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

[Absoluterubbish]

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.

So they are in possession of the doorbell cam?

 

[swanniee11]

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.

I keep thinking about this, if the family member who dropped her off went directly to the garage, someone opened the garage and NG got out with her cane, walked to the garage door leading into the house, turned to close it while the person pulled their car out, never actually getting out of the car, this is enough time. I would think they all felt the house was locked up and it was just about getting her in safely. I'm sure she has done this many times. Much easier then getting her up those front steps to the front door in the dark etc. IMO

 

[HoveringWombats]

One would think it would behoove the threat actor to compromise a tiny bit on his position and send proof of life if it means he will get what he intended to get this entire time, which is a big payday.

I agree with this, but I don't know if this person is a completely rational actor.

 

[Vaderman]

How do you all feel? Do you think NG is alive? I hope so, but worry.

I don't feel great about her chances. As sensational as this case has been, I thinking a kidnapping/ransom scenario is less likely. I think NG was a crime of opportunity by amateurs who got swept up in the moment.

 

[Beans]

That is absolutely plausible.

Thanks for making me feel like less of a crackpot

Similar to what others have said about it feeling like watching a crap hallmark film and similar, I also very much feel like I'm potentially watching a story being woven. A staged scene, designed to cover up something else entirely. Misdirection and confusion. I suppose that's why I'm considering ideas that don't normally make sense. Meeting the incoherence head on.

 

[acutename]

If this whole thing is actually true, this person is not going to allow NG to give any form of info to ID this schmuck. Very dangerous situation, I don't think it would matter if they pay the whole thing or 1/2. IMO

If the kidnappers are real, they would not have shown their faces to NG. But that does not mean they will release her either. Any exchange is just all dicey. And I bet they would like to leave the country as well. IMO.

 

[AFTF]

From everything publicly reported so far, the biggest unanswered question, the one that really seems to drive the entire direction of the investigation, is whether the ransom communication is real, staged, or unrelated.

If the ransom is authentic, then the case points more toward a true kidnapping scenario. That would suggest a financial or coercive motive and means investigators would likely be focusing heavily on tracing the communication, analyzing behavior, and building the movement timeline around when the message was sent. Proof of life would be a key factor here, and so far nothing publicly confirmed has been released.

If the ransom turns out to be false or staged, the case shifts in a very different direction. In that situation, the physical scene and the timeline become far more important than the communication itself. Authorities have already confirmed at least one fake ransom related scam tied to the case, so that possibility cannot be ignored. A staged ransom would suggest misdirection rather than a straightforward kidnapping model.

There is also a middle possibility. A real incident occurred, but unrelated individuals attempted to exploit it with fake ransom communication. In that case, investigators would need to separate the real event from outside noise, and the physical evidence and timeline would still likely carry the most weight.

Beyond the ransom issue, a few unknowns seem especially important:
The exact overnight timeline.

What caused the pacemaker monitoring to stop.
When the doorbell camera was disabled or removed.

Whether any verifiable proof of life exists.

Where the communication originated.

For discussion purposes, a few questions that might be worth considering:

What parts of the timeline are actually confirmed versus inferred?

Do the publicly known details suggest planning or opportunity?

How significant is the confirmed fake ransom attempt in shaping the case?

What usually qualifies as real proof of life in situations like this?

Which unknown right now seems most likely to shift the direction of the investigation?

 

[HoveringWombats]

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.

I really hope I'm wrong, but I would be extremely surprised if any usable video footage can be recovered by having physical possession of a cloud-based camera such as a Nest or Ring. Perhaps one or more of the cameras is a different type, which do have some local storage, but I don't think that either Nest or Ring have any local storage at all beyond a tiny bit of buffer which is probably cleared when the camera loses power. But, it's totally possible there's some scenario I'm not thinking of, and I really hope they recover something useful.

 

[LMDlong]

How do you all feel? Do you think NG is alive? I hope so, but worry.

Sadly I don’t think she is, but I’m praying.

 

[aafromaa]

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 actually only a little over 3100 sq ft

 

[Wsimm]

One thing that I feel is being overlooked is that she is living on her own and making her own decisions. They might have suggested it, and she turned it down. Maybe she felt having everything tapes was intrusive. Maybe she was old fashioned and didn't see the point. They can't make her do it.

I keep seeing comments related to NG’s possible independent nature. How NG‘s personality is being described in the media doesn’t lead me to think she’d want to burden or cause worry for her children. By all accounts this 84 yr old women who’s been described as sharp as a tack, faith based, loving and kind; also has severe limited mobility, a pacemaker, needs medication daily in order to continue living, as well as lives with daily pain. Upthread someone mentioned she’s been receiving Sunday service via stream and hasn’t been in church since Covid. I can’t help but think if NG’s children shared their concern, NG would acquiesce….to a point! Security cameras, additional locks, Apple Watch, and pick up mom for meetups/dinner etc…. probably all easy negotiable with mom. Leaving a home that she’s lived in for decades, maybe not so much. The 4 mile Uber ride is still odd to me.

