Nancy Guthrie, 84, (mother of TODAY Show host Savannah Guthrie) missing - last seen in the Catalina foothills area on Jan 31, 2026

[LaLaw2000]

It's flowers that he is picking up, not rope -

At timestamp 0:24 in this video:

I think a part of the video is missing. At one point it looks like he does have something larger than flowers folded over in his hands. The video is broken up. It is not smooth and continuous. I can see when he has the flowers.

 

[Cassie P]

He thought he needed a weapon. I heard someone on TV comment that there are coyotes out there. Evidently he thought he might need it. He was taking his time in front of the house and that is one of the reasons I thought he may have already been in the house. He was way too calm. Did Nancy have a motion sensing light on the porch?

Clean up guys at a crime scene would be foolish to start shooting coyotes in the middle of the night. And if he was the clean up guy he did a terrible job. He left blood all over the front entrance way. And all the plant material.

 

[Cassie P]

I think a part of the video is missing. At one point it looks like he does have something larger than flowers folded over in his hands. The video is broken up. It is not smooth and continuous. I can see when he has the flowers.

So LE cut parts of the video out before showing it to the public?

 

[Cassie P]

I was thinking the same thing. The mouth flashlight is not something I see often.

1. What occupations use a mouth flashlight?
2. Has a mouth flashlight been featured in recent TV, movie, online games?

 

[LaLaw2000]

So LE cut parts of the video out before showing it to the public?

Most likely. They are not showing/telling the public everything.

 

[LaLaw2000]

Clean up guys at a crime scene would be foolish to start shooting coyotes in the middle of the night. And if he was the clean up guy he did a terrible job. He left blood all over the front entrance way. And all the plant material.

Well, let me ask you if a snarling coyote was coming at you and you had a weapon, wouldn't you use it?
Also, I did not say he was was a clean up guy. He was after the camera and probably checking for any other cameras he could find.

 

[VicBlazey]

The FBI knows what time the masked guy was on the front porch. The video footage wasn't time stamped for us to see but the time would be known from the sequences of captures from the camera, not just that night. The FBI is not going to tell us it seems. I think the guy had already been in the house and the backpack had the indoor cameras in it, possibly a laptop and tablet. Plus any jewelry, cash, and small electronics that would fit. I don't think he worked alone and the other guy or girl was still in the house with Nancy probably making her get dressed and so forth. (if it was a kidnapping). Nancy was probably bleeding from fighting back.
They were probably parked a distance away, and one of them also had to get the vehicle they left in to transport Nancy because we know she couldn't have walked very far.
I stopped posting very much when I saw the pics and video of the masked guy because it literally make me nauseous to think that it was what Nancy was awakened to.
I so hope that the gloves are not a plant by another sick monster. The gloves will leave prints due to the oils in the skin. I have to wonder if the gloves were turned inside out when found. Someone using gloves very often will pull the gloves off inside out.
I have no hope of catching up because the thread is moving so fast. The family has been on my mind nonstop since this senseless tragedy happened.

Really interesting theory. Of course what we don't have, but LE do, is the sound that accompanies this doorbell footage. If your theory is correct, you would hope that they can hear audio from inside the house - hopefully NG making as much noise as she possibly could.

 

[luc1fer12]

My initial reaction was home invasion gone wrong when this first happened. Perhaps the perp(s) had items in the backpack to tie up the homeowner(s) while he ransacked.

Perhaps NG fought back/told him who she was and promised to get him more $? So then he took her in hopes of a bigger payday?

Does a clean up guy need a gun hanging from his belt?
ETA: The gun was meant to intimidate others, the clean up guy doesn't need to do that. Unless it is just immature bravado.

Clean up guy sent to the home of an abduction or murder is bound to be jumpy. He can’t be sure no one would show up at the house, or already be there when he arrived. What if some way, some how the family or authorities were alerted by an alarm system the intruders weren’t aware of.

I’m not suggesting my explanation is the case. But put yourself in the shoes of potential clean up guy. You are entering a crime scene where any number of unexpected things could happen.

 

[NoeticSoul]

I was hoping for some good news this morning. This case has been twisting my brain into a pretzel. Hoping Nancy is recovered or rescued soon!

