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

[minazoe]

I don't get how they have processed the whole house so fast , it looks to be 5-6,000 sq ft. it's HUGE.

 

[emigrate]

Yes, it jumped out at me. In a sea of very little clear info and lots of vagueness, they bust out this incredibly specific information not just about the opening but also the closing of a garage door. They also didn't choose to add that they believe she arrived home at that same time because her watch also placed her there, or any other sort of corroboration. They didn't say anything about the watch other than the pacemaker app disconnection and that's interesting because it is probably a treasure trove of data. I think LE have LOTS more info than they're letting on at the moment. They're playing daft.

I'm not yet willing to accept that the criminal part of the evening started at the time when the front door camera was disconnected at 01:47.

Who knows if someone had been watching her late at night in that dark neighborhood, they could have been for weeks. To think she lived there for 50 years and has such great memories of living there and felt safe. To make it to 84 and have someone mess with you, so messed up, this poor lady.

 

[justme11]

I'd be willing to help moderate political posts if you also give me permission to crack down on the dog posts.

Geez, noooo! We'll be passing you and @tricia blood pressure meds.

 

[HoveringWombats]

If you send me bitcoin and it gets deposited into an online wallet, yep, I am going to get caught. Because I am not a criminal and my personal information is already connected to that wallet, I am not trying to hide it.

BUT, there is ways to hide it still. If I have a cold storage and it's not connected to a wallet, apparently I can deposit into a 'mixed' transaction, then pull it out into a new address and it would be impossible to trace at that point.

Hopefully it's not too off topic, but there's a good book called Tracers in the Dark that I recommend for anyone who is curious about how cryptocurrency gets traced by law enforcement. Not that anyone has time to read a book while also keeping up with this thread...

That said, just like many other things in law enforcement, a lot of these traces come down to leveraging mistakes that the criminal made. It's not as straightforward as just tracing a wire transfer between checking accounts. I think someone mentioned using MFA on the account. There is no "account" tied to a bitcoin address. Usually the best bet is to either correlate multiple transactions together, or to catch it when they convert it from cryptocurrency to some other currency (e.g. cash it out for USD). But also as someone else correctly pointed out, if they trace it and it ends up in some country that's uncooperative, it's still not that helpful.

Bottom line, bitcoin is absolutely traceable, but it requires some work and you can't draw direct analogies to how you would trace an ACH or wire transfer of USD.

 

[wyome]

Yes, the part about opening at 9:48 and closing at 9:50 is curious…two whole minutes? (Or I guess it could’ve been just over a minute if it technically opened at 9:48:57 and closed at 9:50:01)

But must be relevant and important if they included it…

moo

Why does everyone keep bringing up the two minute garage? As someone with an 88 year old parent...2 minutes is NOTHING. It takes me that long to pause, open car door, get walker out, help parent out of car, grab the delivery from door or mail from mailbox, hug goodbye, walk parent to door, etc. Let alone if it's recycle day or garbage day the next morning...then I'm pausing longer to bring stuff to the curb or bring bins back in.

 

[Van Helsing]

according to google SG has a NW of 40m with annual salary of 8m, it's reported the ransom is in the millions. She has the money, the criminals in this case seem to be somewhat sophisticated not bumblings idiots. I say pay the ransom, the criminals will eventually be caught either way, so the downside of paying the ransom does not seem high.

I suspect LE might be advising not to pay so-as to discourage future abductions like this.

 

[maskedwoman]

View attachment 641973

Pardon me while I pick my jaw up off the !@/%$ floor. What the actual heck?! Does this neighbor not know how to use a phone?

 

[heli]

So how much money is the bitcoin?

I have read 2-3 mil

 

[curiouscatinoc]

I don't get how they have processed the whole house so fast , it looks to be 5-6,000 sq ft. it's HUGE.

It’s 3,100 sqft. I don’t think that includes the casita in the back though because one realtor site had it listed as 3,700 sqft.

 

[NewMommy09]

But if a ransom is paid, then the abductor(s) potentially have no more need for an abductee. Trying to release them could get them caught, the abductee could potentially give info to get them caught etc. And they've already abducted a mobility challenged elderly woman from her home in the middle of the night, so I personally wouldn't put any stock in them being moral enough to release her. IMO LE has to at least consider that paying the ransom could in effect get NG killed if she isn't already gone. Just one of many possibilities they have to consider. IMOO.

