The back-and-forth investigation of the disappearance and kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie, has taken a shocking turn that has left Savannah fuming mad.
According to her former NBC colleague and conservative star Megyn Kelly, Guthrie is “livid” over early claims that her brother-in-law was a prime suspect in her mom’s disappearance and is plotting legal action in response to the claims.
Savannah Guthrie 'livid' as questions are raised about her familyhttps://t.co/lZoZZ2GeMd pic.twitter.com/TIoQ45AwUr
— MirrorUSNews (@MirrorUSNews) March 15, 2026
According to Kelly, who was with NBC News from January 2017 to January 2019, she learned Guthrie was left fuming after fellow journalist Ashleigh Banfield had alleged that Savannah’s brother-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, was tied to the Feb.1 kidnapping in Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly spoke out amid reports that Guthrie is planning to sue Banfield over the false allegation after the Pima County Sheriff’s Department publicly cleared the Guthrie family of having any involvement.
“I have not been able to confirm that the Guthrie family wants to sue Ashleigh Banfield, but I have confirmed that Savannah is livid about that report and definitely does not suspect her or her brother-in-law,” Kelly said during an episode of SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” late last week.
“Can you blame her? I mean, of course, she loves her sister, I’m sure she loves her brother-in-law, and I’m sure she genuinely doesn’t believe they had anything to do with it.”
Take a listen —
Cioni and his wife, Annie Guthrie, were the last known people to see Nancy after having dinner with her the night before she vanished, according to investigators.
Just days after her disappearance, Banfield went on air citing a single law enforcement source who said Cioni was possibly being eyed as a suspect.
However, just two days after Banfield’s report, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos seemingly referenced her claim as he told the press that his department didn’t have anyone listed as a suspect.
Nobody’s eliminated, but we just really don’t have enough to say, ‘This is our suspect, this is our guy, we know — or our gal.’ We don’t know that,” Nanos said at the time, per The Hollywood Reporter.
“And it’s really kind of reckless to report that someone is a suspect when they could very well be a victim. … To the media, I plead with you to be careful of what it is we put out there, because we don’t have anybody here listed as a suspect, and you could actually be doing some damage to the case — but you can do some damage to that individual, too. Social media is kind of an ugly world sometimes.”
According to CBS News, a producer for Banfield’s podcast said the journalist “stands by her reporting” and “her ironclad source.”