THE daughter of a 63-year-old grandmother who was kidnapped from her home and held for ransom three years before Nancy Guthrie was snatched has branded the investigation a “circus.”
Zoe Lopez, whose mother Maria was taken in 2023 and never returned, has also offered advice to heartbroken Today Show host Savannah Guthrie and her family.
It’s been three weeks since Savannah’s mom was snatched from her home in Arizona, and police are begging the public for help after releasing disturbing doorbell footage of an armed, masked man at the front door minutes before the kidnapping.
The FBI is working with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which had been criticized for its handling of the case, and has received more than 21,000 tips.
Savannah announced the family is offering a $1million reward on Tuesday, as they are desperate to bring Nancy home.
In an emotional exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, Zoe said her heart aches for the Guthrie family: “You kind of just go numb. You feel like, ‘This isn’t really happening.’
“My heart sank when … I believe it was her first statement, somebody had sent me.
“I was hesitant to post anything or to comment on it, but unfortunately, I do know her pain.
“I understand the confusion, and I understand the anger, and the sadness, and the heartbreak that she has to deal with every single day, and every single minute. It’s devastating.
“She might feel like, ‘Well, nobody understands.’ I do.
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“It’s been three years, and absolutely nothing is normal about my life. You lose a part of yourself that very day.”
Zoe also slammed the Guthrie investigation and public ransom notes, saying the authorities need to get things under control and “reset” the case.
She said, “This is being handled in a very careless [way]. A circus, a complete circus. And this is something so sensitive.
“I am baffled that so much information is just being brought out in real time.
“It’s been three weeks of chaos. There’s still time for them to get it under control. I think that they should be private about this.
“The loss of control. I can’t imagine how damaging it is to them [the family] emotionally.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has reportedly “locked down” the case, and there is reported tension between his team and the FBI.
They have faced backlash for many decisions made amid the search for Nancy, including sending DNA samples to be tested at a facility in Florida, instead of letting the FBI use their lab in Quantico, Virginia.
Sheriff Nanos also admitted he likely released the Guthrie home as a crime scene too early.
This allowed reporters to access the property, where they discovered and photographed blood droplets on the front steps that investigators had reportedly not yet addressed publicly.
Zoe said, “They’re missing a lot of steps, and getting to a lot of important stuff days later, [it] is extremely concerning.
“It’s scary, because it makes you think, well, ‘Who are these agents, and how much experience do they have to be handling a case of this magnitude?’ It’s a kidnapping. It’s absurd.”
Similar to her mom’s case, she believes those responsible for taking 83-year-old Nancy were not professionals or cartel-related.
She said, “They saw an opportunity. They’re driven by money.”
Pain & paranoia
Zoe’s mom, Maria, a US citizen, was kidnapped on February 9, 2023, in Pueblo Nuevo, in the Mexican state of Colima, where she had returned to retire with her husband.
She was alone at home watering her garden after shopping when she was approached by “four or five individuals” who bundled her into a white van.
An eyewitness told authorities that at one point she was seen on the ground after either being struck or fainting during a struggle.
But the kidnappers eventually got her into the vehicle and fled the scene.
Zoe and her family received multiple ransom calls demanding large amounts of money, with the first call coming within 24 hours, and setting deadlines they had to meet.
She is unable to reveal whether they paid the kidnappers amid the ongoing investigation.
Zoe, who worked in road management for professional boxers when her mom was taken, believes Savannah has a long road ahead and might end up giving up her role as a host on the Today Show.
She said, “It took me months to go get groceries, to be honest. I was so scared. And although the kidnapping happened in Mexico, I was afraid.
“I was always scared that somebody was following me. People did recognize me once it went public.
“I couldn’t be out because people [would say], ‘Oh, you’re the daughter of the lady that got kidnapped.’ So it’s just safer to be home.
“It took about a year and a half before I decided to take a different role, still in the boxing world, but more on a quieter level, where I’m designing outfits for certain boxers.
“I’m going back into production, working with special teams and stuff, traveling.
“She [Savannah] might not be a reporter after this. She might not want to be in the public eye, or it might give her purpose and make her say, ‘I’m supposed to be here. I have to continue to advocate for my mom.’
‘Survivor’s guilt’
“My heart aches for the family. When we were going through the uncertainty daily, not knowing… and then you come to a point, at least for them, they’re weeks in now, where you just feel alone, like nobody understands how bad this aching pain is. It’s a fear.
“Your body is in shock day in and day out.
“There has to be a way I can say, ‘Hey, make yourself some tea.’ You know? ‘Hug each other. Cry.’
“I think that’s another thing, too: it’s okay to fall apart. It’s okay not to be okay. Forcing yourself to be strong for the public, or forcing yourself to be strong for others, is going to be damaging to you.
“You need to find the energy, find that strength from deep down inside, but you also need to take those small moments, even if it’s 20 or 30 minutes. It’s okay, just hold on to each other.”
