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

[Love Never Fails]

IMO/MOO it has always been about a personal grievance. I've also come to the conclusion, again, IMO/MOO, that the guy at the front door was there on an assignment. Someone else mentioned his body language along with the word assignment and that really resonated with me.

That seems more likely every day. I feel so bad for her and her family.

 

[SMK777]

This is a general question for the group. Would you have suspicions if you noted a reporter who had referred to Nancy in the past tense (i.e. she "was" vs. "is) - more than once - during an interview that took place on February 2nd?

Wondering if I stand alone in thinking that's kind of bizarre, especially so early on?

That sort of slip has always been deemed suspicious when spoken by a family member or a friend or neighbor ( for example, a husband reports his wife missing, and then keeps referring to her in the past tense: 'she was a wonderful person', etc.)

I don't know that it's ever been pointed out about a reporter, or if it's likely to be the same kind of slip coming from them.

 

[Love Never Fails]

What still strikes me as completely implausible is an 84 yo woman answering her front door after 1:30 a.m. Even if the suspect was banging on it - even more reason not to answer it. I would imagine if the noise woke her up, she would be frightened and check her phone.
~moo~

That’s how i would react also. I would have called my daughter also. But Nancy had lived there for fifty years. Probably felt very safe. If someone had actually banged on her door, she may have thought they were really in need of help. I feel like LE are holding back crucial video or evidence for some good reason.

 

[aafromaa]

Question for all WSers...

Which do you think is more likely - finding NG will lead to finding the perp(s) or finding the perp(s) will lead to finding NG?

 

[keek]

That’s how i would react also. I would have called my daughter also. But Nancy had lived there for fifty years. Probably felt very safe. If someone had actually banged on her door, she may have thought they were really in need of help. I feel like LE are holding back crucial video or evidence for some good reason.

Everything is really held back. We have that bit of awful video from the front porch. Don't know if there IS more as they were working on it, but. Not that WE HAVE to know per LE, anything. See something, say something, camera shots, any unusual noises are asked for, during a time frame for the investigators, but that's it for now. IMO

 

[keek]

Question for all WSers...

Which do you think is more likely - finding NG will lead to finding the perp(s) or finding the perp(s) will lead to finding NG?

Def the perps to NG. IF they feel like talking. IMO

 

[factseeking]

Question for all WSers...

Which do you think is more likely - finding NG will lead to finding the perp(s) or finding the perp(s) will lead to finding NG?

I think at this point its more likely finding the perp would lead to finding NG if the perp is still alive.

 

[EncyclopediaBrownJr]

Question for all WSers...

Which do you think is more likely - finding NG will lead to finding the perp(s) or finding the perp(s) will lead to finding NG?

Finding the perp first.

NG could be anywhere in that desert.

 

[SMK777]

Question for all WSers...

Which do you think is more likely - finding NG will lead to finding the perp(s) or finding the perp(s) will lead to finding NG?

I somehow think it's the second.
(My fear if it's the first would be finding her remains but not the suspect.)

 

[EncyclopediaBrownJr]

Def the perps to NG. IF they feel like talking. IMO

There are certain cases where I’m on the Russell Crowe/LA Confidential side of interrogations.

This is one of them.

 

[keek]

There are certain cases where I’m on the Russell Crowe/LA Confidential side of interrogations.

This is one of them.

Never saw but I think I know what you're saying...RC and all.

 

[warp3dwing]

---

This is simply my perspective, and I apologize if it seems like I keep repeating the same theory. I don’t mean to sound like I’m stuck on it, but I just can’t shake this line of thinking, so please bear with me.


I’ve followed a (now) retired FBI profiler for years, and something she once said has stayed with me. In cases involving an elderly woman who lives alone and is sexually assaulted and murdered, she noted that the most statistically likely suspect is often someone very close by, sometimes even a neighbor’s teenage son.


That’s what makes me wonder whether investigators, both the FBI and local Pima County detectives, might be casting too wide a net because NG is SG’s mother. Given the public profile of the family, it’s understandable that they would consider high-level or complex scenarios. But sometimes the truth isn’t elaborate or far-reaching. Sometimes it’s much closer to home.

I agree. And I sure hope close neighbors are on LE's radar. The neighborhood is a maze of streets and dead-ends, some with pedestrian gates. A true local would know the ways to get through the neighborhood with minimal camera exposure.

For me, either a local sexual predator, stalker, and/or murderer has to stay on the list of possibilities because other theories are making less sense to me now. There are infinite ways to pull off a crime - including modern high tech skills - but the reasons to commit them seems to be one of just a few options. Same selfish, sick human reasons. Sex, money, revenge, etc.

You could get two or more people to go along with a kidnapping for money or ideological reasons. Desires align. Six mil split between two or three? Not bad.

But if this was an actual kidnapping, plans would be in place to ensure Nancy's survival. Communications and demands would come in quick, and proof of life would be sent. Same for ideological reasons. We'd head all about whatever it is they want.

