Savannah Guthrie makes fresh plea for mother's safe return

Guthrie posted her video message on Instagram

American TV host Savannah Guthrie has issued a new plea for her mother to be returned home nearly six months after she disappeared, telling the alleged kidnappers: “Make the right choice.”

Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her home just outside Tucson, Arizona, on February 1, with authorities suspecting she was taken against her will.

Blood was found near the front doorstep of the property, and the FBI later released surveillance videos showing a masked man on the porch that night.

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“It has been months since our mum was taken from us,” Savannah said in a short video posted to her Instagram account on Monday.

“Our family is in agony. We are in a nightmare that will not end, nothing about our situation has changed.

“We have done our part. And we will never stop looking for her. We will always ache for her and feel that hole in our hearts.

Savannah previously offered a $1 million reward for information / Credit: AP

“The world can be a cruel and unforgiving place, and I know that you have tried to do things the right way.

“So I’m asking you, begging you, to do the right thing now. Make the right choice. Help us find her.

“Tell us where to look for her. I truly believe it is never too late to do the right thing.”

Multiple purported ransom demands have been made since Nancy disappeared, with three news organisations reporting receiving such notes and turning them over to investigators.

The FBI discounted some of the ransom notes as extortion attempts, but is still evaluating others that might be legitimate, it said.

Savannah, the host of US breakfast programme Today, previously offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of her mother.

Volunteers and search teams scoured the nearby desert terrain filled with cactuses, bushes and boulders in the weeks after she vanished.

Savannah, who returned to work in April, simply captioned her Instagram plea: “Bring her home.”

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