Savannah Guthrie speaks out after reports that ransom note said Nancy Guthrie died after kidnapping
Savannah Guthrie and mother Nancy Guthrie, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — An emotional Savannah Guthrie spoke out on Tuesday following new reports that a ransom note said her mother, Nancy Guthrie, died shortly after she was abducted.
The “Today” show host’s 84-year-old mother was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early hours of Feb. 1 and remains missing, according to authorities.
Various ransom notes were sent to the media in the days after Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. The second ransom note received by a Tucson television station, days after Nancy Guthrie’s abduction, said she died shortly after she was taken and was buried in nature, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Savannah Guthrie wiped away tears as she addressed the news on “Today,” saying, “I’m not involved in our coverage, but I can’t pretend I’m not here.”
“And so, since I am, I wanted to just take the opportunity to ask people — to really, to beg people — to come forward,” she said. “Somebody knows something.”
“This is a news story today that is on your radar, but this is the life that my sister lives, that I live, that my brother lives, that our extended families live, that our children live, every day. And we are in agony,” Savannah Guthrie said through tears.
“Please do the right thing. … We love our mom, and we’ll never stop looking for her, ever,” she said.
Images from Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera showing a masked man at her house were released by authorities early on in the investigation, but the 84-year-old’s whereabouts remain unknown, and the suspect remains unidentified.
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.
Clouds pass over the skyline on August 26, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — Chicago police are investigating a disturbing incident in a downtown park where a large cross was set on fire in the middle of the day on Tuesday.
Videos and images of the burning cross in Grant Park, which police say was discovered around 2:30 p.m., went viral, shocking onlookers. The burning cross has historically been a symbol of hate that white supremacists have used to harass and intimidate Black Americans.
Alyna Carlton, 22, who filmed the burning cross while she was in a car with her mother, told WLS Chicago on Tuesday that she could not believe her eyes.
“Seeing that in Chicago, in 2026 … yeah, we were really taken aback,” she said.
The Chicago Fire Department quickly responded and put out the fire, according to investigators. There were no injuries or serious property damage.
The Chicago Police Department said in a statement that it is investigating the incident, but as of Wednesday morning, no arrests have been made.
Flash flood threat for Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — Rescuers are bracing for more treacherous weather at the Grand Canyon Monday amid a search for 14 people who “may be missing or unaccounted” in a deadly flash flood that slammed the national park over the weekend.
One person, a 46-year-old man, died and others ran for their lives when a flood swept through the floor of the Grand Canyon on Saturday afternoon, wiping out campgrounds, structures, hiking trails and vital infrastructure, according to officials.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the Grand Canyon through at least Monday evening, warning that “flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible” for all of northern and central Arizona.
Air evacuations continued on Sunday afternoon, a day after a “significant flash flood” swept through campgrounds and hiking trails at the bottom of the national park, authorities said.
The Grand Canyon National Park Service said in an update Sunday evening that one person was recovered from the Colorado River in the park. The identity of the deceased individual has not been released.
NPS said there are at least 14 other individuals “who may be missing or unaccounted” following the flash flood.
“The National Park Service is asking anyone who knows of hikers or backpackers who were in the inner canyon along the Bright Angel Creek corridor on August 29, as well as anyone who had a campground reservation in the affected corridor, to provide information to the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch (ISB),” the statement said.
Earlier Sunday, the National Park Service (NPS) officials said more than 20 were missing and 62 individuals were air evacuated from Grand Canyon’s Phantom Ranch and the lower North Kaibab Trail, “which was affected by a significant flash-flood event Saturday afternoon.”
Evacuees were being taken to the Maswik Lodge Cafeteria on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, where the American Red Cross is coordinating assistance.
No injuries were immediately reported.
The latest National Park Service said the flash flooding knocked out the park’s water pipeline, prompting “significant water conservation measures” to be implemented. Those measures include: no overnight hotel stays allowed starting Monday, and only campground bathroom faucets will still run.