Heartbreakingly, Zoe says Savannah may learn that she can’t trust everyone around her, as some people who reach out to see how she is may not have good intentions.
“It’s really hard to even say this, but tune out the noise from the outside because she is a reporter and she is in the public eye,” she advised.
“But try to understand that not everybody is going to reach out to be there for you.
“They will reach out to get information, to see where you’re at, and that could be extremely damaging to you.”
She went on, “Her life is gonna change completely. And it’s probably gonna be the best thing for her to take some time just for her.
“It’s been three years for me, and I’m still learning. I feel like I’m learning how to walk again in the normal world and not feel guilty because I think that we carry that.
“That’s where I guess they call it like survivor’s guilt, you know? Like, why do I get to go to work? Why do I get to go out and have fun? Why do I get to put it aside for a little bit when I don’t know where she is?”
How to help
Tips for the Nancy Guthrie case should go to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Tucson, which is coordinating the local investigation.
The department’s non-emergency line is (520) 351-4900, and authorities ask callers to share any relevant sightings, video, or timeline details.
Information can also be reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or through its official online tip system.
Tips for the Maria Lopez case should contact their local FBI field office or U.S. consulate.
In Los Angeles, the FBI can be reached at (310) 477-6565; information can also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov.
Mexico rumors
Zoe said she and her family struggled to work with Mexican authorities and the FBI, as both tried to take control, mirroring the situation in Guthrie’s case.
“We reached out to the White House so many times through phone calls. She’s going to have to become relentless in pursuing other government officials as well,” she said.
“She [Nancy] is a U.S. citizen. If they did cross the border, then there should be coordinated searches, with federal agencies in Mexico working together with federal agencies here.
“You don’t know if you can fully trust the authorities there or whether they’re going to work together. Are they going to want to work with the FBI? Unfortunately for us, we learned quickly that they weren’t that open to working with them.
“They feel, ‘Well, it happened in our territory. This is our case. We will handle it.’ It’s kind of like a rivalry.
“At the end of the day, you’re looking for the same victim.
“It doesn’t matter whether it was across the border or here. The fact that you have these kinds of power struggles makes no sense.”
She explained that Mexican authorities are willing to allow families to pay a ransom, whereas the FBI tries to negotiate with kidnappers.
“We were definitely put in the middle because we didn’t know, ‘Do we follow the advice of the FBI and not pay the ransom, or do we pay the ransom and hope for the best? And how do we do that when we’re across borders?’
“It’s just constant torture — one phone call after another with different demands: ‘Do this now,’ or ‘If not…’ They set time frames, and more than anything, you need proof of life.
“You need to know, ‘Okay, you’re telling me you want this amount of money and that you have her. I need to speak to her.’ And that took a long time.”
Zoe and her family received what appeared to be a recording of Maria begging them to meet the kidnappers’ demands.
She said, “You live with the uncertainty of, ‘Where is she? How is she? What have they done to her? Is she alive? Is she dead?’
“As far as my situation, you lose everything, you really do.”
Zoe Lopez on the kidnapping of her beloved mom
“And then you have the speculations of everyone. You have the criticism on top. You have the heartache, the pain, your family, how do you wake up today and just try to be normal? You can’t, there isn’t no normal anymore.
“As far as my situation, you lose everything, you really do.”
Zoe, 42, has been with her husband for 25 years and has two children, much like Savannah, while Maria, a mother of seven, has 21 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Discussing how the kidnapping affected her personal relationships, Zoe admitted, “They are all damaged, at least with my children; they’re dealing with the pain of losing their grandmother.
“So whenever your children hurt, you hurt with them. I feel it’s been trauma over trauma and pain over pain. I’m witnessing my kids are devastated over their grandmother.
“And in return, they’re seeing me falling apart over my mother. And having to find that strength of, ‘What would my mom do? How would my mother handle this situation with me? How do I handle the situation with my children?’
“Although it’s been 3 years, we have not given up. We hold on to hope.
“So for Nancy.. stay strong. Know that you’re loved, and that you’re being looked for, although it seems like a lot is going on, the people who matter, are hanging on to hope as well.
“For the bad guys who do have her, please give her up. She’s an elderly person. She deserves to be home.”
Two men were arrested in connection with another kidnapping in Mexico and have since been linked to Maria’s disappearance through DNA evidence from the crime scene.
However, authorities have not publicly confirmed any direct charge or prosecution in her case.
The FBI and Mexican prosecutors have been working jointly on the investigation, and the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office has offered a reward of up to $20,000 for information that leads to her physical location.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has admitted that Savannah and her family could also be waiting “years” for answers about Nancy’s whereabouts.
“It’s exhausting, these ups and downs. But we will keep moving forward,” he told The New York Times.
“Maybe it’s an hour from now. Maybe it’s weeks or months or years from now. But we won’t quit. We’re going to find Nancy. We’re going to find this guy.”