In an interview with her colleague Hoda Kotb from the ‘Today’ Show where she is also a host, Savannah Guthrie said her mother’s abduction was a kidnapping for ransom and that two notes demanding payment were most likely genuine.
It is the first interview Ms. Guthrie has given since her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, was taken from her home near Tucson, Ariz., nearly two months ago.
In a startling revelation, Savannah said she believed the two ransom notes that were sent to news outlets and demanded payment in Bitcoin were most likely from her mother’s abductor or abductors.
Ms. Guthrie described feeling guilt over the fact that her celebrity status may have, in a way, led to her mother’s abduction.
“To think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me,” Ms. Guthrie said, frequently dabbing at tears. “I’d just say: ‘I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry.’”