This didn't happen. So, either they're the worst group of kidnappers ever, or it's some other explanation. That's why I'm moving away from more than one person being involved.

Even if it was a solo kidnapping, they blew it. All that RISK for nothing! Maybe, but that'd be just so crazy of a screw up.

So, I think it could be exactly as you said. A sort of new breed of sexual predator where they remove the kind of evidence you can't get away with leaving in 2026. Or maybe it's not sexual and he's just a sick sadist.

Although, it could be a personal vendetta for a real or perceived grudge.

And sorry to go on, but I'm been trying to think about age brackets when it comes to motive. Like, if he's in his 20s, I could see a sexual or sadistic motive, but I can't see this level of hassle for a perceived grudge for a young man. It'd be more impulsive.

Savannah is in her 50s and Nancy in her 80s. If it's a personal vendetta or even an obsessive infatuation, would you expect it to be someone closer to at least Savannah's age? How old could this suspect be, if he's stayed relatively fit?

Hypothetically, if it IS someone from nearby, and it isn't a sicko teen male, then it's someone with money and capability; that sure is a tony neighborhood.

IMO, of course.

 

[shonyakay]

Are we even sure Nancy's front door was locked?

What if she always used her Garage door entrance into her house? The garage entrance is where it is believed a family member dropped her off that night. Due to the garage door opening and closing.

When someone here mentioned Lantana man looked like he was going to bang on the front door before he blocked the camera I agreed but having watched it numerous times since it now appears like he notices it out of the corner of his eye and then brings his hand up like he is pretending to knock at the door.
Then he immediately begins to try and block the camera's view of him.

 

[Bluewing3102]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2025685640743198767

 

[shonyakay]

With that said, if there was "forced entry" into her home which hasn't been confirmed then her front door was probably locked because you would think that would be one of the first places he would check for an entrance.

 

[factseeking]

Are we even sure Nancy's front door was locked?

What if she always used her Garage door entrance into her house? The garage entrance is where it is believed a family member dropped her off that night. Due to the garage door opening and closing.

When someone here mentioned Lantana man looked like he was going to bang on the front door before he blocked the camera I agreed but having watched it numerous times since it now appears like he notices it out of the corner of his eye and then brings his hand up like he is pretending to knock at the door.
Then he immediately begins to try and block the camera's view of him.

I haven't seen anything from LE about whether the front door was locked or the back door or any other doors at her home. MOO is she used that garage door most often because of the steps on the front walk and that front door with the metal screen looks harder to open.

 

[Charlot123]

This is a general question for the group. Would you have suspicions if you noted a reporter who had referred to Nancy in the past tense (i.e. she "was" vs. "is) - more than once - during an interview that took place on February 2nd?

Wondering if I stand alone in thinking that's kind of bizarre, especially so early on?

I heard about this case as soon as it hit the news on February 1. That day, I was diligently correcting my posts from “was” to “is”. 50% of my thoughts were, “I hope they took her meds”, and 50%, “it is probably too late”. I didn’t think she was killed, I just felt that she would have a slim chance to survive the episode. Sadly, one can be “sharp” and “frail”. I still feel so; I mostly try to respect the hopes of the people who still have them, so I change “was” to “is”. But if on February 1st some reporter, being there in Tucson, used “was”, and not “is”, I’d just assume that to him, it felt hopeless, and never think twice of it.

 

[EncyclopediaBrownJr]

Never saw but I think I know what you're saying...RC and all.

Great movie. I think the last of the Russell Crowe type of interrogations were US intelligence/special forces against terrorists during the Global War on Terror.

I get why it’s passe in LE interrogations today, I really do but I think it’s effective if your sure beyond a reasonable doubt if you have the bad guy.

MOO

 

[Love Never Fails]

That seems more likely every day. I feel so bad for her and her family.

ETA: I am wondering if the perp is even a stalker. I wonder if he was a day worker, maybe an illegal with a grudge against citizens and maybe she said something to him/her. Maybe told them they were doing the work wrong or to get off her property? People are losing their minds over the simplest slight and its very possible. Maybe the perp was in her home for 41 minutes because he tied her up and looked for valuables but didn't find any. I pray she is alive now.

 

[TBYOOL]

That sort of slip has always been deemed suspicious when spoken by a family member or a friend or neighbor ( for example, a husband reports his wife missing, and then keeps referring to her in the past tense: 'she was a wonderful person', etc.)

I don't know that it's ever been pointed out about a reporter, or if it's likely to be the same kind of slip coming from them.

Why is it necessarily a slip? A reporter’s choice of verb tense may be absolutely appropriate or merely poor grammar. The same for a family member or friend of a crime victim. I would hope that police would already be suspicious about someone before considering verb tense as a sign of potential guilt. This level of parsing people’s grammar might be one reason some people don’t make public statements. Of course, only my opinion.