Nancy Guthrie Latest Update: Retired FBI Agent Hails 'Great News' as Federal Prosecutors Step In

Federal prosecutors have joined FBI agents at the Arizona home of missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of 'Today' show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, in what a retired FBI special agent on Friday called 'great news' for the direction of the case.

The new federal presence signals a shift in tempo and in who is likely to lead the hunt for answers. Until now, the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie from her house in Tucson's Catalina Foothills on 31 January had been handled as a multi-agency effort led locally. The US Attorney's Office is now visibly on the ground and, by its own account, preparing for possible federal charges. What remains unknown is almost everything that matters most: who took her, whether she is alive, and whether investigators are dealing with a kidnapping that has crossed state lines or something closer to home.

Federal Prosecutors Step Into Nancy Guthrie Search

In a Facebook post, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona confirmed that its prosecutors had accompanied FBI special agents to the home of Nancy Guthrie 'to continue to support the investigation' into her disappearance. That detail drew a striking reaction from former FBI special agent Jennifer Coffindaffer.

'It's great news, that means they are engaged in this case and that they're looking for federal charges in the future,' she told Newsweek, arguing that prosecutors do not spend time at an active crime scene unless they are already thinking about how to build a case.

Guthrie, who needs daily medication that Sheriff Chris Nanos has warned could be 'fatal' if missed, has now been missing for nearly four weeks. Alleged ransom notes were sent to several news outlets in the days after she vanished. At a press conference earlier this month, Nanos said there were clues at the house indicating she 'did not leave on her own', and in a separate interview said he believed she was the victim of a targeted kidnapping.

Neither the sheriff's office nor the FBI has revealed what the clues were, and investigators have not publicly confirmed the authenticity of the ransom notes.

Kidnapping Statute Gives Case A Federal Hook

Coffindaffer suggested the key to understanding the federal shift lies in a particular US kidnapping statute. In a post on X on Thursday, she highlighted a provision that creates a presumption that a victim has been transported across state lines if they are not released within 24 hours of being seized or abducted.

The statute states that failure to free a victim within that time 'shall create a rebuttable presumption that such person has been transported to interstate or foreign commerce,' while also making clear that a federal investigation does not have to wait for the 24-hour period to expire. Coffindaffer called this provision the 'clear federal nexus' in the Guthrie case.

In the same interview, she read the prosecutors' appearance at the house as evidence of possible tension between local and federal authorities. 'I think there is a certain amount of incongruency with what has gone on between the sheriff's office, perhaps, and federal authorities,' she said. 'It might be time for a change in command and, quite frankly, it might have already happened. When you see the US Attorney's Office out there, that's a pretty darn good indication.'

Coordinated Push to Find Nancy Guthrie

Public statements from officials have nonetheless emphasised cooperation. The Pima County Attorney's Office said on Facebook that its prosecutors are working alongside the US Attorney's Office, the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI. Timothy Courchaine, US Attorney for the District of Arizona, said: 'The United States Attorney's Office, together with the FBI and every other law enforcement agency involved in finding Nancy, will go anywhere, do anything, and persevere always to find her.'

Coffindaffer stressed that even if the case has shifted towards federal leadership, local deputies will not be sidelined. The FBI, she argued, 'does not like to shut out any of their state or local partners.'

The public face of the search has been dominated by Savannah Guthrie's appeals. In a video posted to Instagram, the broadcaster acknowledged the possibility that her mother might already be dead but pleaded for certainty. 'We also know that she may be lost, she may already be gone,' she said. 'She may have already gone home to the Lord that she loves...And if this is what is to be, then we will accept it. But we need to know where she is, we need her to come home.'

Rewards have mounted as the days pass. The FBI has offered up to $100,000 (approximately £74,000) for information leading to Nancy Guthrie's recovery and to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved. Local programme 88-CRIME has put forward $102,500 (approximately £75,900) for the arrest of those responsible. Savannah Guthrie has announced a reward of up to $1 million (approximately £740,000), payable only for her mother's recovery.