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

[whitelilac]

I just keep coming back to thinking this will be a crime by someone the victim knew. Probably pretty straightforward and simple in the end. I think LE knows a lot more than they are letting on, they just don’t have enough probable cause for an arrest and naming a poi won’t do anything to help further their investigation. I think the next update will likely be an arrest has been made. moo

Thinking the same, and more so after today's PC with certain questions dodged.

 

[soap mama]

or knows where a spare key is located?

I wonder if the garage door had a keypad. Anyone with the code could get in. Or if anyone had an extra remote

 

[academyrd]

I could also see it being connected to someone the SIL knows. Like maybe there was a gambling debt or something like that, the SIL knows all about the layout of the house and where the cameras record but it doesn't necessarily mean he was the one that physically went to the house around 2 am.

Yes. Say the motive was money and NG was planning to cut them out of her will for one reason or another. Say that meant millions and millions of dollars if she passed sooner rather than later... that's motive and that would be enough for a psychopathic person to put out a hit on her.

 

[notandy]

Have you ever tried to make an independent older person do something they didn’t want to do? Maybe she was busy with her own life.

 

[Cardgame]

Interesting though that the FBI have located and arrested one of the "imposters".

But the sender of the Bitcoin news outlet ransom note remains undetected.

Does that suggest they may be in a different country? Ie FBI know where they are but can't access them?

Or that they are a match for the the FBI in relation to covering their tracks?

Or both?

 

[Sundog]

They should ask if they plan to pay the ransom over BTC or whatever before the 5pm deadline (the value of which is plummeting as we speak, lol)

I don't think the FBI would report on the family's decision regarding paying the ransom. They are all waiting for communication from the suspect(s) of the ransom and so far no communication has been made.

 

[mpnola]

Possibly, but I know I would not have my mom take an uber when I lived close by. I would have her there early to help and visit too, but that’s just me.

Maybe she couldnt come early. My parents live very close to me. They choose to call an Uber to get to the airport instead of me bringing them because they know I "am busy" and they don't want to inconvenience me. I, personally, can think of so many reasons. I don't find it "weird". They brought her home, when they had more time. She wasn't kidnapped from the party, so I am not sure the ride there matters that much (unless the driver ends up being involved). I would be more interested in how often she Ubers and who were her recent past drivers.

 

[moonbeams]

Didn't Brian Entin say that the blood trail STOPPED at the front door and did not continue on further toward the actual driveway??

The video he took seemed to confirm this.

If true, I wonder 2 things:
1) Was she struck at the front door and taken INSIDE the house from there? If so, that to me suggests someone she knew at the door waking her up, identifying themselves, her opening the door and then her being struck. There are some dried flowers at the door so maybe she brushed up against a wreath... which looks like it was removed. But then again, it looks like the blood dripped there for a few seconds in one place.

2) Did she get carried by more than one person to a car?

The clues we know about just add more and more questions.

IMO i'm leaning toward the blood was from another time and had nothing to do with this case.

 

[DizzyB]

So what did LE go back to the house for? BTW, spidey senses as I am listening to the FBI that keeps mentioning Nancy is a Grandma. Not a mother, a Grandma. Appealing to something.

 

[tkcrockett]

Sheriff said that NG had more than one security camera. The front door camera was offline at 1:47 a.m. Another camera detected movement at 2:12 a.m., that's how I understood it.

Yes, thanks. Came up in press conference after I asked it

 

[Herat]

3000 soft house on just under 1 acre
based on links i saw in this thread early on....

That's the price of a basic 3 bedroom tract home in a good school district in southern California, in an HOA and with minimal yard.

Nothing to write home about.

 

[Cardgame]

Maybe they were cooking dinner?

Yes sorry my question wasn't why did she get an Uber, I really don't see anything mysterious about that it's just a life choice.

I was wondering why the police chose to tell us. Given that most of the presser seemed to be about rumor control. They have now created a new point of speculation.

 

[Justice101]

The FBI will be doing everything they possibly can to keep the family members cooperative.

I do think the FBI intentionally distanced themselves from the "ransom" talk by dismissing it as "up to the family" what they decide to do.

Basically, my take on it was, the FBI can't prove (yet) that it's a hoax, but they wouldn't bet a million Bitcoins it was real.

Wasn't today the family's deadline to fork over the Bitcoin? If so, why would the family have waited until the 11th hour Wednesday night to put out that video asking the kidnappers for proof of life?

This ransom crap is all a bunch of hooey and a total and complete waste of LE's time, manpower and resources.

This is not a kidnapping.
This is not a kidnapping.
This is not a kidnapping.

If I'm proven wrong, I will eat a whole lot of crow and all my words for dessert.

JMO.

Here are the puzzling things to me:

1) Why the circling helicopter with agents looking out the sides? Looking for a place someone was buried or something discarded by the perpetrator? That landscape would be very easy to spot disturbed soil on foot or in the air. Just to make it look like the sheriff's dept is doing something?

2) How could a broken camera detect someone after it was disabled? Could it be instead a motion sensor inside the house like we used to have?

My gut feeling is that LE has video of the vehicle involved from multiple neighbor's door cameras and that they are trying to trace the vehicle to where it wasn't seen anymore passing by and therefore get to the point of knowing about where the driver either parked or left onto highways. IMO, video cameras are the most important forensic tool to help guide LE for facts. I believe that takes a lot of time to canvass the area but that ultimately, LE will know the kind of vehicle (make and model) but probably not a license plate.

 

[turaj]

Because they were having a party at their house? Busy setting up? Party already started and it felt rude to leave guests? They already had a glass of wine at their party? It was much easier to get her a ride from an Uber? SO many reasons and all of them would feel normal, to me.

was it a full on party at Annie's house? I got the impression a family dinner and games. If so lots of people to interview there and think it might have been mentioned.

 

[bestill]

How would the perp know that Nancy's doorbell cam wasn't feeding to the cloud and by removing it they were safe? Another question I have is how were they able to walk up to it and it not capture that activity and alert to her phone? Maybe investigators have that alert from her phone and it captured the activity...unless she never downloaded the app. Probably been discussed on here a few dozen times but I missed it.

 

[ab01]

IMO i'm leaning toward the blood was from another time and had nothing to do with this case.

Highly unlikely IMO.

 

[SMK777]

Yes, unless you have a warrant (or consent).

It might not be difficult to get a warrant in a case such as this if they have probable cause.

 

[MassGuy]

So what did LE go back to the house for? BTW, spidey senses as I am listening to the FBI that keeps mentioning Nancy is a Grandma. Not a mother, a Grandma. Appealing to something.

I think that’s them trying to frame her as more vulnerable.

 

[InkyEvie]

Yes. Say the motive was money and NG was planning to cut them out of her will for one reason or another. Say that meant millions and millions of dollars if she passed sooner rather than later... that's motive and that would be enough for a psychopathic person to put out a hit on her.

Cutting out of the will might be motive, but she'd still have to be declared deceased before anything would pay out. And that can take years if there's no body and the family holds out.

Edit: fix a typo

 

[Justice101]

Could someone have said they will get the cameras setup and pay the bill for the recording of them? And in reality, not do it or cancel it without saying anything? Far fetched, but it came to mind.

We have one camera of our 8 set up as a doggie cam for our 3 mischievous mutts.