Detectives from the Pima County Sheriff's Department pulled a manhole cover off a septic tank behind Nancy Guthrie's Catalina Foothills home on Sunday, day eight of a search that has produced no suspects, no persons of interest, and no answers.

According to The Daily Caller, investigators searched a septic tank and manhole at Nancy Guthrie's Catalina Foothills home Sunday, marking a shift in the eight-day search for the missing mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie. Drone footage shows three officers opening a manhole cover in the backyard of the house and sticking a long pole inside. Correspondent Jonathan Hunt reported investigators were seen removing a manhole cover at the back of a "smaller building" on Guthrie's property. No information was released about what prompted the search or what, if anything, was recovered.

The grim scene unfolded just hours before a purported ransom deadline — and just hours after the missing woman's famous daughter went on camera and begged for her mother's life.

Eight days, no suspects

The latest developments come just eight days after the 84-year-old matriarch was last seen on January 31, before she was reported missing on the morning of February 1, after failing to turn up to Sunday church services. When relatives arrived at her home to check on her around noon, Nancy Guthrie was gone. They called 911 shortly after.

By February 2, the case had shifted from a missing person search to a criminal investigation. Evidence recovered from inside Guthrie's home indicated a crime had taken place. Her blood was also found on the porch of her home, according to the sheriff. A doorbell camera at her home was disconnected at about 1:45 a.m. Sunday morning, authorities said. Shortly before 2:30 a.m., her pacemaker app indicated it was disconnected from her phone, according to authorities.

And yet — eight days later — the Pima County Sheriff's Department posted this to X on Sunday:

"The Nancy Guthrie investigation is ongoing. Follow-up continues at multiple locations. No suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles have been identified. No scheduled press briefings. If any significant developments occur in the case, a press conference will be called."

That is not an update. That is a placeholder. The public statement amounts to: we are doing things, somewhere, and we will tell you if something happens. For the family of an 84-year-old woman taken from her home — a woman who takes medication daily that is critical for her health, and being without it "could be fatal," Nanos said — that is not remotely sufficient.

A family pushed to the breaking point

On Saturday evening, Savannah Guthrie — the NBC "Today" show host — posted a 22-second video to Instagram alongside her siblings, Annie and Camron Guthrie. Just hours before the search, Savannah Guthrie shared a heart-wrenching video plea to the suspected kidnappers while flanked by her sister and her brother, Camron Guthrie.

She spoke directly to whoever is holding her mother:

"We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we can have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay."

Three adult children, holding hands on camera, publicly offering to meet the demands of the people who took their 84-year-old mother in the middle of the night. That is where this investigation stands. Not with law enforcement closing in on a suspect — but with a family negotiating through Instagram.

The ransom demand

KGUN 9 in Tucson reported that it received a note that demanded $6 million before 5 p.m. local time Monday and threatened Nancy Guthrie's life if the family does not meet the deadline. The payment was demanded in Bitcoin.

That Monday deadline — 5 p.m. on February 9 — passed as this investigation churned forward with no visible progress toward identifying anyone responsible. Guthrie's current whereabouts remain unknown, and while one "imposter" has been arrested for a fake ransom demand, authorities have not confirmed if the $6 million note is authentic.

Multiple ransom notes were sent to media outlets — not to the family — including TMZ and local CNN and Tucson affiliates. Heith Janke, special agent in charge of the FBI's Phoenix field office, said the FBI believes that at least one of the notes is legitimate because it had facts associated with a deadline, along with a request for funds. The notes reportedly described items inside the home that only someone present at the crime scene would know about.

The fact that purported kidnappers chose to communicate their demands through media outlets rather than the family is itself extraordinary — and deeply troubling. It suggests either sophisticated manipulation of public pressure, or something else entirely. The FBI has acknowledged the notes; it has not confirmed their authenticity with any finality.

The search closes in — on the victim's own home

What makes Sunday's septic tank search so alarming is its location. Investigators weren't searching a remote property or a suspect's residence. They were probing the ground beneath the missing woman's own backyard.

That update comes after investigators conducted a late-night search of the nearby home of Annie Guthrie — the sister of the Today show host and Nancy Guthrie's daughter — on Saturday. On the night of Feb. 7, investigators spent at least three hours at the home of Guthrie's daughter, Annie Guthrie. Flashes were seen inside the residence as investigators appeared to take photographs, later emerging with several items.

The 84-year-old was last seen over a week ago after she was dropped off at her Tucson, Arizona, home by her daughter and son-in-law. Nancy had dinner at Annie's home that evening before being dropped off around 9:45 p.m. She was never seen again.

While the Pima County sheriff has said no suspects have been ruled out and no persons of interest have been identified, Fox News Digital learned yesterday from a gas station clerk that investigators have been seeking security video of an unidentified male. It is the first public indication that investigators may be tracking someone specific — even as official statements continue to say otherwise.

A case that demands more

There are aspects of this investigation that do not add up neatly. An 84-year-old woman is taken from a home in an upscale Tucson-area neighborhood. Her doorbell camera goes dark in the early morning hours. Her pacemaker disconnects. Blood is found on her porch. And eight days later, law enforcement has not publicly identified a single suspect, a single person of interest, or a single vehicle connected to her disappearance.

President Donald Trump told reporters on board Air Force One late Friday that the FBI may be nearing "definitive" answers in the case. Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Phoenix division, announced Feb. 5 that there will be a $50,000 reward for "information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance."

The FBI's involvement is significant. But the local investigation — run by the Pima County Sheriff's Department — has struggled to project either urgency or competence in its public-facing communications. There is a difference between protecting the integrity of an investigation and offering the public nothing at all. Families and communities deserve to know that someone is driving this forward with purpose.