 

[LaLaw2000]

Really interesting theory. Of course what we don't have, but LE do, is the sound that accompanies this doorbell footage. If your theory is correct, you would hope that they can hear audio from inside the house - hopefully NG making as much noise as she possibly could.

At some point they probably could hear inside audio before the cameras inside was ripped out. That is a large house and Nancy may have been gagged fairly soon.

 

[LaLaw2000]

I was hoping for some good news this morning. This case has been twisting my brain into a pretzel. Hoping Nancy is recovered or rescued soon!

Hello, NoeticSoul. Been a long time. I hope for the same things. I was hoping the medical helicopter the other night had Nancy aboard enroute to the hospital. The helicopter was in the air at the same time the house search of the guy LE had stopped and detained.

 

[Spectrix]

dbm

 

[girlhasnoname]

1. What occupations use a mouth flashlight?
2. Has a mouth flashlight been featured in recent TV, movie, online games?

I know someone who uses one. He works on big injection molding machines that have dark barrels with lots of moving parts, and needs light but his hands free. I'm sure there are many other uses.

 

[ssarahbg]

I agree with some of this. Think about the calculus of risk and complexity vs. payout. Kidnapping seems like a high-risk, complicated, messy affair with a low liklihood of success (whatever the goal) and a high liklihood of things going sideways quickly. It seems mad, frankly. Why risk it?

Defrauding seniors of their retirement over the phone seems like a less risky and "more likely to succeed" approach to extortion. (I'm not endorsing this.) That's me assuming that the goal of a kidnapping is extortion.

I think this was something else, went sideways, and became an unplanned kidnapping.

However @ssarahbg : What goal do you think was driving a strategy of scaring her? To what end?

Maybe to get her to sell the home? Move away? Someone who wants the property or could benefit from the sell. Again just MOO

 

[unresolvedmystery]

So... he's proposing that Savannah Guthrie kidnapped her own mum and is now trying to extort money from herself via bitcoin. Can he not comprehend how ridiculous this sounds?

While it may not be SG, I firmly believe that family are involved in this and LE are just waiting to prove it

 

[connie9030]

is it possible that the mask is designed to look like a person wearing a mask and therefore those are not real facial features that we see. and perhaps it has a built in light where your mouth would be. This person appears to be old and weak to me. Perhaps a love interest of NG. Maybe he walked her to his house.

Most think he is holding a small flashlight between his teeth. He knew it would be pitch black on the front porch. Darkness is a criminal's friend. That's why he was in no hurry working at the front door. I would not live in a town where I can't at least have a porch light, especially if not allowed to have street lights.

 

[Curiousobserver]

My amateur's investigative advice:

This guy looks relaxed like he has done this before. He went right for that foliage to cover the camera. Speculation: that has worked for him before somewhere else. Look for burglaries with that detail.

I am still of the opinion that this was a burglary gone wrong/SA. The person knew Nancy from some casual encounter as a laborer or delivery person or the criminal was lurking around that neighborhood looking for the darkest house.

 

[connie9030]

Does a clean up guy need a gun hanging from his belt?
ETA: The gun was meant to intimidate others, the clean up guy doesn't need to do that. Unless it is just immature bravado.

Yes, I agree those a good points. I can't wait to see how much bravado this guy exhibits when LE puts handcuffs on him!

 

[Mauig’ma]

1. What occupations use a mouth flashlight?
2. Has a mouth flashlight been featured in recent TV, movie, online games?

I’m a woman who owns a thin pencil like light. I keep it in my vehicle. I too put it in my mouth to use for searching for things dropped down the sides of my seat. Grandkids lose a lot of things in between seats. Candy, money, bus tags, gloves etc. I’m retired and have no other need for it except finding the lost items. Moo imo

 

[Cassie P]

So... he's proposing that Savannah Guthrie kidnapped her own mum and is now trying to extort money from herself via bitcoin. Can he not comprehend how ridiculous this sounds?

It sounds like he wants SG to put pressure on others to get a lie detector test?
This guy's statement is rubbing me the wrong way too.