Savannah Guthrie gives 1st interview since Nancy Guthrie’s abduction: ‘We are in agony’
Savannah Guthrie and mother Nancy Guthrie on Thursday, June 15, 2023 — (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie is speaking out in her first interview nearly two months after her mother, Nancy Guthrie, was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home.
Authorities say Nancy Guthrie, 84, was abducted from her house in the early hours of Feb. 1. They have released surveillance images from outside Nancy Guthrie’s house, but the person who took her remains unidentified.
In an emotional interview with her friend and former co-host Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie said, “We are in agony.”
“It is unbearable,” she said. “And to think of what she went through.”
Savannah Guthrie said thoughts of the terror her mother experienced wakes her up each night.
“I wake up every night in the middle of the night. Every night,” she said through tears. “And in the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable. But those thoughts demand to be thought. And I will not hide my face. That she needs to come home now.”
“Someone needs to do the right thing,” she stressed.
The full interview with Savannah Guthrie will be released on Thursday and Friday, Kotb said.
Kotb has been filling in for Savannah Guthrie on “Today” since the abduction.
Anyone with information is urged to call 911, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.
ABC News’ Matt Claiborne contributed to this report.
Spencer and Monique Tepe are seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy Rob Misleh)
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The family of slain Ohio couple Monique and Spencer Tepe is speaking out about Monique Tepe’s ex-husband, who is accused of shooting the young parents in their home.
“She just had to get away from him,” the Tepes’ brother-in-law, Rob Misleh, told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” of Dr. Michael McKee.
McKee, 39, is charged with premeditated aggravated murder for allegedly gunning down the Tepes at their Columbus home on Dec. 30, according to police.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant on Wednesday called it a targeted and “domestic violence-related” attack. She said multiple weapons were taken from McKee’s property and one of those weapons has preliminarily been linked to the crimes.
McKee appeared in court on Monday. He did not enter a plea but assistant public defender Carie Poirier told the judge he intended to plead not guilty.
Misleh said that Monique Tepe told him that McKee was emotionally abusive.
“Myself and many others were well aware of, kind of, the negative impact that he had on her. And the abuse that he put her through, the torment that he put her through,” Misleh said. “She was willing to do anything to get out of there.”
“She was a very strong person,” Misleh added.
McKee and Monique Tepe were married in 2015 and divorced in 2017, according to divorce records obtained by ABC Columbus affiliate WSYX. They did not have any children together, according to the records.
Spencer Tepe, a dentist, married Monique Tepe married in December 2020, according to their obituary.
“They were some of the kindest and just most inviting people,” Misleh said. “… I think it speaks really loudly that their funeral had over 1,000 people there.”
The Tepes are survived by their two young children who were found safe inside the house on Dec 30.
“We just want justice,” Misleh said.
“We want this person that took so much from, not just us as a family, but so many more people. And obviously the kids, especially. We want this person to pay for what they did,” he said.
“Our hearts remain with Spencer and Monique and their loved ones, and especially the children impacted,” Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said at a news conference on Wednesday.
DHS Federal Coordinator Jeff Brannigan speaks with ABC News at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. (ABC News)
(SANTA CLARA, Calif.) — There will be a “substantial law enforcement presence” in the Bay Area for the week leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, the man who is leading it all told ABC News.
“We have multiple command centers that we are operating as the federal government in concert with our local partners,” Jeff Brannigan, the Department of Homeland Security federal coordinator, told ABC News in an interview. “It’s a broad footprint with a lot of personnel. Some are uniformed and, very clearly, government officials of some way.”
Others are working behind the scenes, he said.
The Super Bowl is a SEAR 1 event, meaning there is extensive federal security coordination.
“The federal government has brought resources to bear to augment the security planning of the cities of Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Jose, and we have brought resources that those cities don’t necessarily have, and that really is a full-domain security posture to include air support, maritime support and support on the ground,” he said.
The federal government will have support from the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S Coast Guard; aerial assets from Customs and Border Protection; the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA); and even a helicopter that scans for nuclear technology.
Brannigan said he couldn’t get into specifics, but that there are “hundreds of federal special agents from across the government,” working with local police departments to provide security for the event.
Brian Clark, the associate chief of operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Pacific and Southwest region, said his agency is also providing support to state and local law enforcement in the area.
“For Super Bowl events, you have a lot of human trafficking that comes in,” he said. “You’ll also see a lot of drug trafficking that comes in the area for parties and things … So we would like to say for people to be aware, to have that conversation. Take this time, when you’re gathering with your friends and family, have that conversation about the dangers of fentanyl, because one pill, one time can kill.”
There are also law enforcement from outside the immediate area that are being brought in for “mutual aid,” Brannigan said.
Some of the concerns are lone wolf attackers, threats from drones and cyberattacks, he said.
“Oftentimes, people you know will see something and they want to dismiss it as that’s, ‘That’s my imagination,’ or ‘That’s not an issue,'” he said. “It is always better for members of the public to call the police and tell them about something they find suspicious, let the police investigate it, determine it isn’t an issue. But if you see something, say something.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has reached an agreement with President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn to pay him roughly $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the former general claiming he was politically targeted for prosecution during Trump’s first administration, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
