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

[SMK777]

What if LE didn't put the contact from the church friend on the timeline because that contact and the family beginning to look for Nancy is the exact same time????

You'd still think it would be in:

Church member contacts family re NG's absence in Church; family begins search.

 

[MommaV]

What if LE didn't put the contact from the church friend on the timeline because that contact and the family beginning to look for Nancy is the exact same time????

You mean to say they got the call and were in the home at the same time at 11:56?

 

[KBlackRabbit]

Why on earth would a cartel cause trouble for themselves by coming to America to kidnap a random morning news host's mother?

They don’t. AFAIK cartel violence is usually territorial: cartel on cartel. (Innocent people do get caught in the crossfire, unfortunately.) If one makes an incursion on another’s territory they’ll capture the invading cartel member and send a message by executing them in a showy manner, which is often filmed. Revenge killings are also common (“you killed my guy so I’ll kill yours”). They’ll also send “messages” to local government to not bother them.

Going after someone like NG would be the last thing they’d do, they don’t want the heat of a federal government on them and it’s a waste of their money and resources. A cartel is a business after all and revenue-expenditures-profit is important to them and there are much easier and less expensive ways for them to get $6M. If a cartel was involved, they’d leave their signature and make it clear it’s a message to leave them alone.

As for Tucson being “controlled/overrun by cartels,” that sounds like propaganda and a racist dog-whistle to me.

 

[Van Helsing]

In those very first reports it was said that homicide teams were on scene at NG’s house. Some of the statements made by the sheriff during the first presser made it sound like it was a grim scene. IMO, I think she could’ve been dead before she even left the house.

This excerpt is quoting the first press conference:

‘Searchers were using drones and search dogs to look for her, Nanos said. Search and rescue teams were supported by volunteers and Border Patrol, and the homicide team was also involved, he said. It is not standard for the homicide team to get involved in such cases, Nanos said. The FBI has offered to help, Carrillo said.

“This one stood out because of what was described to us at the scene and what we located just looking at the scene,” Nanos said Sunday. He was not ruling out foul play.

On Monday morning, Nanos said search crews worked hard but have since been pulled back.

“We don’t see this as a search mission so much as it is a crime scene,” the sheriff said.

Authorities believe 'Today' show host Savannah Guthrie's mother was taken against her will

Authorities believe the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will.

www.wcvb.com

The fact that it wasn't staged as a robbery makes me think it might be an actual kidnapping, or at least not a premeditated murder or a followup staging after a crime of passion. I guess it could be a murder staged as a kidnapping.

 

[Roadette]

I mentioned before — why didn’t we see dogs doing scent trail or cadaver dogs? Is there a reason that maybe we aren’t aware of? What would be a scenario that they wouldn’t try and do a scent trail?

Also, I know we know the times of the garage opening and closing but is there an alert at the front door around that time? Not her going in but someone coming out if she was walked inside or the car driving by the front door to drop her off? I know mine alerts for a car in the front. But maybe this is just something we don’t know or is insignificant.

Going back to the beginning and the basics because I think there are some subtle clues into things LE have done or not done.

Do we know the blood is 100% hers? Is it her type or her DNA? Do we know that she absolutely made it home that night even?

I haven’t seen anyone respond to this, but am still catching up. Purely going off of personal experience as someone who hired a tracking dog team for a search in the greater Phoenix area about 10 years ago. My understanding is that tracking dogs work best in areas that are not frequented by what they are searching for. For instance, they were less useful in our housing complex and sort of all over the place. They were extremely useful when they picked up scent outside the gates, in an area that was not usually walked. I can share more privately, but don’t want to post it here.

While this wasn’t what happened in our scenario, I was also told that they can tell when a scent drops off (for instance if someone is loaded into a car). It’s possible they picked up her scent drop-off and knew they were looking for a vehicle, not someone leaving on foot.

 

[Fargo]

Do we know if both ransom’s contained the same account #’s?

The other stations that received the first ransom note made no mention of a wallet address one way or the other when they spoke publicly about the notes. To my knowledge, anyway. The only outlet that explicitly claimed an included wallet address was TMZ.

My opinion only.

 

[birdbox]

How would they know even?

Must be an update from LE. LE has the wallet address, but they havent released it to protect integrity

 

[txsleuth70]

MAYBE THE CHURCH FRIEND IS THE PERP! TRY THAT OUT FOR A TWIST!!!!!!

That was suggested day 2. Especially because church lady was not identified. Could have been anyone or no one calling.

 

[HoveringWombats]

Must be an update from LE. LE has the wallet address, but they havent released it to protect integrity

All of the media who received the ransom note also have the wallet address, so they could easily confirm this without any help from LE. I think this is more likely than LE giving the information behind the scenes to media.

 

[Ellis' Mom]

This is important because this contradicts the ‘official timeline’. The FBI must release an updated ‘official timeline’. Unbelievably we have a representative from the FBI giving swore testimony in an Arizona Federal Court that destroy’s the ‘official timeline’.

