PHOENIX — The no-parking zone around the home of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie's mother where journalists and social media streamers have stationed themselves over the past three weeks since her disappearance is being widened in response to bitter complaints from neighbors about congested roads, trespassing and trash left alongside roadways.
Pima County officials say an effort over the weekend to have one-way traffic flow on the road in front of Nancy Guthrie’s house in the Catalina Foothills just outside Tucson hasn’t worked as they hoped, leading to expanded parking restrictions.
The new restrictions take effect Thursday. Authorities say journalists and streamers can still have access to the area, but they will have to park elsewhere and get dropped off in the neighborhood. Violators would face a $250 fine. The constant presence of news crews, bloggers and curious onlookers has drawn mixed reaction from neighbors. Some appreciated the attention the case has been getting. Others have placed traffic cones and signs on their properties to keep people off.
Authorities say the tents, generators and satellite trucks set up along the road have created congestion and safety concerns.
Holly Vatter, who lives on a street perpendicular to the one Guthrie’s house sits on, said the neighborhood used to be peaceful but now looks like a parking lot. She said she used to see fewer than a handful of cars travel down her road in a day, but they now “constantly” pass through or park on her street.
She’s learned to keep her blinds down, avoids opening her screen door in the morning and afternoon to prevent hearing TV newscasters and doesn’t want to sit in her backyard because drones are flying overhead. She said it was stressful to wind through the traffic to get to and from a surgery she is now recovering from and that she paused hair appointments with her clients who planned to come to her home.
“Nobody wants to, like, drive through a media circus to come to an appointment,” Vatter said.
Vatter’s street will be impacted by the parking restriction, and she’s hopeful it’ll offer some reprieve from the “chaotic” environment.
Neighbor Laura Gargano said she doesn't mind the media presence because it creates a “safety cocoon" in addition to any law enforcement around for neighbors worried about crime. More people on the streets seems to be a good thing, she said.
“I think it’s a good thing to keep for the purposes of the investigation to keep the investigation front and center,” she said.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home just outside Tucson on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will. Drops of her blood were found on the front porch, but authorities haven't publicly revealed much evidence.
Despite the sheriff's request for people not to search on their own, volunteers have continued to look. A small group reported finding a black backpack on Sunday, but it wasn't the same brand as one identified in video surveillance that the FBI released of a masked person at Guthrie's home the night she disappeared.
Journalists and streamers aren’t the only people to go into the neighborhood. Supporters of the Guthrie family have showed up outside of the home to drop off flowers, yellow ribbons, crosses and prayers.
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