Savannah Guthrie and siblings ask to bring their mother home
Sitting in between her siblings, “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie made an emotional plea on social media to have her mother brought home.
- Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie, has been missing from her Arizona home since Jan. 31.
- Law enforcement believes she was likely abducted, and her family has made a public plea for her safe return.
- The case highlights the vulnerability of the growing number of elderly Americans, particularly women, who live alone.
- Nancy Guthrie has several health conditions requiring medication, making her recovery an urgent matter.
The Palm Beach Post has a healthcare series called Aging in the Golden Years focused on navigating the financial and physical challenges to emerge as more people reach advanced age and, along with their children, confront a reality for which they will need help preparing. We want to hear what questions you have as you and your loved ones enter new territory. Email Post reporter Anne Geggis your questions
at [email protected]. The possible abduction of Savannah Guthrie’s mom is not only a national drama that has the entire country simultaneously hoping for a happy ending and dreading the worst—it’s also a reflection of a growing reality across the land, especially Florida.
More elderly people—women like 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie—live alone. The latest U.S. Census data shows it’s the most common living situation for American women aged 75 and older—43% of that age group. That’s about 14 million women nationally and 860,000 in Florida. So, Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance undoubtedly strikes a chord with any adult child trying to monitor an aging parent from afar.
Millions can see their own mom in the smiling images of Nancy Guthrie and her daughter as they take a turn together on the morning show Savannah Guthrie co-hosts, Today. They can also imagine the agony her disappearance is creating.
“This is absolutely gutting,” Katie Couric, a former national NBC news anchor wrote on social media with a clip of Savannah Guthrie pleading for her mother’s return.
What’s the latest in the search for Nancy Guthrie?
Five days from when she was last seen, on Jan. 31, the search was still on for the grandmother and mother of Camron Guthrie, a retired military fighter pilot, Annie Guthrie, a writer and a jeweler, and Savannah Guthrie, who is the youngest.
“We believe she’s still out there,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Feb. 5, as he announced more law enforcement have been called in to help in the search.
At the same news conference, Nanos said that blood found on the porch of Nancy Guthrie’s home has been identified as hers.
Law enforcement has said that she was likely taken from her Arizona home against her will. On Feb. 4, Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her two siblings, appeared to address the kidnapper directly and tearfully referenced ransom notes that local media in Arizona and the national outlet TMZ have received.
“We are ready to talk,” said Guthrie, who dropped out of covering the Olympics in response to the crisis. “However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her.”
Are elderly people considered a high-risk population?
Frailties of the body and mind make the case of missing seniors more urgent. Nancy Guthrie has been described as sharp mentally, but with a list of health conditions that make finding her an urgent matter of life and death. She has limited mobility and “couldn’t walk 50 yards by herself,” according to Sheriff Nanos at a Feb. 3 news conference. Reports are that she has high blood pressure. And she has a pacemaker and can’t go without her heart medicine, according to her daughter’s Feb. 4 plea.
“She is without any medicine,” Savannah Guthrie said, struggling for composure on the video plea to her mother’s possible abductor. “She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer.”
How does Florida’s Silver Alert system for finding vulnerable seniors work?
Evidence that a crime has put someone’s life in immediate danger prompts a full-scale law enforcement response like the one underway for Nancy Guthrie, but Florida has put a system in place to find people 60 years or older who may have just lost their way home.
The Sunshine State’s Silver Alert program began with an executive order from Gov. Charlie Crist in 2008 to standardize and coordinate efforts to find people suffering from memory and cognition issues.
Under Florida’s Silver Alert protocol, an alert will be sent if the following criteria is met.
- The person must have an irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia that has been verified by law enforcement.
- The person is 60 years and older, or between the ages of 18-59 and law enforcement has determined the missing person lacks the capacity to consent and the use of dynamic message signs may be the only possible way to rescue the missing person.
Local Silver Alerts plans require:
- Local law enforcement must conduct a preliminary investigation in which the agency has concluded that the disappearance poses a credible threat to the person’s welfare and safety.
- Local law enforcement must enter the missing person into the Florida Crime Information Center (FCIC) and issue a statewide BOLO.
- Local law enforcement must contact media outlets in the area and/or surrounding jurisdictions.If a law enforcement agency has activated a local/regional Silver Alert and believes that activation of highway dynamic message signs may assist in the recovery of the missing person, the agency may request activation of a State Silver Alert.
If the missing person is traveling by motor vehicle with an identified license plate number or other vehicle information and the local alert has been given, a state Silver Alert is issued
State Silver Alerts plan require:
- The local law enforcement agency will call the FDLE Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 1-888-356-4774.
- The FDLE will work in conjunction with the local law enforcement agency of jurisdiction to determine the areas for activation and prepare information for public distribution.
- The FDLE will ensure that the information is broadcast via dynamic highway message signs when applicable and via email/text through sign-up by public citizens and other resources.
On Feb. 5, there were seven active Silver Alerts, publicized on digital signs on highways and notices to local media.
What are the best ways to keep vulnerable adults safe?
Personal medical alert systems and caregivers for hire can help keep vulnerable older adults safe, at a price.
Pam Wiener, president of the Palm Beach County Partnership for Aging, recommends that loved ones stay engaged with an aging adult in a variety of ways as the most important safeguard against aging-related pitfalls.
“See your relatives—try to see them at least quarterly if you are living out of state,” said Wiener, who also works as the director of guardianship and care management at the Alpert Jewish Family Service in West Palm Beach. “Don’t take their word for how they’re doing.”
A missing person’s case with foul play suspected is rare among elderly, elder care experts agree.
Wiener also recommends connecting with an aging loved one’s friends and neighbors. Those are the people who can alert a caregiver from afar as to whether a loved one is maintaining his or her usual lifestyle or becoming more isolated, she said.
Wiener also recommends setting oneself up as a health care surrogate for the older adult, while they are still competent, so checking in with the elder’s health care providers is a possibility.
“If you have a concern, you can call their providers,” Wiener said.
The Palm Beach Post series, Aging in the Golden Years, focuses on navigating the financial and physical challenges that arise as more people reach advanced age. Thanks to our partner and fiscal sponsor, Journalism Funding Partners, verified 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, tax ID #84-2968843, you can invest in the future of this reporting on the healthcare issues that matter most to Floridians. Make your tax-deductible donation today and support local journalism that serves the Palm Beach community.
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Anne Geggis is statewide reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA, reporting on health and senior issues. If you have news tips, please send them to [email protected]. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
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