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

[GailAnne]

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.

This is exactly how Samantha describes her mom in the video. She characterized her as a strong, clever, and spunky. The drops of blood probably occurred when she resisted and fought back when they pulled her out of her house at the front door. She did not want to go!

 

[InkyEvie]

Uber picked her up, son-in-law brought her home

Per the presser, "family" brought her home. They wouldn't state who exactly.

 

[KellySleuth]

I tend to agree. So if it wasn't a kidnapping... was the kidnapping hoax part of the murderer's plan? A calculated and premeditated distraction to send LE on a goose chase? It seems pretty organized that the same ransom note was sent to multiple news outlets within 24 hours...

I've wondered this same thing.

 

[gammagirl]

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.

This is very strange to me.

 

[priyaya]

Why not a robbery if you were an outsider? Seems an outsider would be interested in $ and valuables. It's not the Capone days. It would take a lot of intellectual planning to get away with a ransom. Why take an 84 yr old woman? Makes little sense. Where would someone take her? Did they not know her relationship to SG, or understand the disappearance would be nationwide?

the only reason i can think of is the robbery went bad, she got hurt. have they definitely said that nothing was stolen?

 

[Sadi]

That's what I've thought since the beginning. I just wish we knew more about how the scene looked (ransacking, signs of cleaning, etc).

Yeah, it seems like that is the case. Again, if they knew her and her needing meds, they would have taken them with. She would have likely grabbed them or said she needed them. Unless there wasn’t any reason for her to be needing them anymore

 

[SRWCF]

Remaining open to all potential scenarios, even the least likely, what are all the potential motives behind NG's disappearance?

Brainstorming:

• SA
• Financial
• Kidnapping for Ransom
• Legal Jeopardy/Fear of Discovery
• Political
• Personal Grudge
• Robbery

What's missing from this list?
What if anything on this list can be ruled out at this point?

I think this has to be financially motivated. Period. I mean, who in their right mind would take a mostly immobile 84 year old woman for any other reason unless there would be a nearly guaranteed monetary reward at the end? Just transporting NG alone would be difficult, given her immobility, age, and dependance on medication. It would be akin to kidnapping an infant that would be entirely dependent upon the kidnapper for everything. I don't think NG was taken to be locked in a room and SAed for a certain length of time. I'm sure it was premeditated, the kidnappers knowing of NG's famous, wealthy daughter.

 

[Chimera]

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. Which may take some time. moo

Emphasis mine.
My good friend Occam's Razor would agree !

 

[Sadi]

This is very strange to me.

Sorry, what’s strange? I enjoyed spending time with my mom catching up and would love to have her help.

 

[gammagirl]

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

Speaking of being a grandmother, how old are the SIL's kids?

 

[ND2014]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019507245118287971

Derrek Callella is not exactly a stand-up guy: LADA Charges 13 LA County Employees with Stealing Over $430,000 in Unemployment Benefits – COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

 

[gammagirl]

Sorry, what’s strange? I enjoyed spending time with my mom catching up and would love to have her help.

Strange that they had her take an Uber to their home

 

[SlimPickens]

Even though it's up in the air whether the ransom angle holds any weight, I hope they are holding and leaning on this arrestee pretty hard just in case. Some versions of a man with that name appear suspect at best, IMO. In a grandiose movie-esque kind of way, I could see a group of online-adept and impulsive stooges concocting a scheme to do something like this for thrill and profit.

The arrestee's explanation for texting and how he got the family's current cell information that quickly is pretty suspect, IMO, although I suppose it might be readily available to online saavy folks. But it'd be far easier to obtain those numbers from a reliable source - like a victim's own mouth, her home, or her phone.

JMO.

 

[Cloudydiamond]

Remaining open to all plausible scenarios, even the least likely/most far-fetched, what are all the potential motives behind NG's disappearance?

Brainstorming:

• SA
• Financial
• Kidnapping for Ransom
• Legal Jeopardy/Fear of Discovery
• Political
• Personal Grudge
• Robbery

What's missing from this list?
What if anything on this list can be ruled out at this point?

*ETA: I think robbery can be ruled out, because if you're going to commit a robbery, why steal the person and leave all the possessions behind, but what do others think? Take it off, yea or nay?

Blackmail lol... idk

 

[DizzyB]

I’d be completely shocked (not for the first time, admittedly), if this were actually a kidnap for ransom.

 

[SRWCF]

I don't understand this comment. Nancy Guthrie, assuming she's still alive, is an adult who lives alone, drives and is of very sound mind. I don't think it's up to her daughter to "let" her do anything.

Plus, the elderly want to hang on to their independence as long as they can, which is 100% understandable.

 

[missy1974]

FWIW... I went back to the first few pages of this thread and the first mention of the apple watch was Monday around 1pm Arizona local time, and then not talked about again until hours later.

I think I started reading here Monday night/Tuesday morning, and all the posts about the watch, I couldn't figure out if she left with or without it or if it was all speculation.

No idea when the Media ransom note was sent, but it's been suggested 'Monday morning'.

TMZ made a point of correcting their first statement, that the note said something about what she was wearing and it actually said something she was NOT wearing. (if that is in regards to the watch? who knows)

The FBI guy said something about Ransomware. And the note was in Ransomware format. I had to do some searching. This is typically used to hold data/computer systems 'hostage' until a ransom is paid. It pops up with information on what and how to do it, but I don't know how Ransomware would be used in real life kidnapping scenario? And if there is no way for the family to get proof of life, what does the family do?

The FBI did answer a question about the bitcoin addess that was in the Media ransom note, and said that they have not been able to connect it to anyone.

 

[shadowsc]

Another poster raised the possibility that the family has been told to "go public" to humanize both the victim and themselves. Some of the national sharing might be a continuation of that.

Likewise, it could be a way to gratify his (or their) ego. Maybe something like: Yes, your crime is the talk of the nation. It is being mentioned daily on all news services. And, Its being discussed in detail on ours. After all, it befits your status as: Criminal Mastermind of the Century.

I definitely agree about going public to humanize the victim. What was odd the me was TMZ's first "breaking news" that they had received a ransom note and were like "trying to get in touch with police." It at least came off like they hadn't really been advised yet on what to say or do, but were reporting it. I guess because it came to them, okay, they thought it was in their realm. But I just wondered what LE would actually advise. Because at one point the chief did say that he wished they had seen the ransom note before it went out to the media.

If LE is advising media strategy, I'm all for it. I just think it's a free for all now. And then today with TMZ saying that if the first deadline was missed, the note appeared to say that "demands would change." I don't think LE actually ever said that so it's like why is TMZ releasing ransom note details. Yeah I know, they are TMZ, of course they are. It just seems like once upon a time investigations were protected and now everyone wants every detail and to report breaking news themselves, which seems like a hot wire and real risk in an active missing person case if they truly are dealing with dangerous abductors.

 

[MarciB]

Per the presser, "family" brought her home. They wouldn't state who exactly.

yes, the sheriff was deliberately vague on who actually drove Nancy home

 

[Fromeaster]

This is very strange to me.

Maybe she has a very tough character and is bossy, she's the kind of person who can't say anything and will do whatever she wants.