disappeared and presumably a previous day, as well.

These images have been the most significant evidence released to the public. However, TMZ reported this week that the evidence has not produced any significant leads in the investigation, leading to concern that the search is becoming “a cold case.”

Amid these concerns, Savannah Guthrie shared an emotional message on social media where she conceded that there’s a real chance her mother is already gone.

“We also know that she may be lost. She may already be gone. She may have already gone home to the Lord that she loves. And is dancing in heaven with her mom and her dad. And with her beloved brother Pierce. And with our daddy. If this is what it is to be, then we will accept it,” Savannah Guthrie said.

Police Scaling Back the Investigation

Over the past several weeks, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona has been leading the search for the 84-year-old woman, dedicating extra officers and resources to the search. However, it sounds like that's about to change.

On Friday, the department announced that it is returning many officers who had been pulled in from other units to their original posts, scaling back the search for the missing woman. Now, only detectives directly assigned to Guthrie’s case will be involved in the search unless new information or a new lead results in another staffing surge.

“This remains an active investigation and will continue until Nancy Guthrie is located or all leads have been exhausted,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is refocusing resources to detectives specifically assigned to this case. As leads are developed and resolved, resource allocation may fluctuate. PCSD will maintain a patrol presence in the Guthrie neighborhood.”

Previously, the department said that it had dedicated “several hundred law enforcement personnel” to the search. However, the department did not say how many would continue to work the case.

Sheriff’s deputies will still patrol Guthrie’s neighborhood, which has seen a surge of attention from curious onlookers since her disappearance.

Hope Still Remains

While the FBI is concerned about the investigation becoming a "cold case," and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is scaling back the resources it is dedicating to the search, hope still remains that Guthrie will be found.

Despite conceding that her mother might be lost, Savannah Guthrie has not given up hope as she asked for continued prayers while offering a $1 million reward for her safe return.

“Please keep praying without ceasing. We still believe. We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home. Hope against hope. As my sister says, we are blowing on the embers of hope,” Savannah Guthrie said.

It sounds like the FBI isn't giving up hope, either.

“Even though this is becoming a cold case, and it is clearly one of the reasons why the Guthrie family has upped the reward, that doesn’t mean that it’s over,” Harvey Levin of TMZ said. “As one FBI source put it, ‘It just takes that one person.’ And they believe it’s going to happen at some point – one person who opens his or her mouth, and the case cracks wide open.”