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

[maskedwoman]

I think they may have thought responses to that may have gotten too political.

I see your point in what you were trying to communicate for sure.

Yes. Basically, he said they have identified NO PRIMARY SUSPECT(S)/NO PERSON OF INTEREST.

Additionally, he did emphasize that nobody has been cleared, and they are looking at everybody at this point.

I interpret that as "we have no persons of interest that I'm willing to talk about in front of cameras".

 

[diggndeeperstill]

Another theory-

FBI is obviously taking over case as evidenced by Sheriff having to be told by his wife that the family plea video was on insta.

Let’s say AB source is FBI related. Why would they want it leaked? My thoughts-

•Watch POI and see response
•Prompt conversations with family or spouse. -wiretaps
•Force or pressure to provide evidence not able to get without a warrant- think cellebrite going into AG and TC’s home the other day.
•prompt others to report other “bad behavior”
•stave off other bad tips, ransoms, etc.

We have to remember the car was taken for evidence BEFORE this leak. (I get the necessity of that as well, just for prosecution and to be able to say you looked at all angles to defense).
—— How long would it take to process that car? DNA, Berla, all the things?
——In what scenario could this guy be responsible and the car not hold evidence —other than a hired hit?

 

[MesquiteO21]

The other thing that keeps bugging me about this case is what kind of criminal sends a ransom note AFTER the FBI is widely involved and monitoring it, and the White House is offering every resource, and the entire nation is watching. Maybe I have seen too many movies, but like wouldn't most ransom notes be like, "Deposit x amount of bitcoin in x account by Thursday at 5pm. Do not contact authorities."

some have speculated that Savannah/LE did get a note earlier than the highly publicized TMZ one but that they maybe didn't think it was real and should be taken seriously. Then the perp got mad/impatient and decided to try again but this time make it very public.

i don't believe this was a genuine kidnapping for ransom but just a theory that's been thrown out there.

moo

 

[SRWCF]

Ok well… she is definitely ALL IN. She’s quite convicted. I will say, the sheriff’s answers that she replayed do seem to “play well” with her reporting

Ok, so let's say her source is correct. Then what is her purpose of releasing this information to the public, besides her own personal gain? It is not helping to find NG at all. In full disclosure, I have a deep disdain for "gotcha" reporting and Dateline type programming. It feels predatory to me. The pretending to care deeply about the family, etc. Nah. I ain't buying it. It's all about the $$$.

 

[K9Enzo]

Why does everyone keep bringing up the two minute garage? As someone with an 88 year old parent...2 minutes is NOTHING. It takes me that long to pause, open car door, get walker out, help parent out of car, grab the delivery from door or mail from mailbox, hug goodbye, walk parent to door, etc. Let alone if it's recycle day or garbage day the next morning...then I'm pausing longer to bring stuff to the curb or bring bins back in.

The reasons you list are exactly why the garage door open/close duration stood out to me as a concern. An 84 year old described as having mobility issues and "couldn't walk 50 yards by herself" being dropped off at night seems like it would take longer, since there is usually some stabilization just to get her out of the vehicle, let alone inside, and to make sure she is safely in. The short window could suggest she got minimal assistance. Maybe she didn't need it. Did she really make it from the car, through the garage, and into her home that quickly, garage door up and down, and it was Good Night Nancy? I don't know, but I don't like the timeline that was released yesterday in the PC. It brought me closer to her inner circle maybe being directly involved. IMO

 

[doublestop]

Yikes. My point being people don't keep much cash at home these days? Everything is credit card, Venmo, Apple Pay, etc. ????

Older people often do. I found $30,000 in cash tucked in various places in my mom's house a few years ago. Took it straight to the bank. Another friend found $25,000 in his dad's various coat pockets (dad was a musician who got paid in cash after gigs).

 

[shadowsc]

Couple things. As far as money and valuables in the home worth a robbery/abduction. She may not have great wealth but for some, like drug addicts or gamblers, they need just a little for right then. There have been many a home invasion for just a couple hundred.

