Search for Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie’s Mother, Grows More Urgent

The authorities made urgent pleas for help from the public as they tried to locate the “Today” anchor’s 84-year-old mother, who was reported missing in Arizona on Sunday.

The search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of the “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, was growing more urgent and more difficult by the hour on Wednesday, officials said, pleading for help from the public.

“Time is not on our side,” Chris Nanos, the Pima County sheriff, said in an interview on Tuesday.

Ms. Guthrie was taken from her home near Tucson, Ariz., against her will sometime between 9:45 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday morning, the authorities said. She had dinner with her daughter Annie and her son-in-law, who live nearby, Sheriff Nanos said. Ms. Guthrie’s son-in law, Tommaso Cioni, dropped her off and ensured she made it inside safely before leaving, the sheriff added.

No suspects have been identified, and Sheriff Nanos said there was “no credible information” indicating that Ms. Guthrie was specifically targeted.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said it was “aware of reports circulating about a possible ransom note(s),” adding that the department had received a copy of a ransom note and was working with the F.B.I. to validate it.

As more time passed, officials pleaded for anyone who had taken Ms. Guthrie to let her go, warning that it was dangerous, and potentially fatal, for her to be without her daily medication. While Ms. Guthrie has no known cognitive issues, she has limited mobility and cannot walk far on her own, the authorities said.

The authorities have also said that Ms. Guthrie’s relationship with her famous daughter was not a main focus of the investigation. NBC Sports announced on Tuesday night that Savannah Guthrie had withdrawn from NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in Italy so she could be with her family.

Savannah Guthrie, who has been absent from the “Today” show this week, has asked her followers on Instagram for their prayers. “Bring her home,” she wrote.

Sheriff Nanos said that the authorities had spoken with Nancy Guthrie’s family members and that they were all cooperating with the investigation.

With no arrests, no motive and no suspects identified, the authorities turned to the public for help finding Ms. Guthrie. “We’re looking at this from every angle, but we need your help,” Jon Edwards, the assistant special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Tucson field office, said during a news conference on Tuesday.

Ms. Guthrie was last seen Saturday around 9:45 p.m., when her son-in-law dropped her off at her home in the Catalina Foothills, a quiet, wealthy neighborhood near the Santa Catalina Mountains just north of Tucson.

When she did not show up at her regular Sunday church service, a friend notified her family. Relatives went to Ms. Guthrie’s home and did not find her there — but did find her wallet, phone and other belongings — and called 911 to report her missing.

The police responded at noon on Sunday and found “something at the home that didn’t sit well,” Sheriff Nanos said. He did not elaborate, but said there was concerning evidence beyond red splatters on the front doorstep of Ms. Guthrie’s house, which were still visible on Tuesday afternoon. The sheriff’s office said it had completed its initial investigation of the scene at the house.

DNA samples that were taken from the house were confirmed to belong to Ms. Guthrie, the sheriff’s office said. Sheriff Nanos did not specify whether those samples were blood. Investigators were also working to determine how many cameras Ms. Guthrie had at her house and whether there is any footage available, the sheriff’s office said.

Mr. Edwards, of the F.B.I., said agents were reviewing cellphone information and gathering information from transmission towers.

Adam Wandt, an associate professor and the deputy chair for technology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said investigators “will slowly obtain, curate and go through a significant amount of data” from security cameras, cellphone towers and personal devices.

While he said it was “more than likely” that investigators would be able to use that digital evidence to find out what happened to Ms. Guthrie, a breakthrough is not likely to arrive quickly.

“We have all this new data to go through, yet it takes a time frame longer than the public is usually comfortable with,” he said.

Reis Thebault contributed reporting from Tucson, Ariz., and Amanda Holpuch from New York.

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