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

[Strangeworld]

I would assume if LE were able to confirm the contact from the church goer, it would be on the timeline. Have they not been able to confirm this? As the timeline stands, it just says the family go to check on her - why? Its a gap in the timeline that leaves an open question

 

[ms-t]

Never really watch the Today Show. Does Savannah Guthrie commentate on politics quite a bit? Hard to not think this was a targeted situation because of Savannah's job.

She is a newscaster - she covers the headlines of the day, not all politics. She is not a political talk person like you might find on talk radio or one of the more politically oriented news channels.

 

[SRWCF]

exactly....lots of assumptions about old people here.

Agreed. My mom was recently placed in memory care. While living independently, she could definitely be difficult at times when trying to exercise her independence because it was clear she needed to be in a care facility. That being said, I would never describe her as being "bossy", per se. "Adamant" or a "stickler", maybe. She would often say that I was the one being bossy, though!

 

[HoveringWombats]

Sometimes when it is high up person who gets it as hearsay THEY are the ones to misinterpret. High up sometimes jsut can mean NOT DIRECTLY in the investigation but being informed by a colleague. This can lead to errors in understanding and communication

As someone who used to be high up (USED TO BE is the key phrase, and why I now have time to read this entire thread ), though not in law enforcement, this is very accurate. While I tried to stay on top of important things that were happening in the areas I was responsible for, there were often several layers of translation and details could easily be lost or misinterpreted. I always trust information from the people who are hands-on more than from higher ups who are probably operating in good faith but just don't know what they don't know.

 

[Wsimm]

First we couldn’t believe it took them so long to call 911 which didn’t end up being true. And now there is an hour between the parishioner call to the family and then heading over there

It would be interesting to know how many phone calls were made from AG’s phone to her mom’s between 11am when AG was informed her mom was a no show at church and AG’s arrival to her moms house at 11:56am? It’s been established that the distance between AG’s home and NG’s is 4 miles…approx 5-10 min drive depending on traffic.

 

[Trino]

I understand where your professor was coming from. I am a data nerd, I love it and the patterns that emerge from it. I apply data patterns to “typical” human behaviors and then gather as much info on the main players to inform interpretation of the unknowns. My amateur skill is aerial mapping and predicting recovery sites based on known factors. In this case, (if this is recovery) it will be extremely difficult with the vast desert. But I do know this. Perps rarely go far with a deceased soul in their vehicle. Sorry to be so creepy. I pray this dear lady is still on this side.

Amateur opinion and speculation

Lots of desert around Tucson.

 

[white rabbit]

NG is a senior with a few issues but doubt very much that she had home care in twice daily> I think most thinking like this are young. NG walks with a cane and take some meds...probably without much if any help. Unless I hear officials say different that is what I see and I am older doing the same.

JL (the neice's husband) said that DD and SIL take care of her on a daily basis. maybe just popping in or calling, we don't know. so i agree that she didn't have in home care.

i also agree that the uber is odd. whether my mom was capable of driving, incapable of driving, i'd never have her uber to my house 4 miles away. neither would my DH. one of us would get her no matter how 'busy' we were.

 

[ab01]

Ashleigh completely stands by her previous reporting, and has spoken to this source "three days in a row." He said today "sometimes when you're taking pot shots you are right on the target."

"Nest cams were smashed."

Talks about how sheriff didn't say no when pressed by a reporter on this.

Sheriff talked about a camera being missing (I must have missed this). So maybe "smashed" is just a semantic difference.

To me, either way it means the same thing. These cameras were physically manipulated by the perpetrator. It makes no difference if they were destroyed or taken.

Ashleigh then talks about her previous reporting that AC's car was seized. Talks about sherif saying it's "standard," which is further confirmation.

Talks about how sheriff has told various stories about who dropped Nancy off. Today he said "just family, we're going to go with family." He previously told the New York Times that it was TC.

Forced entry thing which Ashleigh reported. Today when asked the sheriff didn't dispute it, only attacking where it came from.

Talks about how sheriff originally said it was a kidnapping, but is now saying "maybe it is a kidnapping." "Not sure why they're hedging on that."

She definitely seems adamant about the quality of her sources and who Investigators believe is responsible. Now it could prove to be that investigators were on the wrong track and the investigation could go in a totally different direction. But I do believe that they are likely confident who committed this crime. I’ll also add that they were going door to door in AG neighborhood yesterday. While there’s many reasons why they would do that, one would be to check neighbors ring cameras to see if certain people came and went when they said they did. moo

 

[EJB123456]

Never really watch the Today Show. Does Savannah Guthrie commentate on politics quite a bit? Hard to not think this was a targeted situation because of Savannah's job.

