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A close friend is shedding light on the life of Nancy Guthrie, a “sweet and outgoing” 84-year-old who has been missing since Sunday, February 1, from her Arizona home.
Nancy’s children, Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie and her siblings Annie and Cameron Guthrie, released a video on Wednesday, February 4, urging her alleged kidnappers to bring her home. Now, Mary Ann Blevins, 86, a longtime friend and fellow book club member of Nancy, is giving an inside look into her life in Arizona.
In a conversation with Page Six, Blevins reminisced about their last encounter at a book club meeting the previous month, where Nancy appeared to be “in really good spirits.”
“We’ve been friends for many, many years,” Blevins shared. “We’re in frequent contact. She’s just a beautiful person.”
Besides attending the book club, Nancy was part of a mahjong group and enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren.
“Nancy’s daughter resides here and has a young son whom she occasionally picks up from school or watches,” Blevins noted, referring to Nancy’s daughter, Annie.
Blevins said she knows Nancy “needs medication” and has “trouble being mobile,” echoing concerns raised by Nancy’s children in their video.
Blevins described Nancy as a “very sweet person” and “very outgoing” and called her disappearance “impossible” to understand.
“It’s amazing. You can know someone for years and then something like this can happen,” she said. “Anybody that knows her and met her loves her,” Blevins added. “I don’t think she has any enemies, and that’s why this whole thing is very scary.”
Asked if Nancy ever expressed concern about being alone or fear of being kidnapped, Blevins answered, “No, never.”
She denied that Nancy ever raised concerns about security, saying, “No, not at all.”
Nancy was first reported missing on Sunday, February 1, after she failed to show up to church. She was last seen the night before having dinner with her daughter Annie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni, according to reports.
Law enforcement officials told Page Six Cioni was the last person to see her alive after driving Nancy to her home around 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, January 31.
Authorities declared on Monday that Nancy’s home was being treated as a crime scene. They believe she may have been abducted from her home while she was asleep. A trail of blood was found outside of the home.
TMZ reported receiving a ransom note on Tuesday, February 3, which was turned over to the authorities.
“We are taking all tips and leads very seriously,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement on X. “Anything that comes in, goes directly to our detectives who are coordinating with the FBI.”