 

[Moonchime]

Maybe I am out of touch but is it part of his job to go on every talk show?

No, I’m sorry if I caused any confusion earlier. I don’t always express myself clearly. Earlier reports indicated that Sheriff Nanos was unaware that the Guthrie siblings were planning to make their plea to the kidnapper last night. He reportedly learned about it from his wife after she saw them on CNN.

However, when Camron Guthrie made his plea this evening, Sheriff Nanos appeared to be aware of it, as he was discussing the case on NewsNation with Elizabeth Vargas.

 

[missy1974]

I am watching Harvey Levin on Fox News right now.

As far as he knows, it's impossible to trace this email.

He thinks it's a local (because of something specific in the email, a phrase), says they could be in New Mexico?

He said it did say that it had exactly where the Apple Watch was left in the home.

He says it's not something thrown together in a few minutes. It was well put together, not AI written, and very clear. Not a crazy person (well, crazy but not). He said it is so very clear exactly what they are demanding, etc.

Most important, it says that this will be there only communication and lays out the demands. Even boldly says that the police are not going to be able to help them.

I have been watching for clips of these shows online to be able to share, but I can't find any yet!

 

[whitelilac]

Exactly! The FBI and LE have been available in NG's neighborhood multiple times, and surely a neighbor could relay important information then. Or she could call the FBI Tip line.

I took it that the lady only saw the something on her walk today, and simply approached the reporters to find LE. Plus she did not tell the reporters what the tip was. By now, hopefully FBI has the tip.

 

[emigrate]

Meh, it doesn’t have to be someone they knew. Her mother was widely known by her viewers, they had recently (October) done a segment in Tucson with her mother and sister, could be a stalker, could be a random person who got a bad idea. So it’s not that someone would have to realize Nancy had a rich daughter, but instead that Savannah had a beloved mother in Tucson named Nancy. From there it’s not hard to find her.

I am just really wishing I could go back to an innocent 5 year old with no idea what is going on in the world and just stay there.

 

[flp]

but that's not their mom. for me, the bitcoin would have been transferred already.

 

[wyome]

Pardon me while I pick my jaw up off the !@/%$ floor. What the actual heck?! Does this neighbor not know how to use a phone?

She may be elderly or untrusting? I kind of dig the fact that she told reporters first. She wants it on record in case it gets shelved or ignored. She can make the call any time and feel more confident I would think.

 

[Beans]

Echoing some other posters’ thoughts on depositing some of the money. Would think that they could pretty quickly identify as a hoax / scam if immediately, somewhere around the world in a country where someone wouldn’t have legal recourse from the U.S,, it is withdrawn.

This is a supremely flaky longshot, but this whole situation is mental so I'm going to say it anyway. I wouldn't even dream of this sort of ridiculous reasoning if this wasn't already off the charts weird, but let's throw everything out there: Maybe the bitcoin details aren't even the perp's. Maybe he plucked some random details off the internet and added them to make the ransom note more plausible. Maybe the "send me cash now, or whenever, maybe next week, whatever" instructions seem to convey less of a sense of urgency about getting the actual money because the whole bitcoin thing is just about dragging out the ransom / kidnapper story as long as possible, and he isn't ever going to be connected with it anyway. See also choosing TMZ for publicity.

Yes, yes, I know. It's certainly not my best or most solid theory work.

 

[shadowsc]

I suspect LE might be advising not to pay so-as to discourage future abductions like this.

I think that's why LE is basically like, "whatever the family does is up to them!" and makes sure they don't come off as encouraging it.

 

[curiouscatinoc]

Pardon me while I pick my jaw up off the !@/%$ floor. What the actual heck?! Does this neighbor not know how to use a phone?

Maybe they were out of town and just got home and noticed something suspicious on their property or on their security cameras.

 

[UsernameRequired]

Sheriff Nanos confirmed they DO have possession of other cameras from NG's house. They are "being analyzed as we speak". He said they sent in the doorbell cam to the company (didn't say who but it's a Nest cam) to try and pull up footage what they could. They are going to send the camera to another company and try again and "hope for the best" with it.