Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Savannah Guthrie Quintuples Reward for Information Leading to Her Mom | Crime Alert 6AM 02.25.26
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- 0:00Speaker 1: Crime Alard, hourly update, Breaking crime News Now, I'm Drew Nelson.
- 0:04Speaker 1: Nancy Guthrie remains missing for the twenty fifth day, as
- 0:07Speaker 1: her family announces a one million dollar reward for information
- 0:11Speaker 1: that leads to her recovery. The eighty four year old
- 0:14Speaker 1: mother of NBC Today co anchor Savannah Guthrie, vanished from
- 0:17Speaker 1: her home in the Catalina Foothills outside Tucson February first.
- 0:21Speaker 1: Investigators believe she was taken from her bed in the
- 0:24Speaker 1: middle of the night. Savannah Guthrie released a video Tuesday
- 0:27Speaker 1: announcing the expanded reward. The offer is in addition to
- 0:31Speaker 1: a one hundred thousand dollar FBI reward and a matching
- 0:34Speaker 1: Tucson Crime Stoppers reward. The family is also donating half
- 0:38Speaker 1: a million dollars to the National Center for Missing and
- 0:41Speaker 1: Exploited Children. Savannah Guthrie, speaking directly to the public, says
- 0:45Speaker 1: someone knows something that can bring her home. But she
- 0:48Speaker 1: says her mom might already be reunited with her daddy
- 0:52Speaker 1: in heaven.
- 0:52Speaker 2: We also know that she may be lost. She may
- 0:56Speaker 2: already be gone. She may have already gone home to
- 0:59Speaker 2: the Lord that she loves. But we need to know
- 1:02Speaker 2: where she is. For that reason, we are offering a
- 1:06Speaker 2: family reward of up to one million dollars for any
- 1:10Speaker 2: information that leads us to her recovery.
- 1:13Speaker 1: At least one ransom note demanding millions of dollars in
- 1:16Speaker 1: cryptocurrency turned out to be fake, and a California man
- 1:20Speaker 1: has been charged. CNN reports a group of Mexican volunteer
- 1:24Speaker 1: searchers known as Los Mandres buscardorreest Sonora. The searching mothers
- 1:29Speaker 1: of Sonora, have traveled to Arizona to help, some handing
- 1:33Speaker 1: out flyers, while others are searching near the border town
- 1:36Speaker 1: of Nogalis. Mexican authorities say there is no evidence Guthrie
- 1:40Speaker 1: is in Mexico. Investigators on both sides of the border
- 1:43Speaker 1: have been alerted to the search as part of routine procedure,
- 1:46Speaker 1: but investigators have pushed back on growing volunteer search efforts
- 1:50Speaker 1: around the Catalina Foothills. The Pima County Sheriff's Department asks
- 1:54Speaker 1: civilians not to conduct independent searches, warning that uncoordinated activity
- 1:59Speaker 1: could disturb evidence and interfere with the investigation. The share
- 2:03Speaker 1: of denied a permit for a field search by Los
- 2:06Speaker 1: Madres authorities also reminded the public that private property laws
- 2:10Speaker 1: apply and urged anyone with information to submit tips instead
- 2:13Speaker 1: of searching on their own. Meanwhile, nearly forty thousand tips
- 2:17Speaker 1: have poured in hundreds of investigators continue to comb the
- 2:21Speaker 1: desert around Tuson. For more on the case of Nancy
- 2:24Speaker 1: Guthrie joined Crime Stories with Nancy Grace six pm Eastern
- 2:27Speaker 1: on Sirius Exam Triumph Channel one to eleven and streaming
- 2:30Speaker 1: exclusively on Fox one for the first twenty four hours.
- 2:34Speaker 1: More crime and justice news After this, Corey Richins returns
- 2:43Speaker 1: to court after jurors watch body camera video and hear
- 2:46Speaker 1: detailed testimony about her actions in the moments after her
- 2:49Speaker 1: husband was found unresponsive. Prosecutors say Corey Rinchins fatally poisoned
- 2:54Speaker 1: her husband Eric Richins with fentanyl in their home in
- 2:57Speaker 1: Utah in March twenty twenty two, than publicly presented herself
- 3:01Speaker 1: as a grieving widow, even writing a children's book about it.
