TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie spoke out for the first time in an interview after her mother, Nancy Guthrie, was reported missing. The 84-year-old's family reported her missing on February 1 and authorities believe she was taken from her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson, Arizona the night before.
Though Savannah has been seen in front of the camera after Guthrie's kidnapping, they were mostly to speak out about the ransom or plead with the kidnappers for their mother's return.
However, Savannah, in her recent interview with Hoda Kotb, made her feelings about the case clear including the many speculations surrounding Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni.
Savannah Guthrie on Annie, Tommaso Cioni
Before coming to Savannah's feelings about her sister and brother in law, it would be important to note that both of them have been subjected to immense public speculation.
This comes after former News Nation journalist Ashleigh Banfield suggested that Cioni might be a suspect. Not only was this particular theory knocked down by the Pima County Sheriff's Department, but sheriff Chris Nanos himself later clarified that none of the Guthrie family members were suspects in the matter.
Public interest in Cioni and Annie came from the fact that Guthrie had had dinner with her daughter the night she's believed to have been taken. Her son-in-law, Cioni, reportedly dropped her off home, which is close by. This made Annie and Cioni among the last people to see Guthrie before she was taken.
Speaking about the kind of public scrutiny Annie and Cioni were subjected to, Savannah said “There are no words. No one took better care of my mom than my sister and brother in law. No one protected my mom more than my brother.” She noted that the very thought of someone in her family being responsible for anything that happened to Guthrie is ‘unbearable and piles pain upon pain’.
Speculation about Cioni has extended to his bandmates and there was a lot of buzz over the authorities not returning their car, though they'd said that the delay was so the car could be put back in the original condition in which it was taken.
Meanwhile, Savannah also spoke about her brother Camron and said it was he who had worked that Guthrie was kidnapped for ransom. “Do you think because of me? And he said I'm sorry sweetie, but yeah maybe,” Savannah said.