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

[aafromaa]

That said, the ‘local college’ wasn’t some podunk school, it is the University of Arizona which is a large RI university, an NCAA division 1 school playing in the Big 12 conference, and has 10s of thousands of students. She was in a sorority and graduated with a journalism degree. I mapped it the other day it’s about seven miles away.

I believe SG was able to attend U of AZ because her mother worked there and she got free tuition and she then went on to law school at Georgetown on a scholarship. If I’m not mistaken she graduated with honors at both schools.

 

[Bluewing3102]

Could ransom letter writer have gotten the idea from this as an afterthought? Interesting indeed

moo

I think about this too. However what dissuades me is that criminals usually fall into a typical profile. You don't really have elderly kidnappers unless some financial motive is involved. There is nothing released by the Sherrifs or FBI that point to this being a botched burglary.

Unfortunately that makes me believe either it was a planned kidnapping for ransom or opportunistic SA that went wrong. If it's the latter, someone who feels they lack control in their life and seeks to prey on others through forms of SA doesn't seem to fit the profile of someone who'd successfully send a well crafted ransom letter via email with enough precautions to limit authorities ability to track them.

So this is either an opportunistic lowlife cyber criminal trying to profit from someone else's random crime. Or this is someone who planned out an abduction/ransom but is erring on the side of caution.

JMO

 

[acutename]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019595778638204951

how have the kidnapper(s) been able to makes traceless contacts?

 

[txsleuth70]

Sorry to go off topic, but Tracy Walder’s autobiography “The Unexpected Spy” is a good read. She also talks about current events from a CIA/FBI perspective on her instagra

One thing nagging at me— they kept her disappearance quiet at first. I wonder if there was in fact a ransom demand early on. The sheriff was adamant that something was off, that it wasn’t a simple “missing person.” Something very blatant gave him that feeling, IMO.

I didn’t see a news story until Monday afternoon. NG had already been missing over 24 hours at that point. Anecdotally, I have seen missing person cases local to me where there is a huge civilian search party on the ground within hours. This case was kept very hush hush though and that makes me pause.

Yes, oddly seemed like just a Silver Alert at first. As if she had just wondered off...but yet bled some, ring cam missing, maybe signs of a struggle inside.

 

[Sundog]

But now I'm trying to remember where/when I saw the comment about the watch being on the charger... I know I saw that somewhere.

IMO

<snipped for focus>

Yes, I saw that mentioned, too. That NG's phone was charging and she wasn't wearing it. IIRC, it was early on in the reporting.

 

[Pharmasgirl]

Right!? Except when I was 5 living in Atlanta during the Atlanta children kidnappings! To this day I sleep with everything covered up except part of my face. I was terrified of being taken from my bed! And I absolutely can't sleep if anyone could possibly see in my window!
There's my childhood trauma side note for all yall internet sleuthers to disect lol

I'm very sorry to hear about the pain that has followed you through the years. There is no doubt that childhood trauma follows us through adulthood and changes our lives forever.
This is the worst case I've ever engaged with on this site. As someone newly retired, I will never forget Nancy and her family, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Nancy became my mom and daughter Savannah I've been watching for years. Absolutely heartbreaking!
If there is a God...

 

[Trino]

deleted.... due to my illogical conclusion.

Maybe a robbery, and NG awakened. As a senior citizen, I can tell you elderly sleep odd hours, often wake in the middle of the night. Sometimes a slight sound at 3:00a will do it. Maybe she woke up, heard something, got up to find someone in her house. BUT, the person took nothing except her. Maybe she recognized him? A confrontation? The person panicked? But, then what?

 

[MassGuy]

Yes, oddly seemed like just a Silver Alert at first. As if she had just wondered off...but yet bled some, ring cam missing, maybe signs of a struggle inside.

Yeah, he made it clear that something about the scene made them call in homicide detectives. I'd just love to know the full picture.

 

[SaraSmile]

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)?

I was also wondering about Mexico as a place the abductors ran to. It would only be for the criminals to hide out, since ransom payment is online,( if it is sent at all), so no need to stay in AZ or even USA to collect $. Mexico might make the criminals feel more secure, while waiting for $.

If they did head south, I really don’t think they would take Nancy across the border, and certainly would not return her from Mexico to AZ.

Sorry, but if the criminals decided to head to Mexico, wait it out, see if they get payment, I highly doubt Nancy would still be alive. Sorry, They may have ended her life, dropped into a body of water, or in a desert area, since they had 10 hours before anyone started looking for her, no alert at Nogales border looking for their car( we don’t know if they have any idea of the car even now).

If they do not get payment, they may think they can just return to AZ, carry on with life.
Just an idea, MOO

 

[digitective]

The problem with the inheritance angle or financially strapped/aggrieved family member is that they likely wouldn't take her from the home to hide her God knows where to be found God knows when. That's a large part of the reason I am skeptical of AB's storyline if the insinuation is that financial gain is the motive.

JMO.

Maybe they didn’t want other family members to have to find her body if they went to her house? Or they thought they might have left DNA / clues on the body that would lead to them getting caught? Or they wanted to trick / distract LE by making them think it was a kidnapping for ransom?

Not saying the family was involved but heirs looking to benefit from life insurance policies and/or inheritance is sadly a common motive. (e.g. Nathan Carman killing his grandfather John Chakalos in his bed in the middle of the night.)

