Cops were seen searching a septic tank behind Nancy Guthrie’s home Sunday as the desperate hunt for the missing 84-year-old continues.
Drone footage shows three officers opening a manhole cover in the backyard at the back of the house and sticking a long pole inside.
However, officers left the septic tank search empty-handed. No further information has been released on what specifically they were looking for.
Per the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, officers will remain at Nancy’s property at all times for security.
The investigation into Nancy’s disappearance has taken a grim turn as it enters day eight. On Saturday evening, a defeated Savannah took to social media to issue another emotional plea to her mother’s alleged kidnappers, in which she also offered to pay the ransom.
Tucson’s ABC affiliate KGUN9 reported the potential kidnappers demanded the Guthrie family pay $6 million in bitcoin by the deadline of Monday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. MT.
“We received your message and we understand,” the “Today” anchor said, alongside her brother Camron and sister Annie.
“We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her,” she added. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Former CIA officer and FBI special agent Tracy Walder told Page Six that the message felt “very contrived” and “also scripted.”
“I feel like they use a lot of coded language in there: ‘This is very valuable to us.’ ‘So that we can celebrate [with] her.’ That’s not normal words we use to describe a situation like this,” Walder explained.
“Is this a ransom for a dead body? Are we paying to get a body or a human back?” she continued. “Using words like ‘celebrate’ infers memorial or funeral, but it also infers they want to have a party when she comes home.”
Authorities were spotted conducting a late-night search of Annie and Cioni’s home in Tucson on Saturday, reportedly taking photographs until around 10:30 p.m. MT.
Pima Country Sheriff’s Department told Page Six in a statement Sunday, “This remains an active and ongoing investigation. Detectives and agents continue to conduct follow-up at multiple locations.
“Details of that follow-up are not being released at this time. Investigators have not identified any suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles connected to this case.”
Gayle King told Page Six that everyone in the broadcast community is rallying around Savannah.
“We’re a competition, but when it comes to a story like this, there are no barriers. Everybody is pulling, praying and hoping that this has a positive outcome,” the “CBS Mornings” host exclusively told Page Six’s Desiree Murphy at Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Super Bowl Party in San Francisco on Saturday.
“It’s very unsettling. It’s a very strange case, and there is still so many questions,” she added. “Let’s hope people do the right thing. Somebody knows something. Now is the time for that somebody to speak up.”