- 3:04Speaker 1: Deputy Vincent Wynn with the Summit County Sheriff's Office described
- 3:08Speaker 1: arriving at the home and seeing Corey Richards standing near
- 3:11Speaker 1: the doorway while paramedics worked on Eric Richards. The video
- 3:15Speaker 1: showed her crying, holding her head, and repeatedly asking if
- 3:18Speaker 1: he would be okay. When testified that her demeanor struck
- 3:21Speaker 1: him as unusual compared to other sudden death scenes he
- 3:25Speaker 1: had handled.
- 3:25Speaker 3: Well, I'm on scene at a death call. Normally you
- 3:31Speaker 3: know the victim. They have tears, They look at me
- 3:38Speaker 3: when I ask him a question, while they respond, They're
- 3:43Speaker 3: pretty direct when I ask a direct question. It just
- 3:48Speaker 3: every time I spoke to Miss Richins, just seems like
- 3:51Speaker 3: her face was in her hands and I couldn't see
- 3:54Speaker 3: her face.
- 3:55Speaker 1: Prosecutors used the bodycam footage to argue her responses did
- 3:59Speaker 1: not someone who had just discovered an unexpected medical emergency.
- 4:04Speaker 1: Jurors also heard Richard's explanation that her husband complained of
- 4:07Speaker 1: chest pain the night before and may have eaten a
- 4:09Speaker 1: THHC gummy. She said she slept in another bedroom and
- 4:13Speaker 1: heard nothing overnight. She told deputies she discovered him cold
- 4:16Speaker 1: early the next morning and immediately called for help. Medical
- 4:20Speaker 1: examiner doctor Pamela Ulmer, testified the autopsy found no traumatic injuries,
- 4:24Speaker 1: apart from rib fractures caused by CPR. Tests ruled out infection,
- 4:29Speaker 1: heart attack, and natural disease. She explained lung findings were
- 4:32Speaker 1: consistent with overdose, and toxicology later showed roughly five times
- 4:37Speaker 1: the lethal level of fentanyl in his system. Prosecutors alleged
- 4:41Speaker 1: Richards poisoned her husband for financial gain and to pursue
- 4:44Speaker 1: a new relationship. They pointed to life insurance benefits and
- 4:47Speaker 1: real estate transactions they claim followed the death. Defense attorneys
- 4:52Speaker 1: countered that investigators rushed to judgment and ignored alternative explanations,
- 4:57Speaker 1: arguing the overdose could have been accidental and that a
- 5:00Speaker 1: home scene may have not fully been processed before conclusions
- 5:03Speaker 1: were drawn. The trial unfolding in Utah is expected to
- 5:07Speaker 1: continue for about a month as jurors here additional forensic
- 5:10Speaker 1: experts and witnesses who knew the couple. The stepbrother of
- 5:14Speaker 1: Anna Keepner is now the main suspect, months after the
- 5:17Speaker 1: teen was found dead during a family cruise. Eighteen year
- 5:20Speaker 1: old Anna Kaepner was discovered on November seventh that bore
- 5:23Speaker 1: the Carnival horizon. A housekeeper found her under a bed
- 5:27Speaker 1: in the cabin she shared with her sixteen year old stepbrother,
- 5:29Speaker 1: whose name has not been revealed. Investigators later determined she
- 5:33Speaker 1: died from asphyxiation consistent with an arm placed across the neck.
- 5:37Speaker 1: The ship returned to Miami the next day, and the
- 5:40Speaker 1: FBI opened a federal investigation because the death occurred in
- 5:43Speaker 1: international waters. The teenager was quietly identified as a suspect
- 5:48Speaker 1: early in the case, but the public has only learned
- 5:50Speaker 1: of the formal charges through court filings tied to a
- 5:53Speaker 1: custody dispute inside the family. Documents filed by his biological
- 5:58Speaker 1: father state the boy was charged fib A third by
- 6:00Speaker 1: the U. S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida.
- 6:04Speaker 1: Much of the filing remains redacted, and federal prosecutors have
- 6:08Speaker 1: not publicly described the exact counts because juvenile cases are sealed.
- 6:12Speaker 1: The filing also reveals the turmoil inside the household after
- 6:16Speaker 1: the cruise. According to the document, the boy was expelled
- 6:19Speaker 1: from the home immediately after the trip, and family social
- 6:22Speaker 1: media posts referenced wanting justice and punishment. His father is
- 6:26Speaker 1: now seeking sole custody of the suspect's younger sister, arguing
- 6:30Speaker 1: the situation is unsafe and emotionally damaging for the child.
