Authorities are now offering a $25,000 reward for any information that may help locate Nancy Guthrie.

The 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie has been kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will, according to the police.

Meanwhile, AI shed light on just how extraordinarily rare it is for an 80-plus individual to be abducted from their home.

”She’s as sharp as a tack”

Authorities are investigating the shocking disappearance of the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie. Police believe the 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie may have been forcibly taken from her Arizona home in what authorities are describing as a “possible kidnapping or abduction.”

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the case has become “a race against time,” adding that he hopes “that window hasn’t closed” as investigators enter the third day of the search.

According to Nanos, Nancy Guthrie was last seen on the night of Jan. 31 at her home outside Tucson. Her family reported her missing around noon on Feb. 1. Authorities are now treating the residence as a crime scene, with Nanos telling reporters that certain elements found there “were concerning.”

Nancy has limited mobility, leading investigators to believe she did not leave the home voluntarily. Authorities have also ruled out cognitive issues.

“This is not dementia-related. She’s as sharp as a tack,” Nanos said at a news conference on Monday. “The family wants everyone to know that this isn’t someone who just wandered off.”

May have been injured?

Nanos emphasized that Guthrie depends on daily medication and made a direct plea to whoever may be holding her, urging them to release her immediately.

“I can’t think of the last time where in the middle of the night in someone’s bed, an 84-year-old woman disappeared on us,” he added.

Nanos later clarified that when he said Nancy Guthrie was taken from her bed, he was speaking figuratively and did not mean it in a literal sense.

Law enforcement sources also told NBC News on Feb. 2 that they believed Nancy Guthrie may have been injured when she was taken from her home. However, when the Arizona Daily Star later pressed Nanos on that statement, he said he had “misspoke or something” during the NBC News interview. He added, “I’m not going to go there with you. I’m not going to speak to that. I’m not confirming or denying.”

Authorities are now offering a $25,000 reward for information that could lead to her whereabouts. Att fallet har väckt stor uppmärksamhet råder det inga tvivel om.

The statistics

Exact national odds for someone over 80 being kidnapped simply aren’t tracked in typical crime databases, but the available data makes one thing clear: abduction at that age is extraordinarily rare.

Across the U.S., kidnappings by strangers are already extremely uncommon. For children, the risk is roughly 1 in 720,000 per year — nearly one in a million.

Since 2010, fewer than 350 people under the age of 21 have been kidnapped by strangers in the United States each year on average. Federal crime data shows that stranger abductions are a tiny fraction of total kidnappings, less than 0.02% of missing-child cases, for example.

According to ChatGPT, most of the research and statistics focus on younger age groups because they are overwhelmingly the ones targeted. Teens and children account for the vast majority of abduction cases, leaving adults, and especially seniors, at far lower risk.

When it comes to older adults, official numbers simply don’t exist. Adults over 50 make up an extremely small share of non-family abductions, and random kidnappings of people in their 80s are virtually nonexistent in national statistics.

In short: while headlines about abductions can be shocking, the reality is that the likelihood of someone over 80 being kidnapped is minuscule. Regardless, this is an incredibly serious situation, and for Savannah and her family, it’s understandably an extremely difficult time. The Today host addressed the situation, saying:

“On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support,” she shared. “Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom. 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.”

She also posted on Instagram on February 2, asking her followers to keep her mother in their prayers and hope for her safe return.