“Multiple campgrounds and trails are closed until further notice, and there is no estimated reopening date for the affected areas,” the Grand Canyon NPS said.
Grand Canyon National Park staff, in coordination with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, were continuing air evacuations on Sunday afternoon, officials said.
“Grand Canyon will possibly face additional thunderstorms and heavy rainfall today and Monday, which could result in flash flooding, debris flow, and rockfall,” the Grand Canyon NPS statement said.
Flash flooding unfolded about 2:30 p.m. local time on Saturday in the Bright Angel Canyon and Phantom Ranch area, both popular destinations for hikers.
“The flash flood resulted in significant impacts to infrastructure throughout Bright Angel Canyon. Nearly all footbridges spanning Bright Angel Creek were destroyed, eliminating hiker access across the creek,” the Grand Canyon NPS said.
Videos of the flooding obtained by ABC News show a roaring Colorado River as mudflows and debris from metal structures are seen floating down the river.
Erica Viola, who recorded the videos, told ABC News she was camping at Bright Angel Campground when she and her husband, Scott Svedin, had to evacuate. Viola said that she lost most of her belongings in the flooding.
Viola said that she and other campers were told by park rangers to run as fast as they could to the nearest bridge for evacuation.
Svedin said that as they were headed for the bridge, people were scrambling to beat the rising water.
“We just heard people yell, ‘Run, run, run!’ And there’s 40 of us running through this deep, muddy water, trying to make it to the bridge,” Viola said. “Once we got to the bridge, that’s when this 15-foot wall of water came through the campground in Phantom Ranch and just wiped out all the bridges in the creek.”
Viola and Svedin said they witnessed bunkhouses, barbecue grills, ice chests, and even an excavator floating down the Colorado River.
ABC News’ Jennifer Watts and Lissette Rodriguez contributed to this report.
Police are searching for two men suspected of fatally beating a mother-of-four, Keisha Falow, in this alleyway in North Philadelphia, June 7, 2026. (WPVI)
(PHILADELPHIA) — Two suspects are being sought in a horrific homicide in which police allege a mother of four was beaten with bricks and stomped to death during a robbery in North Philadelphia.
The victim, identified as 45-year-old Keisha Furlow, lived near an alley where she was found brutally beaten early Sunday morning, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
“Investigators also recovered two bloodied bricks on the ground in close proximity to the victim, which are believed to have been used in the assault,” police said in a statement on Wednesday to ABC News.
ABC Philadelphia station WPVI obtained security video that captured the deadly incident. In the grainy video, an individual is seen appearing to throw a woman to the ground in the North Philadelphia alley and then hitting her repeatedly in the head with a brick, kicking her, and stomping her face, WPVI reported.
The suspected attacker and an accomplice fled the scene with Furlow’s purse, which was discovered by officers emptied of its contents a few blocks from where the fatal attack occurred.
Police officers were called to investigate a disturbance in the alley off North Opal Street around 6:15 a.m. on Sunday, according to the police statement.
When police arrived, paramedics were already at the scene and pronounced Furlow dead, according to the statement.
“Upon arriving at the location, officers discovered a female victim lying on the ground in the rear alleyway suffering from severe lacerations to her face,” police said in the statement.
Authorities are asking anyone with knowledge of the case to contact Philadelphia homicide detectives.
Neighbors expressed outrage over Furlow’s death, saying she was a mother of four, including an 11-month-old baby.
“I hope whoever did it, I hope that justice will be brought because she didn’t seem to bother anybody in this community, and I just don’t understand it,” neighbor Alexia Zia told WPVI.
Darnel Henry, another North Philadelphia resident, said Furlow’s death is a reminders that “There are demons out here.”
“She didn’t cause no problems with nobody. She did what she did; that was how she lived. But she was at peace with it,” Henry said told WPVI. “But for her to be dead in that alleyway, nobody should go out like that.”
ABC News’ Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
