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

[Snoopster]

Just my opinion but it sounds to me per the FBI spokesman, I get the feeling that the family wanted to make that ransom plea video. FBI helped them do that. I don't believe that they feel like this is a ransom case. All just my general feeling watching and listening to them talk.

I have this feeling as well. Is the 'ransom note' just a distraction to make it seem that she was kidnapped?

One possible scenario (and not necessarily the correct one, of course):
What if she was killed by someone she knew? Remember the old mantra that if someone is killed by a stranger the killer normally leaves the body there. If the killer is a close person, they will often hide the body. And, then, of course the police came out saying she was 'kidnapped' and taken by force. (Now they are just saying that she didn't leave willingly.) The ransom note only came out after a few days...so perhaps the killer thought it would be a good diversion and provide a reason as to why someone would take Nancy from her home.

Of course I sincerely hope that Nancy is still alive and that this is 'just' a kidnapping.

Did the person who took her know about the other camera? (i.e. the doorbell camera was disconnected but movement was caught on another connected camera about 25 minutes later)

ETA: oops. edited to include "NOT" necessarily the correct one

 

[amelia65452]

What time zone is the ransom letter deadline in?

When asked, they didn't clarify, and just said "5pm" after checking the paper again.

 

[UsernameRequired]

What i really don't understand is while the family has the resources why they didn't bother with the subscription. Especially because it's a elderly lady living alone and who is fairly fragile.

I have many Ring cameras and subscriptions start at only $4.99/month. The Nest camera storage is only $10/month or $100/year. I have friends with cameras that absolutely refuse to pay for a subscription. I don't get it either.

I had Ring cameras set up at my 83 year olds mother's house. She live alone just as Nancy did. I could check on who came to her house and backyard and overall piece of mind what was going on remotely from a different city.

 

[auburnmomof2]

My dad is 83, lives alone and recently had a week long hospital stay that he's still recovering from at home. He's extremely independent and very mentally sound and very technology minded. However, he likes the basic comforts. For example, a heated vest was bought for him but he'd rather use his old blanket...while he tells his Alexa what music to play lol. We don't push him about decisions unless it's for his immediate personal safety. He also cut back on monthly bills after my mom passed.
All that to say i could see NG thinking she didn't need the camera subscription and her family not forcing the issue.
Anyone else have a stubborn elderly parent? Whew they are tough sometimes!
Where is Nancy!? Someone knows and this is heartbreaking

 

[Leilei]

9:48. Family member helps Nancy into garage, gets her settled in house. 950 closes door to leave.

Seems reasonable

ETA IMO.

Two minutes to help an elderly lady with mobility issues into garage, then into the house and settled, then get back out of the house and garage to get back to the vehicle doesn't seem reasonable to me.
I don't think anyone helped her get into the garage or the house. Possibly helped her out of the car, but there's not enough time for anything else before that garage door closes.
IMO.

 

[moonbeams]

Plus sneaking in the garage. And removing the body. Ugh.

NG went in via the garage when she was driven home. door closed behind her.

garage door didn't open again so perps didn't sneak in through the garage.

 

[browneyes]

I have many Ring cameras and subscriptions start at only $4.99/month. The Nest camera storage is only $10/month or $100/year. I have friends with cameras that absolutely refuse to pay for a subscription. I don't get it either.

For me, I only want to see who is at my door. It notifies me even if I am not at home.

 

[academyrd]

If no blood in the house and only on the front porch, the perp could have been someone who, in this order 1) disabled the ring cameras 2) knocked on the door to get her to come to the door 3) ambushed her at the door, a small struggle ensues, and puts her into a car

 

[Kudzuu]

Someone was arrested for a fake ransom note

Will be announced when arrested later today the FBI lead agent said.

 

[allboys]

Some thoughts regarding the news presser in no particular order:
- I have a ring camera, but no subscription. When I would randomly open the app and look at live view, it would always show me a quick clip of the last person to have been at the door. For the last several months, this has not been the case. I’m unsure why this changed. But I question if this was the case for Nancy’s ring camera as well.
- facts of the Apple Watch and flood light - fbi was unsure of the timeline regarding the letter being received and whether it was before or after the videos of floodlight and mention of Apple Watch were
Publicized in the media (I sure hope that is known. If it was after those items became public knowledge, then those facts don’t prove anything.)
- approx. 45 min for perp to be in or around the house. I’m surprised to hear that, and wonder what could have transpired during that time.
- surprised Nancy took an über to Annie’s. We pick my 84 year old mom up. This would have been 20 min round trip for them to pick Nancy up and drop her off. May not be relevant, but I was surprised to hear of the über.
- they are not sure where the “door wide open” comment came from?
- no communication (to family etc.) regarding the ransom (I believe experts have said this is atypical)
- probably unlikely, but I’m wondering if the perp made Nancy remove the ring device, and she got cut in the process.
- 2:12 software detects person on camera, but there is no image. I’m assuming this is because the video recorded over itself. Wondering which/where video camera detected a person (garage side? Or?) Sheriff said he didn’t know which camera
- if I recorded the timeline correctly, there was only approx. 7 min of family in house searching for her, before calling 911
- sheriff would not confirm which family member(s) dropped Nancy off
- he admitted they shouldn’t have released the house. I don’t understand why they did, especially because no one needed to go back to living there.
- he did not confirm there was blood *inside* the house. I thought he did previously? Or did that info. come from another source?
- FBI agent didn’t seem to know off the top of his head what the ransom letter demand timeline was (had to look at paper) WTH?
- sheriff had no info on the trespasser?

