Why Authorities Are Treating Savannah Guthrie's Mom's Disappearance as a Potential Crime: Key Clues Explained

The disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, has prompted officials to open a criminal investigation in addition to a search and rescue operation.

In a statement, Savannah and her family revealed Nancy went missing in Arizona.

"On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support. Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom," the message read. "We thank law enforcement for their hard work on this case and encourage anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff's Department at 520-351-4900."

A spokesperson for the Guthrie family also confirmed it is a missing persons case, and that "the family is working closely with local law enforcement."

During a February 2 news conference, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Nancy was dropped off by her family members at her Tucson, Ariz., residence near East Skyline Drive and North Campbell Avenue at around 9:30 p.m. or 9:45 p.m. on February 1. The following day, Nancy's children got a call from one of her church friends, saying the matriarch was not at the morning service.

According to Chris, Savannah's older sister, Annie Guthrie, was the last person to see Nancy before she was reported missing.

"The family went to the house and they spent some time looking for her themselves before they called us," the sheriff continued. "I'm guessing maybe they got there around 11. So they did some searching and realized, 'We need some help' and they called 911."

On February 1, authorities launched a search-and-rescue mission involving airplanes, drones, helicopters and trained dogs after finding a "concerning" scene at Nancy's home.

"We get these calls quite often, and we do a good job of searching the area," said Chris. "But, this one stood out because of what was described to us at the scene and what we found and located just in looking at the scene… I hope we find her safe and sound, but we can't ignore what's in front of us."

With homicide detectives' involvement in the investigation, Chris explained Nancy's disappearance is now being treated as a crime.

"We believe now, after we process that crime scene, that we do, in fact, have a crime scene, that we do, in fact have a crime, and we're asking the community's help," he added during the news conference. "This community has always stepped up to help up solve some pretty tough crimes. I am looking for that again."

Amid the probe, a neighbor came forward with details regarding the "strange" crime scene.

"There were a lot of dark vans with blacked out windows," Morgan Brown, who lives "a quarter of a mile up the street" from Nancy's property, told Us Weekly. "There were a lot of cop cars there at first, and then it was vans, so I assumed that maybe they came across something."

Morgan added they were told to look at their Ring cameras "to see if anything popped up out of the ordinary" while authorities began "narrowing it down" to some time between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time on February 1.

"I don't know how they know that. My Ring cameras don't face the street, but I went through them and haven't heard that anyone found anything," he added.

After the evidence processed at Nancy's home made the property a crime scene, Chris clarified the mom-of-three did not just walk away and that her disappearance is not "dementia-related."

"She's as sharp as a tack. The family wants everyone to know that this isn't someone who just wandered off," he continued.

The sheriff pointed out Nancy's "physical ailments" prevent her from walking "50 yards by herself." This echoed Jenna Bush Hager's comment during the February 2 episode of Today, saying Nancy "takes daily medication and she needs them for survival."

"She's without her medication so we are thinking of our dearest, dearest Savannah and her whole family right now. Our prayers obviously go out to Savannah and the entire family," she added.

A source told a news outlet that authorities found the front door unlocked, with evidence suggesting forced entry. With these findings, Nancy is believed to have been abducted and "may have been harmed in the process" after allegedly being dragged from her home.