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

[HoveringWombats]

Did they mention if NG's phone was left behind? My guess has been that the "person" camera notification they mentioned was found by looking at the notifications on her phone, and seeing a Nest "person detected" notification on the screen (or maybe by getting Google to disclose that). As others have mentioned 1) it is very common for these cameras, including Nest (which I personally have) to say "person" when it is an animal or something else; these are not infallible so don't put too much weight into that, and 2) it's not surprising, and in fact totally normal, for there to be such a notification but no video available if the person is not paying for cloud storage. If I had to guess, I would say it probably was a person, but the notification saying that is really far from definitive.

 

[SRWCF]

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.

Yes, THIS! I'm sure she hated the fact that she wasn't able to walk very well, so my theory is that she insisted on taking an Uber. That would also be a way to exercise your independence.

 

[browneyes]

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.

Without a subscription, after 3 hours, my phone alert and recording disappear.

 

[Chimera]

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 with regard to the monetary demands.

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 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.

Can you share a general theory about what you think may have occurred ?
I'm still stymied.
One day I feel it's clear and the next it's still a muddle.
Tia.

 

[UsernameRequired]

About the cameras.... if the doorbell camera was offline or disabled, it seems impossible for it to later transmit a movement notification unless it was back online temporarily. It's possible the notification was from a different camera, but any camera that was able to send a notification would have to be online and would send video to the cloud. I can't make sense of this discrepancy about the movement notification AFTER the camera was offline/disabled and the lack of any video recovery.

We have multiple cameras at our house from different off-brand companies. All of them use SD cards for recording because I refuse to pay for a subscription. The cameras still record when they are offline (as long as they have power), you just don't get any notifications and can't see the video until it is back online. If someone physically removed (or smashed) a camera, access to any video would be gone permanently (unless the SD card was found/recovered).

At any rate, if the camera was not disabled until 1:47 am, I assume that there would be video from all day Saturday, including any visitors as well as the family drop-off around 9:48 pm (if it was detected). If the drop-off was exclusively at the garage area perhaps it would not have been picked up by the doorbell camera but maybe by another camera (unless they were already disabled).

I feel that all the camera disabling makes it almost certain that the perp was someone close to NG because they knew how the cameras were set up, both the physical locations and the recording settings, etc. It just seems impossible that someone did all that without leaving a single second of video recordings on any camera.

A Nest cam battery version only has 3 hours of free cloud storage, then it's overwritten.

 

[Kudzuu]

I get stuck here too. I understand the camera that’s offline is of no use. But, are all cameras now offline because 1 is? The camera that alerted at 2:whatever …or any other camera in the house…why weren’t they functional?

IIRC there were camera(s) in the house but it taped over after so many hours. All they have is an alert at 2:whatever that a person was detected.

But after a question of could it be an animal the sheriff said that might be possible.

So that confused me.

 

[TMich6811]

I just really hate the idea that someone was in the home with her for a chunk of time. I hate the idea of what could have happened to her during that time.

 

[Sadi]

She could have also insisted on taking an Uber, not wanting to "bother" them.

Very true, my mom is no longer here, she’s been gone 13 years now. She was the best person I have ever known and I did everything to help her and treat her well. I’m not meaning it is a bad thing she took an Uber, could have been she insisted. I just know for me, I’d pick her up and take her home.

 

[moonbeams]

i don't see how it's possible that the SIL does this without AG being involved because she'd know if he was gone in the middle of the night and either had to act as his alibi or has already reported that to the police (which i assume she didn't do because this case would look very different if that were the case). and i feel like it wouldn't be hard to nail down spouses lying for each other - i have to imagine it's fairly obvious to LE right away, even if they can't immediately act on it.

so, they could still be investigating this behind the scenes. maybe the circus over the ransom note is just to throw the potential suspects off LE's scent (i really don't think this is the case, what a massive waste of resources) or maybe it goes deeper and there was like, a hit hired or something? i just don't know...

OK.... i give up... since EVERYONE including family are fair game: maybe they are sleepdivorced? so ya.... T could leave without knowing?

still not convinced... i think it's random, a SG stalker, or some wacko that didn't care for beliefs of either S or N G.....

 

[HoveringWombats]

I also don’t think a 30-40 YO man would call it “bitcoin”. That sounds like something a 50+-YO woman or offshore scammer would use. And I don’t think an offshore scammer would have the means to kidnap NG.

I know this is from way back. I am just catching up now. What do we think a 30 year old man would call bitcoin, if not bitcoin? I'm not saying that I am convinced that this is a legitimate ransom note, but this does not undermine its credibility to me. People of all ages who use bitcoin call it bitcoin. And as I mentioned way upthread, many many many criminals do still use bitcoin even though it has been superseded in some ways. I'm not a criminal so I can't say why, but I assume it's because it's ubiquitous, it's easy for victims to get to pay with, and it's easy to cash out.

 

[soap mama]

So was it an Uber who took her home, or AG/SIL?
I feel like i missed a chunk of info

 

[bestill]

Without a subscription, after 3 hours, my phone alert and recording disappear.

Gotcha. What about knowing that she wasn't paying for the subscription and all they had to do was physically remove it?

 

[Chimera]

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.

Hmm.
I.e., speculating here ; To the perp : "Do the right thing. Think about your kid's futures.".
That sort of thinking ??
I might be reading too much into it, though.
Imo.

 

[osu]

Timeline

 

[clearskies1]

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

From what I've heard it is very hard to get a warrant to put a listening device in a home because it is so intrusive. You need to show a lot do that -- not just show evidence of involvement in the crime but also that you have exhausted other, less intrusive evidence gathering means. You can get a warant, it's just not easy. JMO.

 

[InkyEvie]

So was it an Uber who took her home, or AG/SIL?
I feel like i missed a chunk of info

Sheriff would only confirm "family" took her home. But per the Sheriff, she took an Uber to AG's house earlier in the day.

 

[browneyes]

So was it an Uber who took her home, or AG/SIL?
I feel like i missed a chunk of info

She took the Uber to AG’s home. Was then driven back to her home by family.

 

[SlimPickens]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019505734820712943

Oh man. Cursory search shows an LA musician with a band name "Secret Mutilator" and appears to be into hardcore kink and other fetishes. Perhaps even recently arrested for embezzlement/fraud at work. Neither may be the guy in question, but dang.

JMO.

 

[Sadi]

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?

Glad they did and it’s sends a strong message to anyone else who wants to try it, you’ll be found quickly.

 

[K9Enzo]

So it appears the Uber driver, at approx. 5:32 pm, provided the last independent confirmation NG was alive. IMO