 

[gammagirl]

My thought is that it makes zero sense unless it's two different ransom notes from two different entities.
One (or even both) has to be a hoax.
IMO.

I'm thinking something like...if they dont meet the first deadline, she will be absent a body part. If they dont meet the second deadline her life will be taken.

 

[TMich6811]

Two minutes to help an elderly lady with mobility issues into garage, then into the house and settled, then get back out of the house and garage to get back to the vehicle doesn't seem reasonable to me.
I don't think anyone helped her get into the garage or the house. Possibly helped her out of the car, but there's not enough time for anything else before that garage door closes.
IMO.

I disagree. 2 minutes is actually a pretty large amount of time.

My grandmother can get herself out of the car but. I would go to her side and help, walk her in, say are you good and then head out. Absolutely around that time range, with a bit to help more if needed for the mobility issues. She was able to use an uber herself so she’s not incapable of moving

I’ve done this exact thing more times than I can count

 

[Nikynoo]

Anyone else find those blood stains too perfect? no smears no outlines by blocked body parts like feet or legs etc.. like was the dripping the last thing that happened out the door and dripping was the center area of doorway...not as if like someone had hold of her from the side?

perhaps she was being carried out the door?

 

[everlearning]

When our daughter rides with us to an event, and we drop her off at her home afterwards, she may linger in the car a few minutes to *Finish the conversation *Confirm something coming up that she needs info on *Say her goodbyes to her dear parentals as she calls us So, a few minutes linger after the garage door opens is not unusual for our family. When I dropped off my mom from an outing, she often lingered a couple of minutes to finish what she was saying and hear my response.

 

[snoopy100]

IMO it sounds like an oversight - something like one of the kids setting them up on a credit card that expired or forgetting to renew a subscription. Especially if her cameras were from multiple brands/used multiple subscriptions, I can see how one could be forgotten.

My mom and her siblings are constantly buying things for my grandma that they think will make her life easier. They set up any subscriptions for her so they can give her the items ready to go. I couldn't hazard a guess at who controls which subscriptions or even the total population of subscriptions in her apartment.

MOO

i kinda wish we could leave the reasoning for no subscription alone. not everyone wants to be recorded in their home 24/7 and allow a corporation access to that footage, even if privacy policy states they can't view it. plus, if you've lived in the same neighborhood for 30+ years, there's a low crime rate, it's a calm and serene area - most people could never imagine something like this happening to them and therefore don't see a need for stored footage.

but it doesn't really matter why. she apparently didn't have it, so LE has to figure it out without that.

 

[PNW]

I must be used to Seattle prices because everyone keeps mentioning that her house is 1 million plus and I’m like, so a regular small house??

 

[soap mama]

I have many Ring cameras and subscriptions start at only $4.99/month. The Nest camera storage is only $10/month or $100/year. I have friends with cameras that absolutely refuse to pay for a subscription. I don't get it either.

We have a camera off of Amazon with no subscription and it records video like nobody's business. I clear out clips daily, but it never gets full, even if we are on vacation. We lucked out!

 

[captdj]

One more thought.. cameras plural so why was the 2:12 notification the only notification.
Would coming in at 9:48 alert a notification. walking around inside send notifications.. mine does.. so were there any other notifications?
If this was an "outside" camera was the 2:12 notification..well that tells which camera it was right? And sheriff said the camera was analyzed.... just not clear in the sheriff's explanation

 

[merrymary]

Won't discuss how the person got into the house.

Maybe they snuck in thru the garage undetected. My last house had a camera in the garage door opener...loved it! Thinking of putting same in current home.

 

[Sessiebo]

a) NG is not some senior who lacks the capacity to make her own decisions
b) NG lives in a million dollar home in a nice area so seems to have the resources to subscribe if she wanted to
c) I may have missed it as I am at work right now, but did the authorities confirm there was no subscription? TIA

For me it's not about a senior without the capacity to make decisions but more out of safety concerns, especially because she lives in a upscale neighbourhood by herself. I have two elderly parents who are very capable and sometimes stubborn too but i convinced them to also install cams on the outside for my peace of mind so they complied, thankfully.