As the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie continues for a third week, an excerpt from Savannah Guthrie’s 2024 book has resurfaced in which the “Today” anchor describes a game she played as a child with her family. In her book, she wrote that most summers, her older cousin Teri “orchestrated a kidnapping of my sister and me.”
CNN first pointed out the excerpt in a report on February 6, 2026, but the story has gained traction online after the excerpt was discussed on both Megyn Kelly’s and Bobby Bones’ radio shows on February 17. Guthrie shared details of the game in her bestseller, “Mostly What God Does,” as part of a story about her faith, but similarities to the real-life tragedy playing out since Guthrie’s mom disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona, home are rather stunning.
Savannah Guthrie’s Book Described Childhood Kidnapping Game in Detail
During Kelly’s SiriusXM show on February 17, she played a clip of Savannah’s audio book, in which the news anchor detailed a mock “kidnapping” game she, her sister Annie, and their older cousin Teri would play each summer.
Savannah starts the story by sharing, “About once a year, in the summertime, cousin Teri orchestrated a kidnapping of my sister and me. It went down like this. The cousins would visit for a few days at our house in Tucson, and then on the morning they were to leave, Teri would wake us up early, shushing us in the pre-dawn darkness.”
“As we made our escape,” the excerpt continues, “we would all pile into her rickety station wagon and head north. The sky streaking with bright oranges and pink. As the sun rose over the colorless desert landscape somewhere between Phoenix and Tucson, Teri would make a pit stop and let Annie and me call home at a pay phone: ‘Mom, cousin Teri kidnapped us to take us to her house!’ My mother would feign shock, protest how terribly she would miss us, and assure us she’d drive up to retrieve us in a few days.”
Fans have had mixed reactions to Kelly’s airing of Savannah’s recording, with over 2,500 weighing in on Kelly’s YouTube video of the discussion. Some have expressed shock about the game — including one who wrote, “I’m sorry who plays an abduction game ???? what are we hearing . THIS IS NOT NORMAL” — while others have criticized Kelly for bringing it up in the first place.
“Y’all are making something out of nothing,” one wrote on her Instagram page. “It was a silly game and obviously the Mom and Aunt knew the Aunt was taking the girls to her house. It was a surprise and something fun at that time. Yes the choice of word for the game is ironic and now in our days in poor choice.”
Savannah Guthrie Said Kidnapping Game Led Her to Favorite Scripture & Deeper Faith
According to CNN, Savannah wrote that during one of those mock kidnappings, her cousin shared a piece of scripture, specifically Psalm 23, with her — which includes the declaration ‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you (God) are with me.’ It became one of Savannah’s favorite scriptures.
“Psalm 23 is our secret code, God and me,” Savannah wrote in her book. “Sometimes in moments of need, it appears out of nowhere.”
She continued, “Wide awake and beset by anxiety, I turn to (Psalm 23) for meditation, a way to train my focus on something other than my worries and fears.”
Radio Hosts Discuss Savannah Guthrie’s ‘Eerie’ Book Excerpt
In addition to Kelly’s broadcast, the book excerpt was brought up on the “Bobby Bones Show” on February 17, when Bones’ co-host Amy Brown asked if he’d heard about it.
After she explained the excerpt, Bones was quick to say, “I’m not gonna judge that. I played a lot of dumb games … That just sounds like a crazy coincidence.”
Many of his listeners were stunned by the story, though, flooding an Instagram post featuring the show clip with reactions like “WHAT!!!!!!!!!!! 🤯” and another who wrote, “Yes it’s waaaaaaayyy crazy. I don’t think it’s coincidence.”
Kelly, meanwhile, shared the excerpt with former FBI agents Maureen O’Connell and Jonathan Gilliam on her radio show, wondering if there might be any connection to the ongoing case.
After playing the clip from Savannah’s audio book, Kelly called the story “eerie” and said, “I’m not suggesting cousin Teri is behind this, but I’m suggesting that just the mere discussion of kidnapping amongst the Guthrie family is potentially the kind of thing that could put an idea in somebody’s head, could potentially be relevant in trying to track down where somebody first got the notion of a kidnapping.”
Surprised by the level of detail in the story, Gilliam told her, “I’m not saying people should go down this rabbit hole, but as law enforcement, I don’t rule these things out because if the sheriff’s never heard this before, this would be something that I would definitely look into.”
I listened to a spirit box reading..Nancys spirit..is still in the house..per Nancys spirit or guides…I heard Nancys spirit…say she’s buried at Savannahs favorite place to stop on that trip playing kidnap game…theres been numerous readings regarding water and mountains..she stated that she’s near a Quik Trip Its probably nothing…but it keeps pulling at me…I too played alot of crazy games as a kid…no judgement…just feel awful for the families!! #BringNancyHome