 

[turaj]

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!

i watched Harvey Levin and he understands the stakes here and thankfully is not releasing that info on location of Apple watch. Based on his experience with lots of crazy things he seems to think this is credible.

 

[GMG1999]

We know that the meds were still there. Is it possible if she was kidnapped, they took enough pills for the time of their plan?

 

[Beans]

3776 sq ft via realtor.com and that probably included the guest house. Large but not obscene for an upscale Arizona home.

It's a shame NG bought the house so long ago. No chance of interior pics or layouts anywhere. I wish I understood her home environment a little better.

 

[gammagirl]

This "pay ransom by Thursday at 5 pm unless you don't do it by then and then no later than Monday" provision of the ransom note is REALLY weird. Note that NG was also taken in the late night/early morning hours of Saturday/Sunday but the ransom notes were not sent until Monday (if I understand correctly). Also, proof of life has not been provided despite being asked for yesterday.

Is there some place that a supposed abductor could secret an 84 year old woman (whether alive or not) that is safely accessible to a supposed abductor on Thursday night, but not through the weekend, and then accessible again on Monday?

Is there anything that makes crossing the border on Friday/Saturday/Sunday more difficult than other days of the week? Is the border busier on weekend days?

Could the supposed abductor have two plane tickets, one for late Thursday and another for Monday (either from the local area OR from just south of the border)?

Maybe I watch too many movies, but i thought that they might alleviate her of a body part if no $$ by today and then unalive her if nothing by Monday....

 

[Bluewing3102]

If the kidnappers are real, they would not have shown their faces to NG. But that does not mean they will release her either. Any exchange is just all dicey. And I bet they would like to leave the country as well. IMO.

Agreed. If the ransom is real and the author is the abductor. Unfortunately, the only way I see she makes it out alive is if LE can trace the source and locate where she is being held prior to the Monday deadline. :/

Hopefully if Harvey's suspicions are correct and the ransom came from someone local to Tucson this gives me more hope.

JMO

 

[AFTF]

I really hope I'm wrong, but I would be extremely surprised if any usable video footage can be recovered by having physical possession of a cloud-based camera such as a Nest or Ring. Perhaps one or more of the cameras is a different type, which do have some local storage, but I don't think that either Nest or Ring have any local storage at all beyond a tiny bit of buffer which is probably cleared when the camera loses power. But, it's totally possible there's some scenario I'm not thinking of, and I really hope they recover something useful.

You are mostly correct about how cloud based cameras work, but there are a few technical nuances worth mentioning.

With systems like Ring and Nest, the primary video storage is in the cloud, not on the device itself. The camera typically maintains only a very small rolling buffer in volatile memory for motion detection and clip creation. If power is lost or the device is removed, that temporary buffer is usually cleared and does not function as true local storage.

However, physical possession of the camera does not necessarily mean footage is lost. In many cases, useful evidence can still exist elsewhere in the system. For example, if the camera was actively connected before being disabled or removed, any recorded clips that were already uploaded would still exist in the cloud account. Motion event timestamps, device activity logs, connection interruptions, and last online times are often preserved server side and can help investigators establish timing even if no usable video remains.

There are also edge scenarios where limited data might persist. Some cameras briefly cache fragments before upload, some hubs or base stations maintain small amounts of metadata, and network infrastructure such as routers can sometimes show when a device disconnected. Even without video, these technical artifacts can help narrow the event window.

So while it is true that most cloud cameras do not provide meaningful local video recovery after removal, the device itself can still be relevant for logs, pairing information, timestamps, and forensic correlation with cloud records. In many investigations, timing and connectivity data end up being just as important as the footage itself.

 

[Betty P]

There you go. That's what I was suggesting earlier, about the lack of communication not necessarily meaning that it's bogus. I understand the perspective of the family that they aren't willing to send a ransom without proof that NG is alive, but I think it could be the perspective of the kidnappers that they have already said everything they are willing to say, so further communication is not going to happen.

I'm still not convinced that the ransom note is real, but I don't think that the lack of communication from the sender really changes my opinion in either direction.

 

[auburnmomof2]

Thanks for making me feel like less of a crackpot

Similar to what others have said about it feeling like watching a crap hallmark film and similar, I also very much feel like I'm potentially watching a story being woven. A staged scene, designed to cover up something else entirely. Misdirection and confusion. I suppose that's why I'm considering ideas that don't normally make sense. Meeting the incoherence head on.

I've been over here thinking up crazy scenarios that really just sound like a horror movie!
And the dateline connections/names that have been mentioned in this thread are just bizarre
I keep hoping Nancy is alive and well and giving her kidnappers hell

 

[DizzyB]

If this truly is a kidnaping and the FBI is in charge, would they allow the Sheriff to be interviewed on talk shows? Is he out of the loop and doing his own thing?