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

[academyrd]

The 11 AM thing is not verified. LE didn’t include that.

I just followed the gift link to the NYT article that someone was nice enough to post a few pages back. The article is dated today. Either they haven't updated it or haven't drilled down on this?

"did not see her in the pews"

Ms. Guthrie, whom friends have described as a devoted Christian, was expected at church that Sunday morning. But when someone at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian did not see her in the pews, they called her family to check in.

7 Days, No Suspects: The Disappearance of Nancy Guthrie

The mother of the “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie has not been heard from since an evening of dinner and games with family members.

www.nytimes.com

Right. So why wasn’t this call to family from church member in the timeline from police? Should be easy to verify

 

[Luna20]

How deeply would NYT fact-check a breaking news story like this? Honest question, because I don't know how this happens in fast-moving news stories. I feel like this is kind of written in a way that suggests it's info they got from the official news conference (or maybe other discussions with LE) and reported it, without directly speaking to the church-goer. "Alerted, Ms. Guthrie’s family rushed to her home, the authorities said." BBM

If they are taking these official statements, which we also have all seen, as fact without further digging, this doesn't really help answer our questions about the discrepancies.

A poster covered this maybe last 2 pages but in essence it says that LE said one thing about the church person in the first PC and then another thing in the second PC.

 

[nightowl2728]

Re: the church call, I think there are a couple additional theories - one could be that LE just needed a clean/simple reason of when they found out NG was missing and that seemed like something the public would believe. Maybe there's another way they found out that would be too sensitive to tell the public.

The likelihood of a family member or suspect telling LE about the call and it not being true seems really silly, IMO, because it's so easy to figure out if it was actually made or not and by who.

 

[investigatoroffacts]

Theory (I don't necessarily believe this but it fits some gaps in my questions) - AB was told to "leak" LE info that SIL was a prime suspect early on. Planned in order to make actual perp more comfortable. Return to AG's home last night to take photos for 3 hours and have evidence gloves on, highly visible to many reporters at end of street, was again purposeful distraction from actual LE recovery efforts elsewhere. Family is in on this plan. Thoughts?

I thought about this. But in the opposite that it was leaked so the actual perp would get mad they were not getting credit and get more aggressive with their contact.

 

[Curiousobserver]

It is quite possible, from what I have read so far, that the churchgoer who reported NG missing the service is a fiction. LE would have, of course, checked phones by now and could easily determine if this is a convenient lie. Whether it is something they might want to disclose and alert any suspects about it is another matter entirely.

We (here at home) have been wondering if anyone was in the habit of calling for a "check-in" with NG in the mornings. Many years ago, of course, I would call my dear aunts from work at around 8 a.m. to make sure they were well; all were healthy but elderly, and they would joke that I was "checking that the Angel of Death" hadn't stopped by overnight. Our oldest son, who lives about a 6-hour drive from us, texts every morning:"Marco", and we reply "Polo." We have an emergency protocol for checking if there's no reply.

All the return trips to check "one more thing" by LE are very odd. Are they in response to tips received?

Oh, and one last thing: I understand that AI and digital information through phones and tablets, etc. is the prevailing source these days, but there are things that a paper map will allow to parse better than a digital one. The same goes for information gleaned through the use of AI. When I was young (and going to the computer lab involved the use of punched cards), we learned the expression GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out. AI is only as effective and knowledgeable as those entering data. (If you want to take your mind off your troubles for a bit, find the film Desk Set -1957- with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and enjoy the scene where the computer that has replaced the reference librarians fails to provide the necessary information...it's a hoot!)

All these are my own opinions, and very Miss Marple-y in their nature...

They have definitely spoken to the person from the church, and if the SIL has lied about this, he would be in custody. Most likely the churchgoer called AG, which of course would mean her daughter would need to be lying as well.

 

[mickey2942]

Mat

Maybe because that call never took place? He avoided saying yes or no for a reason. IMO

Interesting. Because I thought it was weird. I find that incredibly enmeshed, that a friend at church would call a daughter about her mother? I would absolutely think nothing about someone missing church.

Of course, the gal who checked on her friend, for not answering her phone, caught Chris Watts, completely off guard. He had no clue police would be at his house the day he killed his wife, Shannon Watts, and two daughters.

 

[HoveringWombats]

A poster covered this maybe last 2 pages but in essence it says that LE said one thing about the church person in the first PC and then another thing in the second PC.

Yeah, that part I know — I have watched both PCs. My question is whether NYT has further verification of this piece of information, or if they're just repeating the same thing we heard from LE, which now seems to have disappeared from the official account.

 

[keek]

The family could have told him that, making his statement true. That it actually happened is not necessarily true.

