The Critical Mistake Nancy Guthrie Investigators Made in the 1st Hours of Her Disappearance That May Have Cost Her Life: ‘There Was a Rush to Judgement’
When an investigation like Nancy Guthrie’s passes the two-month mark, there’s a tendency to look back and reexamine all assumptions and decisions made in the first few moments. This is normal in an investigation; there’s no way to move forward without knowing what conclusions might have been wrong. And perhaps the most important thing the police got wrong is the initial assumption that this wasn’t a kidnapping.
NewsNation is reporting that investigators initially rushed to judgment, believing Nancy Guthrie had wandered off. “Some people that actually know the intimate knowledge of this investigation have told me that there was an immediate rush to judgment on what was happening at that scene, and it was that Nancy had somehow wandered off. And so, they rushed to that judgment, stayed with that judgment, and then ran the investigation as if this was a search-and-rescue issue, as opposed to a possible criminal issue,” a source said.
Related: Who are Savannah Guthrie’s siblings?
This means that precious time was likely lost at the beginning as police investigated a lead that was based on false assumptions.
Nancy Guthrie went missing sometime between the night of January 31 and the early hours of February 1. The investigation so far points to the conclusion that a masked, armed individual took Guthrie from the house overnight in what looks to be a targeted kidnapping, and not a robbery.
The back doors of the home were “propped open” when Nancy’s family got there the next day, and her keys, phone, and wallet were still in the house. So far, police have not identified a suspect or disclosed a motive publicly, but it is now known that Nancy Guthrie had limited mobility, so she couldn’t have walked out of the house by herself.
During an interview with Hoda Kotb on the Today show, Savannah Guthrie said that the family knew from the beginning that something was wrong. “Even on the phone. When I called him, he knew. And he said, ‘I think she’s been kidnapped for ransom,’” she said about her brother.
She also spoke about the family filming videos directed at the kidnappers later, saying, “How is it possible that we are having to make videos speaking to a kidnapper who took an 84-year-old woman,” she said. “In the dead of night. In her pajamas, with no shoes, without her medicine. This little person. And to beg for mercy.”
According to NewsNation, those investigating the case have a message for Savannah Guthrie. “Just because we have an incompetent lead doesn’t mean that we don’t care. That we don’t want Nancy to be brought home safely, and that we’re not with her in this. We are completely with her and her family on this,” they said.
During her interview, Savannah also spoke about the possibility that her mom’s kidnapping had something to do with her visibility. “I don’t know that it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought, ‘Oh, that girl— that lady has money. We can … make a quick buck.’ I mean, that would make sense,” she said. “But we don’t know. Which is too much to bear, to think that I brought this to her bedside. That it’s because of me.”
