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

[SaraSmile]

I had to look up javelinas. Would they not eat bodies that are dumped in the desert?

Also, I am thinking if NG was killed (accidentally or not) by family, would the ‘kidnapping’ be a means of getting a (decomposing) body back to the rest of the family for burial? So sorry that I am even using these words that may be read by the many people who loved NG.

I looked up javelinas too! Haha we call then wild boar in CA, and yes, they would eat a body in the desert. I would think a coyote would too. Sorry, very unpleasant thought.

 

[Navillus923]

I am looking into the confusion surrounding the parishioner who first notified Nancy’s family of her absence. While few details were provided—and the information was eventually omitted from the press conference's updated timeline—the timing is critical.
Many believe the family was called(we're still uncertain how they were notified whether they went by Annie's house or called her) at 11:00 AM, but I find that unlikely. An alarm wouldn't typically be sounded only 15 minutes after a service begins; it is more probable that the call occurred after Mass ended and Nancy’s absence was confirmed. Based on the church website, the timeline becomes much clearer:
Contemporary Mass: Early morning.
Traditional Mass: Starts at 10:45 AM.
Assuming Nancy attended the traditional service, which typically lasts 60 minutes, the Mass would have concluded around 11:45 AM. This creates a very narrow window between the end of the service and the moment the family arrived at Nancy’s house to discover the scene.
It is likely the family made several calls while en route, which may have served as an additional red flag. Furthermore, we should consider if Nancy used an automated medication dispenser; these devices often sound an alarm or alert a designated family member if a dose isn't taken, which could have been another factor in the family's quick response.

 

[wibbleflea]

If the ransomers are independent of the crime-sceners, the ransomers got really lucky that the crime scene is not inconsistent with a kidnapping, that there was apparently no proof of death at the home AND neither NG nor her body have turned up this whole time. Ransomers IMO seem pretty confident that they had a while week+ to extort money from the family with no risk of a discovery (NG/body) defeating their threat.

JMO

Good point.The first couple of things could have been known by the time they sent the note, but the absence of NG all this time later, dead or alive, wouldn't have been.

 

[LMDlong]

Yes,LE

New level of case insanity unlocked.

Yeah it is. I know from being in a ministry family, elderly ladies keep an eye out for who misses services. That’s the vision I had in my head about this situation. That’s a really good thought as terrible as it is also. If someone didn’t contact the family on Sunday then would the kidnappers still had waited until Monday to send the ransom note.

 

[missy1974]

If the ransomers are independent of the crime-sceners, the ransomers got really lucky that the crime scene is not inconsistent with a kidnapping, that there was apparently no proof of death at the home AND neither NG nor her body have turned up this whole time. Ransomers IMO seem pretty confident that they had a whole week+ to extort money from the family with no risk of a discovery (NG/body) defeating their threat.

JMO

Yep, I keep hoping that they find her and we all find out the note senders are full of you know what.

Very lucky for them.

 

[smileyface516]

This isn't a james Patterson novel. This is real. You can't just blindly accuse someone of murder w no evidence

Especially when there's a fair chance the church friend doesn't exist, MOO

 

[Lovecats]

The cartel angle has never made any sense to me. Why would a cartel that brings in $100s of millions to billions selling drugs travel to the USA to kidnap/disappear a random grandmother for a $million or even $6 million? It makes no sense. Plus, let's say it was the cartel. Those guys are criminal pro's. They would be in and out of that house in 5 minutes. They wouldn't stick around for 40 minutes or whatever it was. On top of that, let's say the cartel did it and got caught. Trump has already declared the cartels a terrorist organization and he is going to eliminate them. Why give POTUS one more reason to go after them? They aren't idiots.

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.

But wouldn’t he need the body to be found for the inheritance?

 

[Love Never Fails]

This!

How about that?

 

[arielilane]

Bitcoin transaction has wallets with a number (similar to an account number) and the information is kept, and if that acct # is used again, it can be monitored. Apparently, bitcoin is not all that secure. just an opinion

 

[AZLocal]

I looked up javelinas too! Haha we call then wild boar in CA, and yes, they would eat a body in the desert. I would think a coyote would too. Sorry, very unpleasant thought.

I realize I’m being pedantic here but javelina aren’t wild boars. They are peccaries.

 

[Fargo]

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.

TOR browser makes it dead easy, actually. There is no official company or oversight of TOR browser. No official VPN. Just thousands of nodes of TOR users that send traffic randomly all over the world.

 

[missy1974]

"Guthrie family may have gotten ‘proof of life’: Mark Geragos "

IF they got proof of life, surely they would have hit the send button by now.