That's who told him I believe. The sheriff was called in when family: Annie and husb were told that, went to Nancy's house, not there. Ball started rolling. Savanah was also called and flew immediately there. We don't know if that is true of them at this point or a ruse. LE knows by now due to phone call logs on their phones if they did receive a call at 'a certain time' from a certain concerned church friend. IMO

 

[shadowsc]

The 11 AM thing is not verified. LE didn’t include that.

Right. So why wasn’t this call to family from church member in the timeline from police? Should be easy to verify

In the Tuesday Sheriff press conference, the Sheriff said:

Sheriff: We were told she was left at her home by the family. At 11:00 in the morning the family got notice from somebody at church that she was not at church. They went to the home found her to be missing. That's that's the timeline. From Saturday night 9:45 we'll say to Sunday morning 11:00.

(Then in the next press conference, the Sheriff said the family got to the home at 11:56am and called police at 12:03pm. He did not say how or why or what time the family was alerted to the fact that Nancy could be missing.)

 

[Sessiebo]

I am wondering if there is a certain skill set needed for the bit coin and multiple IP addresses. Example of cartel or blue collar type individual/s.

Setting up a wallet for bitcoin is fairly easy, even for newbies. No personal info is needed (no KYC) and therefore can be used anonymously

 

[Fargo]

I don’t remember this being mentioned at all, but I’m behind many pages and trying to get caught up. I remember it being stated she hasn’t attended in person since COVID, but we truly don’t know this as a fact. Do you recall who posted this information?

I did.

"Ms. Guthrie, whom friends have described as a devoted Christian, was expected at church that Sunday morning. But when someone at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian did not see her in the pews, they called her family to check in.

Alerted, Ms. Guthrie’s family rushed to her home, the authorities said. They found her phone, wallet, hearing aid, daily medication and car. But they did not find her. They called 911."

7 Days, No Suspects: The Disappearance of Nancy Guthrie

The mother of the “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie has not been heard from since an evening of dinner and games with family members.

www.nytimes.com

 

[birdbox]

Why does this case feel Brian Kohberger-ish? Like he has a criminology friend PhD classmate out there who's like a serial killer fanatic or something? It just feels so off and weird like those college kids case. Like someone who put great effort to this storyline of it? Someone who is enjoying watching this on the news? Look at me, im famous now too. Just beyond stupid all of it.

 

[Melisende10]

I am wondering if there is a certain skill set needed for the bit coin and multiple IP addresses. Example of cartel or blue collar type individual/s.

You don't have to be skilled to get a bitcoin address. If you have paypal you can get a bitcoin address.Although whoever this is probably is not going through paypal or coinbase obviously. A vpn is also easy to get, a vpn changes your IP address to anywhere in the world. However, usually the FBI has ways of tracking people down, even when they use vpns.

 

[InkyEvie]

Theory (I don't necessarily believe this but it fits some gaps in my questions) - AB was told to "leak" LE info that SIL was a prime suspect early on. Planned in order to make actual perp more comfortable. Return to AG's home last night to take photos for 3 hours and have evidence gloves on, highly visible to many reporters at end of street, was again purposeful distraction from actual LE recovery efforts elsewhere. Family is in on this plan. Thoughts?

Oof, I think that is a little far-fetched (respectfully). The reputational and possible emotional damage already caused by AB's video is not entirely unexpected to me, surely LE would know better than to do this. And I can't really imagine the family being on board with something so potentially volatile.

Now, sending a few officers to random places to distract the media? I can see that, but I can't imagine sending a bunch of officers on a wild goose chase just to cause a distraction. They are paying these people, possibly by the hour, and there are costs associated with the resources the officers are using, too.

All IMO.

 

[mikeshanty]

**Summary of statements made by the Sheriff in the first press conference on Monday 2 February.**

I am posting rough notes to show how the picture looked back then, as I think it might be of interest to a lot of us. Key points in bold. I truly feel the early press conference offers clues:

--------

- NG's home is a crime scene and "we know that"; LE saw things that concerned them; saw things at the site suggesting she did not leave alone. "Circumstances on scene that were suspicious in nature".
- NG suffers from "physical ailments" and needs daily medication; risk of things becoming fatal without access within 24 hours
- NG is of sound mind; nothing dementia related.
- Sheriff appeals for public to call 911 if they have seen anything; quite persistent messaging for information
- The investigation is at a stage where they need to depend on tech, including license plate readers.
- The homicide team was involved at this stage as well as a search and rescue (including drone systems, heat sensors, infra-red).
- "All of the family have been very cooperative with us"
- No comment on forced entry
- Not sure whether it was targeted or random
- Confirmed there were cameras on the property and "we're looking through some of that".
- NG had house staff who come by, but NG otherwise lives alone.
- Does not think there is an active threat to the public
- "Right now, we don't see this as a search mission as much as we do a crime scene"
- Refers to a map on screen that shows the search patterns by LE. Confirmed the map is used by search teams when they need to reassess search areas (i.e. might explain why we saw the map again this weekend).
- They have NG's cellphone and they are looking at it.
- Believes at 9.45PM her "children" left her off. Then later in the morning they got a call from "someone at the church saying your mom's not here". "The family went to the house.. they spent some time looking themselves before calling us; maybe they got there around 11AM". They did some searching and realized they needed some help and called 911.
- Declined to comment on the time NG was taken from the home.
- Told neighbours to go through their Ring cameras.
- Sheriff makes a political statement about the benefits of new technologies.

