Savannah Guthrie’s desperate appeal to her mom Nancy’s alleged captors is a strong signal that the “Today” star’s family has yet to receive a legitimate ransom demand, according to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
“To me, it reads like an effort to establishment some sort of communication,” McCabe told CNN late Wednesday. “We don’t know this for sure, but I feel this is a fairly strong signal they don’t believe they’ve had a legitimate ransom demand yet.”
“What you hear the family saying is ‘We’re ready to talk, reach out to us, we just want to know you have our mother. That’s not something that you would do if already in negotiations with someone that you actually thought had the victim.”
But, McCabe said the appeal is not uncommon before adding: “In these situations, you get a lot of false leads, you get a lot of scammers, you get a lot of people trying to take advantage of a horrible situation – which is unthinkable but it does happen.”
He said Nancy Guthrie would find it difficult “standing up to the rigors of confinement” because of her vulnerability, advanced age, and ailing health.
“This experience is incredibly stressful – medically, psychologically, physically – so knowing that it’s hard to imagine that an organized, well-executed kidnapping would delay serving a ransom demand. I would have kind of expected that to have happened,” he said.
McCabe suggested it opens up more possibilities, but didn’t speculate further.
Savannah begged the alleged abductor to let her family know the matriarch is alive.
She made her appeal as the search for Nancy, who vanished from her million-dollar Catalina Hills, Ariz., home, enters its fifth day.
“We need to know, without a doubt, that she is alive, and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us,” Savannah said alongside her siblings.
More than 400 people attended a vigil held in Nancy’s honor at a Tucson church on Wednesday.
Candles were placed at the altar of St. Philip’s in the Hill Episcopal Church, while some in attendance prayed and others recalled their memories of the Guthrie family, as reported by the Arizona Republic.
President Trump spoke to Savannah and vowed to deploy all resources to help find her mother.
“I spoke with Savannah Guthrie, and let her know that I am directing ALL Federal Law Enforcement to be at the family’s, and Local Law Enforcement’s, complete disposal, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely.”
Savannah told Trump her family was devastated and needed prayers more than anything, NBC News reported. She thanked the President for reaching out.
Attorney General Pam Bondi also called Savannah Wednesday and FBI director Kash Patel is heading to Tucson, as reported by Axios.
Cops are still probing alleged ransom notes – one sent to TMZ and others to local news networks.
The purported note sent to TMZ demanded a cryptocurrency payment in the millions of dollars.
Addressing the purported ransom notes directly, cops said any information would go directly to detectives working alongside the FBI.
A purported note sent to the CBS affiliate KOLD-TV contained details about what Nancy was wearing the night before she was allegedly snatched.
Nancy vanished hours after returning home from a Saturday night dinner and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, was the last person who saw her. Cioni is married to Savannah’s sister, Annie.
Cioni ensured Nancy made it safely into her home, Chris Nanos, the Pima County Sheriff, told the New York Times.
