TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities investigating the apparent kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie returned to her Arizona neighborhood several times over the weekend, ahead of a Monday evening deadline set by her purported abductors who sent ransom notes demanding money for her return.
The investigation into what happened to the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie entered a second week with still no word on whether the 84-year-old is still alive.
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FILE - This image provided by the Pima County Sheriff's Department on Feb. 2, 2026, shows a missing person alert for Nancy Guthrie. (Pima County Sheriff's Department via AP, File)
A member of the Pima County sheriffs office stands by his truck looking at Nancy Guthrie‘s house, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026 (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Lit candles next to a sign from neighbors supporting the Guthrie family outside of Nancy Guthrie’s house in the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Savannah Guthrie said over the weekend that family was prepared to pay for her mother’s return.
“We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted Saturday. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
The mysterious disappearance and search has riveted the U.S. — from President Donald Trump who spoke with Samantha Guthrie last week to the online sleuths who’ve flooded social media with tips, theories and rumors.
Outside Nancy Guthrie's home on Monday, neighbors strolled by on their morning jogs and walks while a county sheriff's deputy remained stationed out front.
Detectives and agents carried out follow-up work at multiple locations over the weekend as part of the investigation, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Sunday. “Investigators have not identified any suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles connected to this case,” the department said.
Investigators believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her home just outside Tucson. She was last seen on Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day after not attending church services.
DNA tests showed blood on Guthrie’s front porch was a match to her, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said.
Multiple press outlets have received alleged ransom letters during the past week. At least one letter made monetary demands and set deadlines for receiving the money. The first deadline passed last Thursday but a second one was set for Monday.
Law enforcement officials declined to affirm that the letters were credible but said all tips were being investigated seriously.
Authorities say they have growing concerns about Nancy Guthrie’s health because she needs daily medication. She is said to have a pacemaker and has dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.
FILE - This image provided by the Pima County Sheriff's Department on Feb. 2, 2026, shows a missing person alert for Nancy Guthrie. (Pima County Sheriff's Department via AP, File)
A member of the Pima County sheriffs office stands by his truck looking at Nancy Guthrie‘s house, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026 (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Lit candles next to a sign from neighbors supporting the Guthrie family outside of Nancy Guthrie’s house in the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean Astin has taken on the presidency of the SAG-AFTRA at a particularly perilous time for the actors union, and for Hollywood. There's the threat of human actors being replaced by artificial intelligence. The ongoing upheavals of streaming. Studio consolidation and realignment.
Nearly three years ago, the actors launched a four-month strike, securing some protections and higher wages. And on Monday, negotiations on a new three-year contract with studio and streamers are already beginning again.
So what actor would want this role?
“In my imagination, growing up, I would want to have been in a place of consequence,” he told The Associated Press in an interview in his office at the guild's Los Angeles headquarters. “And so to have the opportunity to be in a role, leading a union of 160,000 people at this moment of consequence when there’s turmoil, when there’s fear and uncertainty and danger, this is exactly where I want to be.”
Astin, an elected board member during the strike who left his mark as a fiery rally speaker, won the presidency in September, replacing the outgoing Fran Drescher.
As an actor, the now-54-year-old is known as the leader of a scrappy band of kids in 1985's “The Goonies,” an aspiring football player with never-ending grit in 1993's “Rudy,” and Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins' steadfast bestie in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
He's a SAG lifer, becoming a member as a young boy in 1981. His mother, Oscar winner Patty Duke, who died in 2016, was president of the guild from 1985 to 1988, before it added the -AFTRA in a 2012 merger.
His father, John Astin, now 95, is best known for playing Gomez on “The Addams Family.” His brother Mackenzie Astin is a child star turned journeyman actor who recently had a three-episode arc on “The Pitt.”
Sean Astin said he hopes to get actors like his brother, who rely heavily on small ongoing payments for guest roles, to have streaming residuals pay as well as they do for broadcast TV.
“I can’t wait to be at a Thanksgiving or a Christmas with him and nudge him and say, ‘Hey, how’s your residuals doing?’” he said.
Astin said he has reason to believe the new talks won't start with actors and their employers at each other's throats.
“They came in last time provoking the fight,” he said, referring to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. “They wanted the strike. No question in my mind. I was in those rooms every single day. They’re sending much different signals now. They’re sending signals of wanting stability, of wanting to work as partners again.”
The AMPTP said in a statement to the AP that the group representing studios and streamers looked “forward to working collaboratively with our partners at SAG-AFTRA as we commence formal bargaining.”
“By taking the time to thoughtfully engage on the challenges confronting our industry, we are optimistic that, together, we can reach a fair deal that reflects our shared commitment to supporting our industry’s talented performers and promoting long-term stability,” the statement said.
Astin said the guild won't yield any of the ground it won in 2023, whether it be wage increases or requiring informed consent for the use of actors' likenesses via AI. and that means they can’t disarm in advance -- striking is not out of the question, whatever the lingering pains from last time.
“There’s only one real tool available to a labor union in a negotiation, and that’s saying no,” Astin said. “We reserve the right to say no again if we need to.”
On March 1, the guild will hold the world's most glamorous union meeting, the newly renamed Actor Awards, where high-profile members like Leonardo DiCaprio and Emma Stone are nominated. But the vast majority of acting members don't even make the approximately $27,000 a year required to qualify for guild health insurance. And Astin represents the guild's full membership — including video game actors, puppeteers, broadcast journalists and TV announcers. He's spent much of his time since his election — and plenty before that — learning the specific concerns of, for example, stunt drivers or actors who live in Minnesota or New Mexico.
“I will say to everybody, I’m gonna fight as hard for you as anybody has ever fought for you, for your issue,” he said. “People say, ‘You can’t fight for everybody equally.’ I say, ‘Yes, I can.’”
A speech Samwise gives in “The Two Towers” — “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for” — became an Astin rallying cry during the strike.
He said that he can also draw from his other characters for traits he ought to embody now.
“The qualities that make Rudy special — determination, grit, inspiration, aspiration — whatever is a part of that thing that makes him, makes his story touch the lives of so many people, is the part of myself that I want to pour into this job on behalf of my members,” he said.
And then there's Mikey from “The Goonies.”
“If you think of ‘The Goonies,’ ‘The Goonies’ is about saving their home,” he said. “It’s fun, there’s a pirate ship, but it’s about a group of friends who don’t want to be overtaken by industrialists. Maybe that’s the most important one.”
SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin shows off a finished solid bronze Actor statuette during the 32nd Actor Awards statuette pouring event presented by SAG-AFTRA on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin shows off a finished solid bronze Actor statuette during the 32nd Actor Awards statuette pouring event presented by SAG-AFTRA on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin poses for a portrait at his office in Los Angeles on Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin poses for a portrait at his office in Los Angeles on Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin poses for a portrait at his office in Los Angeles on Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
