Savannah Guthrie offers up to $1 million for information about her mother in new Instagram video

By Randi Kaye, Taylor Romine, Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN

(CNN) — The family of Nancy Guthrie is offering up to $1 million for information leading to her recovery, a tearful “Today” host Savannah Guthrie said in a video posted to her Instagram on Tuesday — more than three weeks after her mother vanished from her desert home in the middle of the night.

Savannah Guthrie acknowledged her 84-year-old mother, who has been missing since February 1, “may already be gone.”

“But we need to know where she is. We need her to come home. For that reason we are offering a family reward of up to $1 million for any information that leads us to her recovery,” she said.

The reward is in addition to the FBI’s $100,000 reward for information about Guthrie, the agency said Tuesday.

“So please, if you hear this message, if you’ve been waiting and you haven’t been sure, let this be your sign to please come forward, tell what you know and help us bring our beloved mom home so that we can either celebrate a glorious, miraculous homecoming or celebrate the beautiful, brave and courageous and noble life that she has lived,” Savannah Guthrie said in the emotional video, her first since February 15.

The reward announcement ends more than a week of silence from the Guthrie family, who had been posting regular video updates. Investigative updates from authorities have also slowed as the search enters its fourth week, though the case continues to draw national interest.

The Guthries decided to release the video offering the $1 million reward Tuesday after careful consultation and coordination with law enforcement, a source close to the family told CNN. The family first raised the idea early in the investigation and had been ready to move forward, but was advised by those involved that making such an offer earlier could overwhelm the infrastructure set up to handle the thousands of leads coming in, the source added.

The “Today” host said that if her mother is in heaven with loved ones who have passed, “then we will accept it,” but the family still wants answers.

“We still believe. We still believe. 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 added in the video.

Savannah Guthrie also announced a $500,000 donation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, saying she hopes the attention given to her family will extend to all those missing loved ones.

Michelle DeLaune, the CEO of the organization, said in a statement, “Their donation is rooted in a simple but powerful belief: when a family is in crisis, they deserve someone to stand with them.” She added, “Our hearts remain with the Guthrie family” in their search.

Suspect may have visited Guthrie’s home multiple times

New details have emerged about the masked person seen on doorbell camera footage at Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona home. The suspect visited her doorstep on multiple occasions, not just the morning she is believed to have been kidnapped, a source told CNN.

The photos and video of the masked person on Guthrie’s doorstep — released by the FBI on February 10 — were taken on two different days, rather than just on February 1, when authorities believe she was abducted, the source said. That’s because the masked suspect is not wearing a backpack in one of them, according to the source.

ABC News first reported the suspect appears to have been at her door before February 1.

Making multiple trips to Guthrie’s front door fits with “the investigative assumption” that the abduction was planned in advance and may have involved some “pre-operational surveillance, reconnaissance,” CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller said Tuesday.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Monday “there is no date or time stamp associated with these images” and “any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative.” It added the investigation is ongoing and “conclusions will be guided by verifiable evidence and established facts.” CNN reached out to the FBI Phoenix office for comment.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the images recovered from the doorbell camera did not provide dates or timestamps, the “Today” show reported.

“It is all speculative. For someone to suggest that that photo is from a different day, that’s all it is, is speculation. We understand the thinking behind it, but right now, we have no evidence to suggest that that occurred that day or days before,” Nanos told “Today” in a phone call.

Guthrie disappeared from her secluded Tucson home after she was last seen on January 31. Local, state and federal law enforcement surged to the area and have spent over three weeks scouring the unruly desert landscape for Guthrie or any evidence that could bring her back home.

Residents in Guthrie’s neighborhood were previously asked by the sheriff’s department to submit video as far back as January 1, but specifically focusing on two dates – January 11 between 9 p.m. and midnight, and January 31 between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. The sheriff’s department specifically requested footage that includes cars, traffic, people or pedestrians, or anything that feels out of the ordinary or important.

The FBI released video and photos of a masked, armed man tampering with Guthrie’s doorbell camera the morning of her disappearance, producing thousands of tips in the process. The suspect is described as male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall and having an average build, according to the FBI.

From that video, investigators were able to identify the man was wearing an Ozark backpack, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, but are still trying to identify other items and where they might have been purchased.

Some investigators have visited gun shops in the Tucson area as the suspect in the video is seen wearing a gun holster that the sheriff said “had some pretty unique characteristics.”

In addition to the request to those living in the area, authorities have canvassed residences, businesses and government agencies for surveillance video to identify any possible indication of where Guthrie may have been taken, a law enforcement official familiar with the case says.

Investigators continue to review “thousands of hours” of video obtained from the greater Tucson area, the source added.

They also continue to run lab analysis on DNA found at Guthrie’s house, Nanos said Thursday. DNA on gloves found 2 miles from the home, one of approximately 16 gloves found in the search to comb the area surrounding Guthrie’s home, did not return any matches in the national database known as CODIS, and doesn’t match DNA found at the house, either, Nanos said.

Law enforcement has also detained, and later released, two people as part of the investigation, the sheriff’s department previously said.

Despite these developments, investigators have no leading theory about a motive, according to a source. But authorities say they believe Guthrie was removed from the home against her will, and the sheriff said authorities have not ruled out the possibility more than one person may have been involved.

But the search persists.

The volunteer-based United Cajun Navy is offering its assistance with the search, incident commander Josh Gill told CNN. Gill said the additional reward offered by the Guthrie family will likely bring in a wave of new tips, adding that if his group were offered the reward, they would turn it down.

“We’re not money driven. We’re driven on providing some closure for the family,” Gill said.

As recently as Saturday, detectives and agents were back canvassing in Guthrie’s neighborhood, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said, although it didn’t share details of what spurred the return.

Her children, including Savannah Guthrie, have repeatedly pleaded for her return. They have taken to social media in several videos in an attempt to address purported ransom notes sent to several media outlets, as well as asking the public for help in her search. Despite the reports of the ransom, neither the family nor law enforcement have confirmed if they were real or if they made contact with the sender.

The sheriff has said that none of the family members, including siblings and spouses, are possible suspects in the case.

There are currently two rewards available for information related to Guthrie — one of up to $102,500 for information leading to an arrest in the case from 88-Crime, the Pima County and Tucson affiliate of the national Crime Stoppers organization, and an FBI reward of up to $100,000.

If you have information that could help investigators, you can call 1-800-CALL-FBI or 520-351-4900. You can also submit information at tips.fbi.gov.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

CNN’s Ed Lavandera and Josh Magness contributed to this report.

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