I know an elderly person who keeps an envelope and like $2500 cash in the house to pay for services (handy man or cleaner, etc) and they also grab out some when going out to eat (thats how I know anout it). I surely hope they dont pull out that envelope when paying the service folks but maybe they do. Bad idea. So maybe NG had similar thing. The older generation loves to use cash and not CC.

So I agree that for dumb criminals or drug addicts or gamblers, a robbery may be worth the risk, and something could go sideways and an elderly woman gets harmed. I just don't think those same types of opportunistic or drug addicts are the same type of personalities that would then set up a mysterious bitcoin account and send (according to Harvey) well-written, well thought out, strategic ransom letters to major media outlets conveying they mean business.

It may very well be an idiot looking for quick cash took Nancy (but then wouldn't they also have stolen atm cards or any valuables in the house too?), but if so, then I tend to believe that the ransom letter itself is from someone not involved. I just don't think your average criminal doing an armed robbery is the same person or type of person doing kidnapping ransom plots.

 

[Janitor101]

To counter my own post, there is the "if incapacitated" clause generally in living wills, so I suppose whomever is POA would have tentative rights to execute financial transactions on her behalf. That would likely be SG though, or her brother, if she was advised to make the most rational choice. In any case, I imagine if it is anyone related to AB's claim that there would be no way they could execute any transaction within their self-interest without it being heavily scrutinized by all concerned.

So still thinking that even with this caveat that it is almost certainly not a family financial motive here.

JMO.

How about Nancy's kids pushing for the sale of her home several months down the road?

 

[IQuestion]

No one in her family would gain anything without her death certificate

CADY...you make a valid point. However, people fear disclosure. A death certificate is not required to drain a senior citizen's bank account. Imagine being accused of "financial abuse of an elder" if said individuals had financial sway/POA or were authorized signer on her bank accounts. I had a case in which my elderly client's son and wife took $25K out of their Mother's account. The sister found out and threatened to turn them into the police if they did not immediately return the funds.

 

[tbgo]

Why a person would remove a body: I guess someone could think that it would be more difficult to convict them for murder without a body. This could be a crime of passion or something that wasn’t fully thought out. Maybe they planned it and then freaked out after the deed was done. Second thoughts. They panic and decide to get rid of the evidence. People do incredibly stupid things all the time thinking they’re covering their tracks. The fact that they didn’t stage the scene and then a ransom note goes out 72 hours later, which may or may not be real, along with the message that they won’t be hearing from them, the perpetrator, again = amateur.

 

[Cassie P]

I don't know...my mom is 77 and liked to have cash on hand at all times. She did not use Venmo or ApplePay. She recently sold a home, so she had a bunch of liquidity in the bank. I saw she withdrew $5k shortly after the sale and I still don't know where the money went. $5k is A LOT of money to a desperate person. It could be NG went to pay a contractor with cash, and he eyed a wad of it in her wallet and saw an easy target...This is just a scenario that I could see happening with my mom. The difference is my mom has Dementia (now in memory care) and NG is "sharp as a tack" according to LO. Being sharp does not preclude someone from being too trusting, though.

Yes good point, someone elderly might keep a larger amount of cash than most people.

And yes, even if you are still cognitively intact, you can be too trusting. But most of us don't think an electrician or plumber is going to rob us.

A licensed repair person is going to make a lot more money from his job than anything
he could get in a home robbery of an elderly person? Is it worth going to prison to get a bit of cash?

Though perhaps some service people in the home notice an elderly person with dementia and take advantage of them. The elderly person won't remember what happened to her cash?
Still risky.

Though it appears that NG did not have dementia, but she could still have some cognitive slippage.

 

[whitelilac]

Another theory-

FBI is obviously taking over case as evidenced by Sheriff having to be told by his wife that the family plea video was on insta.

Let’s say AB source is FBI related. Why would they want it leaked? My thoughts-

•Watch POI and see response
•Prompt conversations with family or spouse. -wiretaps
•Force or pressure to provide evidence not able to get without a warrant- think cellebrite going into AG and TC’s home the other day.
•prompt others to report other “bad behavior”
•stave off other bad tips, ransoms, etc.