I don't think they did. JMO

 

[maskedwoman]

Not really verified that she was dropped off back at the house. Rather it was verified that someone was there, but not necessarily NG.

That's a very good point. I decided to go back through the timeline to try and see what we know for sure and what might be assumptions. Items not publicly confirmed by known facts are in bold below.

• 5:32 Uber delivers NG to AG and TC home for dinner. Not publicly released where she was picked up by Uber.
• 9:48 The garage door went up - not sure if LE can be sure exactly who entered house at this time.
• 9:50 Garage door goes down - not sure if LE can be sure if anyone exited at that time.
• Timeline seems to assume NG entered the home and went to bed but not sure if this can be proven.
• 1:47 Doorbell camera disconnects and is later determined to be gone. Pictures confirm it was removed.
• 2:12 Software detects person on camera. Nothing publicly known regarding which camera detected this form. Police say no video. How do they know camera detected a human form?
• 2:28 Pacemaker disconnects from phone. Do we know whether she was actually at home when this occurred? Could she have been somewhere else?
• 11:00 Church member calls family when NG is not accounted for. disappeared from later time lines. Did this really happen?
• 11:56 Family checks on NG Nothing publicly known confirms this
• 12:03 911 Call - 911 records would confirm.
• 12:15 Police arrive - dispatch records would confirm.

I haven't seen any expert quotes mention this specifically, but a real kidnapping and ransom crew would just grab the victim up, stuff her in a vehicle and go. If you don't get get away cleanly with the victim, you get caught. No ransom. Just prison. But if we look at the timeline that way LE has discussed it, it appears something happened to the camera at 1:47, an unknown camera identifies a person 25 minutes later, and then the phone can no longer find the pacemaker 16 minutes after that. So it appears something was going on at the house for a full 41 minutes. Why?

If it's a kidnapping what kept them at the house so long after they have their victim? That makes no sense. The longer they are there, the more chance they are noticed coming or going by a neighbor. And how did they get out of the house? Not through the garage because it appears that door did not go up or down again. Is it confirmed that the back door was open?

Thanks,
Jeanne

 

[303gmf]

I understood the church contact may have been the pastor. That would be a serious allegation, so would advise adding "jmo" to the end. JMO.

How is any different than blaming the SIL?

 

[SaraSmile]

​

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

Perhaps, FBI has asked the family to delay. I really think the bitcoin transfer, if/when they decide to do it, will just be going into a black whole.

No NG, alive or dead will be returned. Sorry, not a solution, in my opinion.

 

[snoopy100]

I want to believe if family involved they would be on their trail by now. I don’t believe that is the case. I totally believe ransom notes from kidnappers because they waited until they had her far enough away and nobody on their trail. And they are sophisticated enough that they are able to get ransom notes done without leaving a digital footprint.

this is what is holding me back from getting on the SIL train.

i don't think it would require a full-scale investigation from the FBI to figure out that this was a crime of passion staged to look like a kidnapping or, if we want to lean towards the crazier theory, that the SIL is involved with the ransom note somehow. similarly, i have a hard time believing that they wouldn't have figured out by now that the ransom note is not related and it's a separate crime they need to investigate after the more immediate crisis of a missing 84 year old.

but, maybe they are actually investigating this as a family murder and focusing less on the ransom note now and we just don't know about it yet.

 

[MassGuy]

If the ransomers are independent of the crime-sceners, the ransomers got really lucky that the crime scene is not inconsistent with a kidnapping, that there was apparently no proof of death at the home AND neither NG nor her body have turned up this whole time. Ransomers IMO seem pretty confident that they had a while week+ to extort money from the family with no risk of a discovery (NG/body) defeating their threat.

JMO

The sheriff was talking about a kidnapping very early on, which means the crime scene must have been consistent with that. Normally the messaging would be that they suspect foul play, which means abduction and/or murder would be on the table.

Being so specific means that someone could have easily been inspired to take advantage of the situation.

You make a good point about risk they'd be taking by dragging this out so long. It's odd to wait to make such a ransom request, and odder still to allow for so much time. On top of that, the whole two deadline thing.

Easily the most confusing case I've ever.

 

[Diddian]

but they said she went in through the garage

No they didn't. They said her garage door opened at 9:48 pm and at 9:50 pm. They did not say why the garage door opened or whether anyone entered or exited because they only have the specific evidence of the garage opening and closing.

Anything else requires assumption or more evidence.

 

[txsleuth70]

Especially when there's a fair chance the church friend doesn't exist, MOO

Exactly. That could have even been an initial call from Calella who knows at this point. There is nothing verifying a call was made or received.

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020904680348410251