Savannah Guthrie tells mother's potential kidnappers 'we will pay' in video plea for her return

US TV news host Savannah Guthrie has told the potential kidnappers of her 84-year-old mother that her family "will pay" for her safe return.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her own home near Tucson, Arizona, on the evening of 31 January, and was reported missing the next day after she did not turn up at church.

Law enforcement officials have concluded that she was kidnapped, but the Pima County Sheriff's Department said it has not identified any suspects or people of interest in the case.

On Saturday, a week after her mother's disappearance, the NBC News Today co-anchor posted a video on Instagram where she urged those believed to be holding Ms Guthrie to return her.

"We received your message and we understand," she said, joined by her siblings Cameron and Annie. "We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her."

"This is the only way we will have peace," she added. "This is very valuable to us, and we will pay."

Savannah Guthrie was referring to a message sent to the Tucson-based television station KOLD on Friday, according to Kevin Smith, a spokesperson for the FBI office in Phoenix.

KOLD said it received an email related to the Guthrie case on social media that day but declined to share details about its contents as the FBI conducted its review.

The station was one of several news outlets that received alleged ransom letters during the week.

Former FBI agent Dennis Franks told Sky News he believes there may be coded messages being sent from the Guthrie family to the kidnappers.

"Some of the messages that Savannah is giving out, the family is giving out, have certain wording that I think may have significance to the kidnappers in that there could be some coding, some messages there," said Mr Franks.

"One of the first messages was that 'We hope to see her back for a celebration'."

"That was kind of an unusual term to use, in my opinion."

Sky's US correspondent Martha Kelner said, "this is obviously a huge mystery still", noting there are "no suspects and no persons of interest in this case".

While it's still unclear who the sender is, she added it appears they "used the same secure server to hide their IP address" and that the new note "the senders believe will indicate to investigators that they are the same person or people that sent the original note".

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It comes after it emerged that police investigating Ms Guthrie's disappearance were searching for a vehicle or vehicles that may be connected to her case.

A spokesperson for the convenience store chain Circle K told NBC News on Friday that officers visited one of their stores after "receiving a tip regarding a vehicle of interest, and our team has provided them access to the store's surveillance video".

Missing persons expert Charlie Hedges told Sky News this case would be "quite challenging" to deal with.

"We would normally prefer this to be a covert negotiation, not to publicise what's going on, not to discuss what the outcome might be in the public domain, but more to pursue the investigation, covertly and in a controlled way," he said.

"But also, it's obvious that most families would want to reach out and offer and want to engage to try and get her back as quickly as possible."

Sky News has contacted the Pima County Sheriff's Department for comment.

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