Pima County Sheriff on Nancy Guthrie’s Disappearance, How Family Is Doing: ‘You Never Want to Lose Hope’ (Exclusive)

Today’s Savannah Guthrie and her family are searching for answers amid the disappearance of mom Nancy Guthrie, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos exclusively tells Us Weekly.

“As you can imagine, this is tough on all of them,” Nanos told Us on Monday, February 2, when asked how the family is holding up. “They’re leaning on each other. They’re very cooperative with us and everything we’re doing. They’re involved and engaged. It is tough, there’s no doubt.”

Nanos noted that Savannah’s sister, Annie Guthrie, was the last one to see their mother. (Nancy shared daughters Savannah, 54, and Annie and son Camron with late husband Charles, who died at age 49 from a heart attack.)

When asked whether Annie raised any red flags about her mom’s behavior, Nanos replied, “No, we don’t have anything like that, no.”

Nanos went on to note that “you never want to lose hope” amid an investigation.

“We don’t want anybody to lose hope. So that always is there, and that’s a good thing. But in the same sense, just as there’s hope, there’s also things that point to us that say, ‘This lady’s in danger,’” he said. “Even if she left that home and she was still with us, we’ll be on 24 hours. We talked with her medical professionals, but we know her element, and we know the meds she needs and going without her meds … can be fatal. And 24 hours later … time is [of] the essence here.”

News broke on Sunday, February 1, that Nancy was reported missing by a family member who called 911. Nanos shared in a press conference on Monday that a friend from Nancy’s church noticed she wasn’t present at a service and called one of her children.

The friend then went to Nancy’s home and “did some searching and realized, ‘We need some help,’ and they called 911.”

While Savannah was absent from the Monday broadcast of the Today show, Sheinelle Jones appeared alongside Craig Melvin during the first hour to convey a statement from her family.

“We want to get right to what is a deeply personal story for us,” Melvin, 46, said. “Nancy Guthrie, Savannah’s beloved mother, has been reported missing in Arizona.”

A statement from Savannah noted, “On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support. Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom. We thank law enforcement for their hard work on this case and encourage anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.”

Jenna Bush Hager, meanwhile, became emotional during the fourth hour of the show. Bush Hager, 44, went on to share that Nancy “takes daily medication” that she needs “for survival” and is likely “without her medication” at the moment.

“We are thinking of our dearest, dearest Savannah and her whole family right now,” Bush Hager said. “Our prayers obviously go out to Savannah.”

In an initial press conference on Monday, Nanos shared that there were “some concerns” about what was found at Nancy’s home. When asked whether foul play was suspected, Nano noted that he was “not ruling it out.”

“We’ve pretty much just thrown everything at this that we can,” Nanos added, noting that search-and-rescue and criminal investigation teams were called in to help alongside drones, dogs and a helicopter.

In a separate press conference, authorities claimed that they could tell Nancy “didn’t leave on her own” and they “don’t see this as a search mission as much” as a crime scene. “She couldn’t walk 50 yards by herself,” they added.

Nanos went on to note that he doesn’t think there’s an active threat to the public currently.

“We’re going to canvass that neighborhood, maybe there’s a prowler [that’s] been seen around,” he said. “There’s a lot of work still to do. We don’t have any indication that the public is still in danger.”