Savannah Guthriehas revealed the tremendous impact her mother Nancy Guthrie's disappearance has had on the younger members of the family.
Through tears, the Today Show host spoke to Hoda Kotb in an interview aired on the NBC morning show on March 26. She was asked how she navigated telling her children, Vale, 11, and Charley, nine, about their grandmother, and she shared the questions they raised.
Hoda asked: "What do your kids know?" to which Savannah responded: "It's so hard with kids. You want to protect them."
She then explained how her children would contact her while she was in Arizona — where Nancy is believed to have been taken from her home. Vale and Charley remained in New York and Savannah recalled: "They would write me all the time; 'Mama, any leads? Did you hear anything? Any hope?'"
Hoda welled before Savannah added: "I think that we try to talk to them and try to give them a little more certainty than we have to let them grieve."
© Getty ImagesSavannah then highlighted her sister, Annie, brother-in-law Tommy, and their son, who all live locally to Nancy, and who were the last people to see her before she went missing.
She confessed it was very hard for her "little nephew," too. "In a way this is even so much harder on Annie and Tommy because they're there. And they were there every day for my mom. They made it possible for her to stay in the house which we grew up in."
Return to NYC
© Getty/FBISavannah has since returned to NYC, but said it was a challenging decision to leave, despite needing to return to her children and her husband, Michael Feldman.
"I looked out the window of the airplane and I just thought 'Where are you?' How can I leave you?'"
Nancy was reported missing on February 1 after she failed to attend a virtual church service at a friend’s house. The Pima County Sheriff's Department are still searching for her and the FBI are involved too.
Cold case?
© InstagramHELLO! spoke to former Lieutenant and Commanding Officer of the Nassau County Police Department Michael Gould, who gave his opinion on the case.
He said he believes the "case is not technically 'cold,'" but it also "does not present as a traditional kidnapping."
Instead, Michael believes the investigators should reassess "all evidence through a homicide lens."
Michael shared frankly: "My belief remains unchanged. Nancy likely lost her life early in this incident, and she will ultimately be located within a relatively short distance of her home."
The private investigator continued, telling Best Quality Designer Handbag : "The idea of kidnapping an 84-year-old woman for financial gain is extraordinarily rare. To me, this suggests: A targeted event, a likely personal or emotional motive, rather than financial, [and] perpetrator who may have had some level of familiarity with the victim or environment."