We have to remember the car was taken for evidence BEFORE this leak. (I get the necessity of that as well, just for prosecution and to be able to say you looked at all angles to defense).
—— How long would it take to process that car? DNA, Berla, all the things?
——In what scenario could this guy be responsible and the car not hold evidence —other than a hired hit?

and releasing the crime scene house prematurely back to the family, with listening devices inside

 

[CandyKiss]

those clippings by the door have been bothering me this week as well.

me too, and I posted a pic of it the other day ~ the clippings look fresh, two have tiny flowers on them. I was wondering if there are identical plants on her property that she may have picked walking up to her home; maybe some inside her home or her last known location and she brought them home.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

For what it’s worth I don’t believe the ransom is connected to the crime.

I am thinking about the cleverness of the ransomers and wondering about hacking of a smart tv. I haven’t really followed that topic much, but what kind of likelihood is there that the ransomer is a smart hacker type who also might be able to have a look at the house via hacking a smart tv camera? That could provide the location of items.

The FBI Warns That Smart TVs Can Be a Gateway for Hackers to Enter Victims’ Homes

If you’re the proud owner of a new smart TV—or already have one—the FBI says be aware of privacy implications and risk of cyberattacks.

www.idwatchdog.com

Sorry I’m piggy backing-

If Nancy did attend church via zoom… what was typical for her background? Full view of room, fake background? Are these services recorded and shared?

EDIT: somebody should watch Sunday and see if you can see the zoom attendees.

 

[mrsmmm]

Maybe it was a protectiveness thing - maybe he didn't want wife driving after dark. I don't want to stereotype people, but I do think that there's a general understanding that Italian people are very family-oriented and the men are particularly protective of their families. So it could just be how he was raised, that he felt like it was appropriate for him to take her home.

I don't really understand why anyone thinks it's "weird" or "suspicious" that the SIL drove NG home. Growing up, my dad was always the one to drive my grandma (mom's mom) home. I've driven both my MIL and FIL home without my husband. I wouldn't ever think it was strange for my husband or my BIL to drive my parents home and my family is not Italian (tho my in-laws are).

 

[SlimPickens]

How about Nancy's kids pushing for the sale of her home several months down the road?

It'd still be NG's income and they wouldn't benefit without a death certificate and being in the will.

JMO.

 

[Tealgrove]

Well said! I have been wondering about the Uber - which would not be a normal thing in my family. But reading this post made me rethink this ... it is entirely possible that this is a normal thing in the Guthrie family.

How about, SIL was out and had one car. Maybe one of the kids had another car.

Instead of Nancy waiting at home, AG called an Uber to go pick her her up and bring her over.

I’ve done that multiple times for a senior relative.

I’m not sure why so many are hung up on Nancy taking an Uber.

 

[Deleted member 117884]

Why a person would remove a body: I guess someone could think that it would be more difficult to convict them for murder without a body. This could be a crime of passion or something that wasn’t fully thought out. Maybe they planned it and then freaked out after the deed was done. Second thoughts. They panic and decide to get rid of the evidence. People do incredibly stupid things all the time thinking they’re covering their tracks. The fact that they didn’t stage the scene and then a random note goes out 72 hours later, which may or may not be real, along with the message that they won’t be hearing from them, the perpetrator, again = amateur.

Removing a body, imo, would be because of shame, panic, or ransom.

I don't know that she was or was not alive, though, when she was taken.

jmo

 

[MesquiteO21]

If this truly is a kidnaping and the FBI is in charge, would they allow the Sheriff to be interviewed on talk shows? Is he out of the loop and doing his own thing?

his wording in the presser yesterday was interesting. he said "as far as the ransom letter(s), the FBI is handling that" the implication being, from my interpretation, that the ransom letters and Nancy's disappearance are two separate things...

moo

 

[Starkville]

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?

Good question! In the photo that is uncropped, we can see a similar-looking plant on the border of the path leading to the door. NG’s yard/grounds appears meticulously landscaped. So why is there a bit of (IMO) uprooted plantings right in front of the door? Was there a scuffle?