 

[Luna20]

St Philips Tucson mass on Sunday is 10AM, so it must have been after mass that church goer contacted family that victim was a no show. Why someone would show up at 2AM to take an 84 year old women out of house to the hostility of causing her to bleed front door steps. This is not some kidnapping situation but rather someone who did not like this Senior in my opinion. I think her removal from house was to conceal evidence of crime

Could be religion related. I just find it a little weird that victim lives 4 miles from daughter and yet victim had to take Uber to meet daughter for dinner and game night. Then son in law drops off victim at home through garage which shut around 9:48pm. Victim is 84 years old with heart condition, requires a walker for mobility, is in pain per daughter, and frail. I find it strange that a church member would break in to house around 1:30am. If this were church related, why not do this after church when the victim would return home?

@avalonisland
Not sure if you saw my earlier request because the thread is going at a rapid pace.

Did you find a link for “St Philip’s Tucson mass”?

Has anyone else seen a link for this?

 

[Deepinthought52]

Frank Sinatra Jr. Is the only case I can think of off-hand.

I think there was a ransom/live outcome in Patty Hurst’s kidnapping too…

 

[digitective]

I don't think anyone will inherit anything soon. If Nancy is not found inheritors have to wait 7 years.

If they killed her, they could just be hiding the body somewhere for now but plan to drop it somewhere that it will be found in the near future.

 

[MassGuy]

If they killed her, they could just be hiding the body somewhere for now but plan to drop it somewhere that it will be found in the near future.

Why take that risk? The agreement is for her to be alive anyway.

 

[Chainspell]

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

The New Mexico idea is interesting and makes me wonder what was in the ransom note. Southwestern New Mexico is very sparsely populated. If this is someone working temporarily out of an airbnb (just speculating), their options would be pretty limited unless they go into smaller town/cities like Silver City or Truth and Consequences. If they go further east, say towards Lincoln National Forest, they'd get more options that are still relatively isolated. Who knows how far they could have gone, though. If they got out of there a bit after 2am, they could theoretically be even in Las Cruces by sunrise, which is only about 30 minutes away from the El Paso metro area.

Just idle speculation, would obviously need more to go on.

 

[Charlot123]

Nancy Grace often gets things wrong. She is on now talking about INSIDE CAMERAS that were discussed in the presser. I believe only cameras are at the doors outside correct? She also is stating they have missed today's deadline of 5pm when it is only 3:35pm in Tucson. She is a real loony. Did I miss something about inside cameras or any Nancy Grace calls them "nannycams"

There are such things, they are bought on Amazon, small, not great quality, connectable to the internet.

I don’t trust Nancy Grace much, but she may be right here.

Only, if there were such cameras, I doubt that Nancy Guthrie bought them herself. More likely, someone else recommended and installed them.

Who, then?

Also: they could be used to monitor Nancy’s movements, too…

 

[missy1974]

One thing nagging at me— they kept her disappearance quiet at first. I wonder if there was in fact a ransom demand early on. The sheriff was adamant that something was off, that it wasn’t a simple “missing person.” Something very blatant gave him that feeling, IMO.

I didn’t see a news story until Monday afternoon. NG had already been missing over 24 hours at that point. Anecdotally, I have seen missing person cases local to me where there is a huge civilian search party on the ground within hours. This case was kept very hush hush though and that makes me pause.

I went back to the first page here, first post is from Sunday night and only had to scroll a bit to find that the SO had already given a briefing earlier.

I think that is pretty quick. I was sure I had first heard or read about it on Sunday too, and I'm in Canada.

Go figure....TMZ first reported on it Feb 1st, 8:32PST.

EDIT: sorry, meant to add the link to TMZ

'TODAY' Anchor Savannah Guthrie’s Mom Missing

Authorities in Arizona are searching for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of 'TODAY' anchor Savannah Guthrie, who was reported missing under what authorities are calling concerning circumstances.

www.tmz.com

 

[HoveringWombats]

There are such things, they are bought on Amazon, small, not great quality, connectable to the internet.

Did I miss some detail? I didn't see anything about the quality of the cameras. There's no reason that you can't have indoor cameras of the same quality as the outdoor ones, from the same brands. There's a lot to follow here so maybe there's something I didn't see, but I have not read or heard any credible statements suggesting that the indoor cameras (if present) were anything other than the normal cloud camera brands we've been discussing.

Edit: and sorry to keep harping on camera stuff. It's just an area I have spent a lot of time working in, and the details of these cameras make a huge difference in what can or can not plausibly be recovered. So I really want to know as many fact-based details as possible on that particular topic.

 

[Luna20]

Yeah, he made it clear that something about the scene made them call in homicide detectives. I'd just love to know the full picture.

So far we don’t know who the person is that made a welfare check right? They don’t seem to want to share that. Maybe that person doesn’t want to be identified?

No word on who ‘specifically’ brought NG home Saturday night?

 

[diggndeeperstill]

@avalonisland
Not sure if you saw my earlier request because the thread is going at a rapid pace.

Did you find a link for “St Philip’s Tucson mass”?

Has anyone else seen a link for this?

Sundays | Saint Philip's In The Hills

Rite I uses the traditional language that most closely adheres to the patterns of prayer that have shaped Christians generation to generation.

stphilipstucson.org