Not from my perspective. I’ve watched her forever and wouldn’t have been able to tell you what political party she was from. When people started talking about the mom’s FB posts I even told my husband ‘I’m scared to look because I don’t want to think differently about Savannah’ (assuming they were like-minded).

She reads the news. She’s not a talking head like on cable news.

(my opinion only)

 

[keek]

Right. The only thing that matters is whether or not taking an Uber was out of character for NG (which as far as I know, the family hasn't mentioned).

Your last sentence made me chuckle. My youngest once called my oldest a "psychopath" because my oldest likes pineapple on his pizza. As far as I know there's no correlation between psychopathy and pizza toppings, but I could be wrong.

I'm hoping Nancy is found safe

Your youngest son is not wrong. IMO. There a lot of 'little things' we don't know of course, that would help 'us' understand such as this, was Uber a thing for NG? It does seem unusual to the rest of us as not having, IF they were able, to pick her up, meaning her son in law or daughter. I know it's not that far. IMO

 

[iluvmyelement]

yes I agree. She actually said something to the tune that she expected LE to push back on her claim like they always do.

She must have a huge amount of confidence in her source... if this person is directly involved in the case then I sort of tend to believe her. But again, she could have been told by her source that they were looking at the SIL first since he was last with Nancy and she interpreted that as the prime and only suspect at this time.

She seems very sharp to me and is an excellent communicator. I guess time will tell if it was true all along or not. If not, she has a lot of egg on her face.

She claims it was at least TWO high level sources and the fact that the feds were canvassing AG's neighborhood yesterday leads me to believe there may be something there. It's possible that two things can be true at the same time - what if the SIL had an accomplice who is the one who sent the ransom note (could be the band member or someone else).

 

[DS2021]

How the heck did he get her number? Everyone has cell phones it isn't like the old days when you could get peoples home phone numbers, man I am old.

I won't direct people on methods, but if you are familiar its unfortunately not terribly hard

 

[Deleted member 117884]

Never really watch the Today Show. Does Savannah Guthrie commentate on politics quite a bit? Hard to not think this was a targeted situation because of Savannah's job.

IMO, she is generally considered a likeable person, a grown-up version of the All-American girl next door.

She is also a journalist and has done interviews that apparently some people think were too tough. The media-literacy in our nation is at a disappointing low, IMO, and people seem to think the job of journalists asking questions means they have to be sweet.

However, in general, she does seem to be sweet. She is a religious woman of strong faith. She is also a lawyer. Smart, faithful, likeable would be apt words to describe her, imo. She's also attractive, which might attract certain attention from fans, fwiw.

my opinion

 

[justwannahelp]

Never really watch the Today Show. Does Savannah Guthrie commentate on politics quite a bit? Hard to not think this was a targeted situation because of Savannah's job.

She does, but she’s pleasant. It would be like having a friend you disagree with on politics but politics isn’t the center of your relationship. It’s not the focus of SG’s work. Does that make sense? She’s not like the view hostesses, for example. You know how you can have a discussion with “your friend you disagree with politically” about a recipe or gardening without it going sideways. I’d say it should be the same for SG. She’s pleasant

 

[gammagirl]

If the ransom-note writer is legit, why hasn't he contacted the family since the note?

jmopinion

I think any further contact is risky by the kidnapper. He/she apparently outlined what needed to happen. If family doesnt get proof of life, they have a decision to make.

 

[txsleuth70]

That's my conclusion too. You would be seen somewhere sometime entering and would be recorded forever if a subscription, why smash unless you already know the video is stored in the camera itself with temporary storage and nowhere else.

I don't think a house cleaner, gardener, electrician or anyone like that would know there is no subscription.. that is why I am leaning to a family member.

But if someone knew that there wasn't a subscription why would they even bother to take it? Maybe they weren't aware that it didn't save, but still.

 

[thefragile7393]

I won't direct people on methods, but if you are familiar its unfortunately not terribly hard

correct, if you have an electronic device its very easy

 

[DS2021]

Digital photos contain EXIF metadata. There are tools which can remove this metadata.

If they haven't already found this person they likely took numerous steps to evade detection. For the record I think this is a scam

 

[priyaya]

None of this makes sense
no robbery
questionable ransom letter to tmz days later
an elderly target with health issues
not targeted? no mention of savannah specifically
savannah has money, but not enough for this kind of drama
could have gone after that money a much easier way

 

[Idreamofgenie]

Question for Sleuthers: why do you think there are pieces of boxwood or other shrubbery by the front door? Near the doormat and drops of blood?