TUCSON, AZ. ―Nancy Guthrie'spresence was missing Wednesday inside the sandstone-colored walls of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Tucson, where she was a devout congregant.
She was missing in the city's eclectic downtown at El Charro Café, a favorite of the 84-year-old, who sat there with her famous daughter Savannah Guthrie on a recent visit last year.
On the fourth day since the morning show mom was allegedly abducted Jan. 31 from her sprawling home in the region's affluent Catalina Foothills, she was missing there too, as investigators revisited the home.
But her place in the community was fully present on Feb. 4 as anguished residents and supporters flocked to a nearby church, framed by the scenic Santa Catalina Mountains, for a vigil to pray for her safe return.
And whether she'd be found before going too long without her vital daily medication.
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"We pray for our sister Nancy. Guide her, comfort and sustain her in this moment of need," a service leader said in prayer as attendees clutched candles at the vigil.
Her baffling disappearance has gripped the nation, leading many Americans to question how an octogenarian leading a sleepy life in the Southwest was taken while her neighbors were asleep. And why, since her disappearance, investigators have struggled to come up with answers.
And whether she'd be found before going too long without her vital daily medication.
'My mom still lives there'
Nearly three months before her mom vanished, "Today" show main anchor Savannah Guthrie kicked off a new segment, "Hometown Today," of NBC's marquee morning program on Nov. 5 last year.
The aim of the show was to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look of where the series' beloved anchors had grown up.
"Savannah, we're going to start with you," co-host Carson Daly said from the show's curvy couch. "You took us back to your old stomping grounds." Surrounded by her "Today family" – Craig Melvin, Jenna Bush Hager, Al Roker and Carson Daly – Guthrie said that she traveled back for an Arizona homecoming.
The Pima County Sheriff's Office in Arizona received a 911 call reporting
Nancy Guthrie missing from her home outside Tucson around noon local time on Sunday, Feb. 1. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
She was reported missing from her home in a community just north of Tucson on Feb. 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Authorities search for Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old missing mother
The Pima County Sheriff's Office in Arizona received a 911 call reportingNancy Guthrie missing from her home outside Tucsonaround noon local time on Sunday, Feb. 1.
"I grew up there, went to college there, my mom still lives there and honestly a part of me has really never left," Savannah Guthrie, 54, told viewers.
In a jean jacket and black dress, Savannah Guthrie walked through prickly pear cactus fields, even pausing to poke the thorny plants. She introduced herself, and viewers, to local muralist Joe Pagac. Guthrie went back to her alma mater The University of Arizona, greeting its president Suresh Garimella in one spoof and meeting sorority sisters at her own Pi Beta Phi in another skit.
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Then she sat down for lunch at El Charro, a Mexican restaurant, with her mom and older sister, the 56-year-old poet Annie. The mother-daughter trio shared margaritas, as Guthrie sipped on prickly pear during the segment, and caught up with executive chef Carlotta Flores.
'We're just praying'
Back on Feb. 4, a dozen patrons stood in line at the same location,run by Flores since 1972. Waiters inside carried ferried dishes during lunch rush, including Carlotta's Chicken Mole and shrimp tamales.
Flores comes in and out these days, and one of her sons said she wasn't there around 12:45 p.m.
"Everyone has their own opinions about (what happened), but when it comes right down to it, this is a lady who is missing," Flores told The New York Post. "It's their mother missing." That was felt all over the community, including at St. Andrew's, where the pastor was prepping to attend the vigil and staff were juggling nonstop calls.
It was at her church that a fellow churchgoer called Nancy Guthrie's family Sunday, Feb. 1 after she failed to attend a service there. Her home is about 12 minutes away, a short five mile drive in her close-knit, upper-class neighborhood.
Her "children left her off" at her home around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, according to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos. Then, the apparent abduction.
"We're just praying," a St. Andrew's' staffer told USA TODAY hours before the vigil, praying for good news while respecting the family's privacy.
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Not far away, outside the Guthrie home around 5 p.m. Wednesday, neighbor Chris Wilkey said the move by investigators to return to the home only deepened the mystery.
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'Soon as the sun goes down, everybody gets home'
Late in the afternoon, there was what appeared to be renewed law enforcement interest at the home of Nancy Guthrie. Crime scene tape was placed along the front of the residence. Investigators, one of whom wore a Pima County Sheriff's Department vest, took equipment out of plastic bins in a truck.
They entered the garage of the home and went in and out. When they left, they carried at least one box and large brown envelopes. The crime scene tape went down again after the investigators left.
The upscale neighborhood is sought after with its stucco homes and acre plots. Yards are landscaped with rock and cactuses; black bark Mesquite and palo verde trees line yards.
Wilkey, 50, said the area gets "very dark" at night and lacks streetlights – likely helping obscure whatever transpired — and making the case harder to crack. As the days tick by without any suspects, unknowns have put Wilkey's neighborhood on edge.
"Soon as the sun goes down, everybody gets home," he said.
'I love you'
When "Today" filmed at El Charro, Flores served Guthrie and her family Tequila in teacups, a tradition dating back to Prohibition when women playing cards would hide their liquor with a little help from dishware.
"Cheers, I love you," Savannah Guthrie said, before quipping "don't drink the whole thing" to her mom. She then turned and asked, why she'd moved to Tucson.
"It's so wonderful – just the air, the quality of life is laid back and gentle," Nancy Guthrie said. "I like to watch the javelina eat my plants," she added to laughs from her daughters, referring to the pig-like animals.
A widow who seemingly lived alone, Nancy Guthrie moved to the area in the 1970s alongside her late husband Charleswho suffered a fatal heart attack when Guthrie was 16. "The best part about Tucson is coming home and seeing you guys," Savannah Guthrie told her mom and sister.
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They clinked their margs in tall glasses, and the show shifted back on the curvy white couch in Studio 1A at NBC's 30 Rock headquarters in New York City.
Savannah Guthrie surprised her four "Today" co-stars with Tequila and teacups gifted from Flores and El Charro. "And as my mother said, it's quite smooth," Guthrie told the group. "Cheers!" former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager proclaimed. "For Nancy!"
'Bring her swiftly to safety'
At 6 p.m., as the sun was dipping behind mountains, several hundred residents streamed into St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church.
They were there for a candlelight invocation and prayer service. Organizers said it was meant to raise voices for Nancy Guthrie and her family.
In a mostly hushed service, supporters and worshipers held lit candles, reciting the Lord's Prayer and walking single file to the altar as quiet organ hymns filled the sanctuary. "Bring her swiftly to safety for those who she loves," a service leader said in prayer.
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Investigators including the Pima County Sheriff's Department are expected to hold a news briefing on Feb. 5. But so far, police haven't identified any suspects. While many in town speculated, few had answers.
The date also marks three months since the "Today" segment aired, listing the reasons why Guthrie still loves Tucson.
"From the love of family to the familiar beauty of the scenery, I will always be a daughter of the desert," Savannah Guthrie said. But the scenery she loved so much conjured the backdrop of her mother's disappearance.
While parishioners gathered at a church near her mother's home for intercession, Savannah Guthrie pleaded on Instagram. To viewers. To captors. To anyone who'd listen.
"We need to know without a doubt that she's alive and that you have her," a fresh faced and unmanicured Savannah Guthrie said into the camera. "We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us."
She held the statement in her hands as night fell. Day 5 without her mom would soon begin.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Savannah Guthrie's mom, Nancy, is still missing. Tuscon feels the void
TUCSON, AZ. ―Nancy Guthrie'spresence was missing Wednesday inside the sandstone-colored walls of St. Andrew's Pr...
