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Why was Nancy Guthrie abducted? Ex-NYPD Sergeant sheds light on possible motives, ‘A revenge factor, a cover-up factor…’
Retired NYPD Sergeant Joe Giacalone has shed some light on motives in missing persons cases amid the search for Nancy Guthrie.
Amid the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of ‘Today’ show host Savannah Guthrie, many are wondering what the motive was behind her potential abduction. While it is impossible to definitively say what someone’s motive is or isn’t until a suspect has been identified and arrested, retired NYPD Sergeant Joe Giacalone has shed some light on motives in missing persons cases.
Talking about ransom notes, Giacalone told Parade, “Investigators are going to take these serious no matter what. And they have the capability of being able to investigate this as a potential, viable situation, or they can also rule it out as a potential hoax. We’ve already got one person found out and arrested.”
Giacalone was referring to the arrest of Derrick Callella, who admitted to sending a phony ransom request to Nancy’s family.
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Giacalone also revealed what the motive can be if it isn’t money.
“The three biggest ones that we know is love, money, and drugs, right?” Giacalone said. “Those are the three biggest motives that people do this stuff. But in a situation like this, you also have to consider a revenge factor, a cover-up factor, meaning that the person found out something within the family and now they’re trying to keep it under wraps, that kind of thing.”
“The investigators gather and they sit there and they huddle up, so to speak, and they try to create their hypothesis. And listen, most people are victimized by someone they know, and that’s always the starting point. And then you let the evidence in the information direct you into which one of those categories it’s going to be,” he added.
Guthrie family agrees to pay ransom
Savannah released a new video message on Instagram Saturday evening, February 6, saying they have agreed to pay ransom for Nancy’s release. She was joined by her siblings Camron and Annie in the video.
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"We received your message and we understand," Savannah said in the video. “We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way that we can have peace. This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”
Authorities have said that no suspects have been identified yet. The Pima County Sheriff’s Office stated on Saturday, February 7, that they have “not identified any suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles connected to this case.”