12:34 - 13:16 is quite interesting.

 

[louvillian08]

I did.

"Ms. Guthrie, whom friends have described as a devoted Christian, was expected at church that Sunday morning. But when someone at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian did not see her in the pews, they called her family to check in.

Alerted, Ms. Guthrie’s family rushed to her home, the authorities said. They found her phone, wallet, hearing aid, daily medication and car. But they did not find her. They called 911."

7 Days, No Suspects: The Disappearance of Nancy Guthrie

The mother of the “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie has not been heard from since an evening of dinner and games with family members.

www.nytimes.com

Is this article the first we’ve heard about the hearing aid? I could be wrong

 

[MommaV]

Im finding it really hard to believe a kidnapper would take such a risk in the regard that this lady due to advanced age could just literally drop dead of heart attack or no meds in a period of sooner time than given for ransom payment. Plus, liquidating assets in amounts of $6 millie can take up to 10 business days with a bank as they place "holds" on large transfers, even for rich people. So, here's this "mastermind" we are supposed to believe overlooked 2 critical components of this mastermind plan. Im sorry, im calling bs.

I still scratch my head that the first ransom had two deadlines, Thursday and Monday, I believe. Unless there were more specifics we don’t know of what the deadlines were for. Remembering it also stated no further contact would be made.

 

[tbgo]

If the family is no longer asking for proof of life in the last video and says that they will pay, then what are they waiting for? There must be some strategy behind this. They aren’t asking for more communication. They’re not asking for anything in this latest video. They have the bitcoin account. Creating another video was redundant. Can anyone guess why they did it?

They know what the alleged kidnapper wants. They know where to send the money. They’re not asking for proof of life… so, what’s the point of the video message then? They already seem like they’ve accepted that she’s no longer alive. Is this a final plea before sending the money - that the “kidnapper(s) do return the body and not just disappear after they’re paid? Or is there some bigger strategy here?

 

[nightowl2728]

Oof, I think that is a little far-fetched (respectfully). The reputational and possible emotional damage already caused by AB's video is not entirely unexpected to me, surely LE would know better than to do this. And I can't really imagine the family being on board with something so potentially volatile.

Now, sending a few officers to random places to distract the media? I can see that, but I can't imagine sending a bunch of officers on a wild goose chase just to cause a distraction. They are paying these people, possibly by the hour, and there are costs associated with the resources the officers are using, too.

All IMO.

No I appreciate your opinion! Like I said in the post I don't really believe this is the case either, BUT if it's not, that means that the SIL as as suspect leak wasn't purposeful, and that the return to AG's house was legitimate. I'm just trying to weigh the relevance of this.

 

[shadowsc]

I don’t remember this being mentioned at all, but I’m behind many pages and trying to get caught up. I remember it being stated she hasn’t attended in person since COVID, but we truly don’t know this as a fact. Do you recall who posted this information?

I believe it was the Daily Mail. Relevant parts:

A source told DailyMail that she hasn’t been to the church in person since the COVID-19 pandemic, instead choosing to worship online. Church leaders said they are not able to confirm who, if anyone, from the church called Nancy’s family to report her absence.

“All we can tell you is that Nancy has been a member here for many years. She’s part of our community and we love her,” said Ed Coates, administrative assistant at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.

“We’re praying for her. And that’s really all that we have to say right now. I’m sure the media will know before we will, you know, how the story unfolds, but we’re praying for her safety and praying for her family.”

He added that he wouldn’t put much focus or thought into her nor personally attending the services.

“Well, a lot of the older folks in particular like to worship online, particular those that have mobility issues. So it’s just as likely that might have been the case rather than here in person. But once again, that’s not something that we can quantify,” he added.

Shocking truth about mystery tip off that sparked Nancy Guthrie search

Fresh doubt has been cast on the tip off that first led to alarms being raised over Nancy Guthrie's shock abduction this weekend, the Daily Mail can reveal.

www.dailymail.co.uk