- 6:34Speaker 1: Family members have described the moments leading up to the death.
- 6:38Speaker 1: Relatives say yelling was heard inside the cabin the night
- 6:41Speaker 1: before Anna was found. The teen's mother later said he
- 6:44Speaker 1: repeatedly claimed he could not remember what happened. Court records
- 6:48Speaker 1: also reference possible alcohol consumption aboard the ship and concerns
- 6:52Speaker 1: about supervision of the miners. Earlier this month, cameras captured
- 6:56Speaker 1: the step brother entering federal court in Miami, wearing a
- 6:59Speaker 1: camouflage and keeping his face hidden as attorneys escorted him inside.
- 7:04Speaker 1: The hearing itself was sealed and reporters were not allowed
- 7:07Speaker 1: to attend. Anna, who was a high school senior and
- 7:10Speaker 1: cheerleader with plans to join the Navy, had told relatives
- 7:13Speaker 1: she felt unwell the night before she died and returned
- 7:16Speaker 1: to the cabin. Her body was found wrapped in a
- 7:18Speaker 1: blanket and covered with life jackets. The FBI has declined
- 7:22Speaker 1: to discuss evidence publicly, and the case remained sealed as
- 7:25Speaker 1: federal investigators continue building the prosecution. A three year old
- 7:29Speaker 1: Arizona girl is found safe after a statewide amber alert
- 7:32Speaker 1: leads police to a Phoenix gas station and the arrest
- 7:35Speaker 1: of a house guest. Investigators say the child's parents had
- 7:39Speaker 1: allowed twenty three year old Marina Noriega to stay in
- 7:42Speaker 1: their Avondale home because she said she needed a place
- 7:45Speaker 1: to sleep. By morning, both the toddler and the woman
- 7:47Speaker 1: were gone, triggering an urgent search across the valley. KPHO
- 7:52Speaker 1: reports a gas station security guard believed he spotted the child.
- 7:56Speaker 1: Witness Kevin Place, was with a moving crew stopped at
- 7:59Speaker 1: the station the time.
- 8:00Speaker 4: Overheard the security guard that works there often talking. I'm
- 8:04Speaker 4: assuming to the police about the girl and that he
- 8:07Speaker 4: thinks that he'd just seen her in there.
- 8:09Speaker 1: Kevin's co worker, Ralph Bolmert, says they then acted to
- 8:12Speaker 1: stop the suspect from leaving thanks to the third member
- 8:15Speaker 1: of their crew.
- 8:16Speaker 4: I said, that's the little girls in that truck, and
- 8:19Speaker 4: then Robert came up with the idea, I'm just going
- 8:22Speaker 4: to leave the truck right here then, so he couldn't leave.
- 8:24Speaker 1: Kevin Place described the moment police arrived and the impact
- 8:28Speaker 1: of the case.
- 8:28Speaker 4: It was thur real, as you know, you get the
- 8:31Speaker 4: ambulets a lot, and you don't hardly you know that
- 8:33Speaker 4: you never see the people they're asking for. But super
- 8:36Speaker 4: glad that the ambulert worked out this time.
- 8:39Speaker 1: Court records say the suspect initially claimed to be the
- 8:41Speaker 1: child's mother and that the child was her long lost daughter,
- 8:44Speaker 1: before admitting she had made a mistake. Officers also reported
- 8:48Speaker 1: drug paraphernalia was found. As stated in.
- 8:51Speaker 5: Court, defendant admitted that a glass pipe was located on
- 8:56Speaker 5: her person during the search, and she admitted to you
- 9:00Speaker 5: using smoking methamphetamine the day before and that was during
- 9:05Speaker 5: the time she had control of the child.
- 9:08Speaker 1: During a virtual court appearance held over Microsoft teams, the
- 9:11Speaker 1: defendant stood alone at a podium in a quiet courtroom,
- 9:14Speaker 1: resting her head on her elbow while facing a laptop
- 9:17Speaker 1: as attorneys and court staff appeared in small boxes on
- 9:20Speaker 1: the screen. Authorities say the child was not physically harmed
- 9:24Speaker 1: and has been reunited with her family. Noriega remains jailed
- 9:27Speaker 1: on a custodial interference charge. For the latest crime and
- 9:31Speaker 1: justice news, follow crime alert early update on your favorite
- 9:34Speaker 1: podcast staff with this crime alert, I'm Drew Nelson.