Savannah Guthrie & siblings plead for mother’s return in new video

Let's bring in MS now reporter Alex Tabet

in Tucson, Arizona, former NYPD detective Kirk Burkhalter, who's now Dean at New York Law School, and criminologist and investigative profiler Casey Jordan. Alex, we are expecting this update in a couple of hours from now. What's the latest?

Well, Anna, there are two major developments in this case even before that heart-wrenching video.

That emotional plea from Savannah Guthrie and her siblings. One is that investigators have returned to the scene of the crime. We saw a multi-agency investigation take place once again. New crime scene tape.

We saw FBI agents, we saw Pima County investigators, and we saw a K9 unit from the Border Patrol on the scene collecting more evidence. And that's notable, Anna, because on this very broadcast, while speaking to you just a couple of days ago,

Sheriff Nanos seemed to imply that they were winding down that aspect of the investigation, that they were combing through the evidence they had collected, not necessarily continuing to gather more evidence on the scene.

Clearly, there was some sort of a change of heart.

The other notable development in this case is that the Sheriff's Department says that they got a report of a possible trespassing on Sunday morning. That is the morning where Nancy Guthrie was first declared missing, called in missing by her family.

That possible trespassing happening just three miles away from Nancy Guthrie's home.

And whether or not that trespassing has anything to do with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie is just one of the questions we'll be planning to ask Sheriff Nanos at a press conference later this afternoon. Anna.

Kirk, let's play more of just that heart-wrenching video from Savannah Guthrie and her siblings.

Take a listen.

Mama.

Mama.

If you're listening,

we need you to come home.

We miss you.

Mommy.

If you are hearing this,

you are a strong woman.

We speak to you every moment.

And we pray without ceasing.

And we rejoice in advance for the day that we hold you in our arms again.

We love you, Mom.

We love you, Mom.

We love you, Mom. Stay strong.

We love you, Mom.

Kirk, would you expect the family worked with investigators on the language and the tone of this video?

Oh, absolutely.

And first, my heart goes out to the Guthrie family. That must have been one of the most difficult things for them to do in their lives.

But absolutely, they would have worked with law enforcement authorities.

And certainly from the content of the video, that seems to be clear.

You know, this is an attempt to, I would assume, to establish a dialogue with the abductors.

In some way, shape or form, and that tends to indicate that the authorities have had difficulty verifying any of the tips or even the ransom notes that has been reported that various media outlets have received.

Further, it's an attempt to in some way, shape or form, humanize Ms. Guthrie.

Hopefully, this would help the abductors to see her a little bit more as a human being rather than simply a vehicle to their means of obtaining or their ends rather, obtaining money or whatever their goals are.

So, I would certainly think that it was very well coordinated.

Just so, so heartbreaking. The emotion in that video, Casey, obviously the family is speaking directly to their mother.

And whoever may have taken her, based on your experience, how else can this type of emotional plea be helpful?

Well, I completely agree with Kirk.

They're not only trying to humanize Nancy, I mean, the the adjectives, you know, she is she's a woman of faith.

She's smart, she's spunky. Um, you know, they they go through probably a dozen really important words that describe the 84-year-old mother of Savannah.

But what it also does in the process without words is humanize Savannah.

You know, she's there plain-faced, obviously exhausted, you know, sitting in what might be a police station to tape that.

Uh, and what it does is show the unglamorous human side of Savannah.

So that if these uh captors think that Savannah is some high-and-mighty wealthy person,

what they're doing is showing that she is a loving daughter, using the words mommy and mama to show that this is the the beacon of hope for the family and that they want her home.

Now, of course, they also get down to business and they ask for proof of life, and they ask to, as Kirk pointed out, establish some kind of line of communication.

We are ready to talk to you, which almost sounds like an apology, like, okay, we didn't we weren't sure if this was a legitimate communication for three days, but now we are convinced.

And I think that corresponds to the police returning to the house yesterday afternoon.

Because they went in with evidence bags, came back out with some evidence, and perhaps there was something in that communication which gave them proof that they knew the inside of the house.

Um, but in any event, they are taking this seriously at this juncture.

Kirk, in a hostage situation, how how in your experience, how do kidnappers typically reach out?

And how will authorities determine if any outreach is real or authentic?

Well, first and foremost, um, every situation is different.

And as technology changes and society moves forward, um, you know, these are differences.

So, you know, having a standard playbook can sometimes be your enemy.

If the abductors have a goal to obtain money or something else,

they are going to reach out in some way, shape or form in a more direct fashion.

I was a little skeptical when I saw that these ransom notes were received by media outlets other than the police department.

Why, if I was an abductor, I want to go right to the source, either the family or the police department.

That's probably the best way to achieve my goal.

So, in my experience, I've seen folks reach out to those uh people.

That being said, in this day and age where there's uh if I have just a little bit of savvy,

uh, you can understand that any contact with the law enforcement authorities or the family is likely to yield some form of forensic uh evidence.

So, it's it's actually uh very difficult decision for the abductors to make.

Not communicating is not going to be effective at all for them.

There is so little like tangible detail about who this could be, who may have abducted Nancy.

And so, Casey, how do authorities begin to develop a profile of this person without an ID, without even an image, without any, you know, person of interest identified at this point?

I think I need to point out what we all know, um, they know so much more than we do.

Just because they say they don't have any suspects or people of interest, doesn't mean it's not accurate.

In other words, maybe as they are working up the pursuit of the captors,

they are putting out information that's just a stalemate so that they can get their work done behind the scenes.

You know, the profile will be based on all the totality of circumstances.

And it kind of comes down to what is the text analysis of the communications that they have received.

And I again, agree completely with Kirk. We don't know if they tried to communicate with Savannah directly,

and that wasn't taken seriously or it got, you know, buried among tons of other communications.

But when she says, we're ready to talk to you, it makes it sound like perhaps there was a misstep at the beginning.

That there was a communication they didn't take seriously, perhaps the captors then reached out through the media, through the news stations and TMZ, and now they're taking it seriously.

So, the profile that they're developing is based on the actual method of communication,

the actual content of that communication, and all of the information from the crime scene at the house that they know about, but we don't know about.

So, you can be very sure they are developing that profile as we speak.

Yeah, and I'm sure any communication was not just ignored.

I'm sure that the family is trying their very best to follow what law enforcement is instructing to increase and have the best chance of making sure Nancy gets home safely.

Um, thank you all so much for the conversation, Alex Tabet, Kirk Burkhalter, and Casey Jordan.

I appreciate each of you.