This stretches the credibility of this investigation. It does not instill confidence in the veracity of the information released by the FBI. I would categorize it as sloppy.

The FBI needs to clarify this but I won’t hold my breath.

View attachment 642939

The call referenced on this complaint refers to HIS call demanding ransom.
I don't see anything referring to a call reporting her non-attendance of church.
What do you see that I'm missing?

EDIT: I've been provided by others with the FULL document which references the "friend from church" contact.

 

[MassGuy]

​

Nancy Guthrie Alleged Ransom Account Remains Empty as Deadline Approaches

A bitcoin account allegedly set up to accept funds in exchange for Savannah Guthrie's missing mother Nancy is still sitting empty Monday morning ... with time quickly winding down on an alleged deadline.

www.tmz.com

Edit to add: Thought I copied the headline lol

story about the bitcoin not having any transactions

Oh wow. It never occurred to me that we might actually know if payment was made.

Normally we have no idea in that regard, but this is being done in a way that the outlets who received the communications would be able to track.

 

[DS2021]

Must be an update from LE. LE has the wallet address, but they havent released it to protect integrity

TMZ likely has the bitcoin address themselves. They received the note directly

 

[Simply Southern]

Moo… My hope, the FBI or a kind White Hacker has identified the Bitcoin account holder. Savannah is well connected, well liked, the all American girl next door. The brother is former military. Hoping someone has reached out with assistance that doesn’t require red tape and warrants.
TMZ, the local news stations and the Guthrie family would have knowledge of the account number from the first ransom letter.

 

[arielilane]

Deadline looming: A ransom note demanding $6 million in Bitcoin for Nancy Guthrie's release has a payment deadline of 5 p.m. local time on Monday. https://abc15.com/us-news/nancy-guthrie-ransom-deadline-looms-as-urgent-search-continues

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020913133397635300

 

[Chimera]

What does make sense is the SIL. He was with her that night. Dropped her off. I think there is a strong possibility he discussed $$$ with her. She said no to his request. He dropped her off. Stewed about it for a few hours. Maybe had some drinks. Went back to her place to try and change her mind and things got out of control. Or he could even have went back to her place later on to end her so that he and his wife would get their share of the inheritance. To me that makes the most sense to me, and the simplest explanation.

The ransom is either him trying to buy time and give a fake narrative of what happened, or just some idiots who are trying to take advantage of the situation.

Snipped for focus.

Often the simplest explanation is the correct one.
Agreed regarding the opinion of the ransom requests, too.
LE are most likely building a case and that can take time ?
Imo.

 

[ab01]

What if LE didn't put the contact from the church friend on the timeline because that contact and the family beginning to look for Nancy is the exact same time????

I have actually wondered about that

 

[whitelilac]

Every morning when I get up, after the previous night’s imagination and thoughts being on overdrive with crazy scenarios that are fitting for a Harlan Coben thriller, I’m back to thinking this is less complicated than appears to be. That NG was attacked and taken away by unknown persons connected to her, (or not), and that this whole ransom business is a separate opportunistic hoax by a sophisticated scammer. Or, a deflection scheme by the person (s) involved. But at this time I lean to the former as I honestly don’t see a family member having the wherewithal nor the tech knowledge nor the means now while being under likely surveillance to carry out these untraceable ransom notes.

However, with each more straightforward scenario, there’s something else that throws a wrench into the operation…eg the missing church friend communication. Now if something did happen within the family, that’s a possibility I can see, we really don’t know the dynamics or personal issues, financial or otherwise.

 

[Tillicum]

Is this something between Savannah and the person who is sending the ransom notes?

It really makes you question everything. Like is there more to the added security measures NBC is taking with other employees? Is there something more specific behind their precautions?

 

[Sundog]

I don't think most on this board understand how difficult it is to do what the kidnapper has done.

A simple VPN works by routing your internet traffic from your browser or email app to a private server, that server then uses a different IP address, or rotating IP addresses to mask your traffic to the recipient. But that transaction is stored at the VPN's servers. Some VPNs will send your traffic through multiple servers this way to further wash the trail. In the US, VPN providers must keep a user log so you will be traceable. What the kidnapper has done must be very sophisticated and to me indicates a professional hacker or group that took advantage of the situation to try and make some money.

In an interview posted upthread with a former FBI agent, he stated that the ransom note writer's use of VPN could involve thousands of servers and although it would be possible to track each one of them, think of the time involved. So pretty much impossible to do in any reasonable time frame. And if part of the traffic goes through a server in a country that doesn't cooperate with the U.S. in a timely manner, or at all, then that complicates it even more. JMO on watching the interview posted here somewhere upthread.

 

[Van Helsing]

You must know cartels are not all from South America?
We are talking about Americans committing this crime. Maybe your own neighbor is one of them. Cartels are everywhere.

As in my example.
It's fictional, but the series "Bosch" clearly illustrates foreign cartels other than from the Americas.