Family friend calls Nancy Guthrie's disappearance "heart-wrenching"

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A household person of NBC "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie told CBS News that the disappearance of Guthrie's mother has been "absolutely heart-wrenching" arsenic the Tucson, Arizona, assemblage is acceptable to clasp a candlelight work Wednesday nighttime to commune for the harmless instrumentality of Nancy Guthrie.

Sally Shamrell, an histrion and former newsman for KVOA — a section tv presumption successful Tucson wherever Savannah Guthrie got her commencement — told CBS News that the Guthries are a "very revered family" successful Tucson. Shamrell told CBS News she has known the household for implicit 30 years.

"Nancy and Savannah person some contributed truthful overmuch to the Tucson community," Shamrell said. "...They're conscionable affirmative contributors and precise faithful women. What's going is perfectly heart-wrenching."

The Pima County Sheriff's Department has said the the 84-year-old's disappearance is being investigated arsenic a crime, but no suspect oregon idiosyncratic of involvement has been identified. Nancy Guthrie was past seen astatine her location Saturday night, but she was not reported missing until she failed to amusement up for religion Sunday morning, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said.

Savannah Guthrie and her parent Nancy Guthrie

Shamrell said she helped signifier Wednesday night's vigil astatine St. Philip's successful the Hills Episcopal Church aft seeing Savannah Guthrie's post Monday connected societal media asking for prayers.

"Thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a pistillate of heavy conviction, a bully and faithful servant. rise your prayers with america and judge with america that she volition beryllium lifted by them successful this precise moment," Savannah Guthrie wrote connected Monday. "We request you."

The work is expected to statesman astatine 6 p.m. section time. It volition beryllium livestreamed connected the church's website.

"I cognize that the Guthrie kids, who are so, truthful missing their dear, beloved mother, I mean, she is everything to them," Shamrell said. "...I conscionable hope, if they spot this, and they spot the full community's travel together, that they volition cognize that they're not alone. It's a beauteous acheronian time."

Shamrell said she reached retired to aged colleagues astatine KVOA to assistance enactment the lawsuit together, describing quality presumption workers arsenic "very choky household members."

"Some of these radical haven't seen Savannah successful 20 years, but astatine the twist of a dime, they said, 'What bash you need? I'll beryllium there,'" Shamrell said.

Authorities judge Nancy Guthrie was abducted over the play from her location successful the Catalina Foothills of Tucson, wherever determination were signs of forced entry. A small magnitude of blood found wrong the location was being tested, a instrumentality enforcement root acquainted with the lawsuit told CBS News.

Nanos told CBS News that a ransom note was sent to a section Arizona quality presumption pursuing Guthrie's disappearance, but helium could not corroborate accuracy of that accusation oregon the legitimacy of the note.

Anyone with accusation astir Nancy Guthrie's disappearance is urged to telephone the Pima County Sheriff's extremity enactment astatine 520-351-4900.

Jonathan Vigliotti and Pat Milton contributed to this report.

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