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

[rosesfromangels]

I was trained as a scientist and (mental health) clinician. I remember one professor constantly telling us to always stick to the data. "Stay close to your data and you will not go wrong."

Even PhD scientists can have a pet theory and discard/ignore data that refutes it. Then they end up having to discard parts of their theory or tossing the whole thing out. Wasting a lot of time and resources in the process.

Yes lay people have a hard time wrapping their heads around criminal psychopathy. Lay people of course think like normal people who follow the law. People who have worked in mental health, LE, courts are not surprised at deviant behavior, they work with it every day.

I understand where your professor was coming from. I am a data nerd, I love it and the patterns that emerge from it. I apply data patterns to “typical” human behaviors and then gather as much info on the main players to inform interpretation of the unknowns. My amateur skill is aerial mapping and predicting recovery sites based on known factors. In this case, (if this is recovery) it will be extremely difficult with the vast desert. But I do know this. Perps rarely go far with a deceased soul in their vehicle. Sorry to be so creepy. I pray this dear lady is still on this side.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[Deleted member 117884]

To each his own... I would never let my hubby take my mom home without me going with. WHY? Because it's MY MOM! I won't elaborate further

And if you had a child at home?

 

[turaj]

I don't think that's entirely true, i'm sorry. There are many different layers of men in Italy, as there are in every other country.
Just as women don't like to be typecast, as goes for men

People are giving too much attention to the fact he drove his MIL home after dinner and not the fact that the Italian guy was the designated driver for an evening dinner with wine. If something here is out of the ordinary it's this.

we have lots of just this kind of family dinner + games. Some wine consumed (a glass or two) and they all drive home. No where near impairment level.

 

[turaj]

And if you had a child at home?

I think it is safe to say the majority would think nothing of having their husband take their mother home 10 minutes away. I did think taking the Uber was odd.

 

[Deleted member 117884]

Of course they look at family first. And LE has come out with a statement saying that they have no POI or suspects at this time. I'm going to stick with LE. It is not a podcaster's place to divulge information such as this in an ongoing investigation. What would be the reasoning besides wanting to get clicks and to build a following? This level of unwarranted scrutiny on the son-in-law is off the charts.

I agree. I'm not defending the podcaster. I was discussing why he is being considered at all, by anyone.

I have no theory about what happened.

jmo

 

[Deleted member 117884]

If the ransom-note writer is legit, why hasn't he contacted the family since the note?

jmopinion

 

[IceIce9]

It's so scary at night there, the streets are unlit, the houses are big and far apart. There's not much traffic. It'll be very difficult to find a body in the desert. I would be scared to live alone in such a big house and in such a place.

Many people enjoy living in an area where the houses aren’t right on top of each other. And the darkness allows for viewing the beautiful night sky.

My favorite place I ever lived was where there was a minimum of five acres per home. I couldn’t even see another home from mine.

My kids and I used to lie on a blanket in our yard at night and view hundreds of stars.

JMO

 

[HoveringWombats]

What are those 41 minutes really telling us? [snip]

I think this is a really good post, with a lot of thought-provoking ideas.

Of course the problem here - the problem in most of these threads - is that we're operating with extremely limited information. LE even is operating with limited information, but we have 10% of the information that they do. If we knew things like which door was used for entry, where the camera that detected motion was located, or even a shred of information about the state of the interior of the house when the family arrived, we could eliminate a bunch of possibilities.

I think it's entirely possible that the perp (or perps) were in the house much longer than 41 minutes. I think it's equally possible that they were in the house much shorter than 41 minutes. But either way, I completely agree that we should not anchor too much on thinking we understand the timeline of what actually happened based on the extremely sparse information we have.

I realize that guessing and filling in blanks is what websleuths is all about. I just have to keep reminding myself to revisit my assumptions, and not let my brain decide something is a proven fact when it's actually just a theory that I read or came up with.

 

[justwannahelp]

Earlier in the thread, Tricia linked to a Tik Tok post by a person who formerly did crime scene blood spatter analysis and that person described that when blood drops into blood drops that are already on the ground, it splatters those drops such that it looks like a spray.

I used to get nose bleeds as a child. Looked EXACTLY like nose bleed droplets. One big drop would hit the ground and splatter to make a bunch of tiny little pinhead sized droplets. I remember the tiny spray ones because they would sometimes splattering on my folded white socks.

 

[dogmom805]

I bet the FBI wrote those words SG quoted from Silence of the Lambs, "Talk to her, you'll see" based on tips or impressions in their profiling of letter writer.

 

[turaj]

I'm thinking of medical nursing staff (home care), that NG possibly had once or twice a day? IF, then maybe there is a connection to someone, who "needed money"?

NG is a senior with a few issues but doubt very much that she had home care in twice daily> I think most thinking like this are young. NG walks with a cane and take some meds...probably without much if any help. Unless I hear officials say different that is what I see and I am older doing the same.

 

[cady]

I think it is safe to say the majority would think nothing of having their husband take their mother home 10 minutes away. I did think taking the Uber was odd.

I think Nancy is (was) far more independent that anyone is giving her credit for. Taking Ubers is her expression of that independence, and not relying all the time on family chauffeuring her for all her adventures. JMO (We oldies manage to adjust to our aging inconveniences.)

 

[Justice101]

I think it is safe to say the majority would think nothing of having their husband take their mother home 10 minutes away. I did think taking the Uber was odd.

Uber if ALL people at the party had been drinking. Uber is a good option.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Ashleigh's latest after yesterday's presser.

 

[bdawk20]

I’m wondering if her garage opens with an app. That would explain how they know the exact time it opened and closed, but I have an app for my garage and you can open and close it from anywhere - you don’t have to be anywhere near the house.

 

[justwannahelp]

But I think that podcaster also stated LE first look at the inner circle and the person who last saw the victim. I wonder if she misinterpreted that as he IS the prime suspect when LE meant simply they look at the inner circle first.

jmopinion

She was very adamant about it. Definitely didn’t seem confused or like she misinterpreted something. She claimed her source was very high up in law enforcement and she stated that over and over. & she’s not known to be “sensational” or irresponsible, so this is very odd for her.

Editing to add that I’m not saying she’s right or wrong. I’m just baffled by it. Very strange for HER to make such a claim

 

[turaj]

Of course not. But he has a dark and brooding look. He looks 100% Italian to me. In fact, when I first saw his name I thought, that's an Italian name, I wonder if he was born in Italy or in the States? Then I saw a picture of him and said, "Yep, that's a born and bred Italian." And I was right. My point is that I've seen comments saying, "he just looks weird" or "creepy." Ridiculous statements IMO. You can't convict someone of a crime because they look a certain way!

AC was born in Italy but been here I think since 2006.

 

[ly502]

This would be incredibly foolish- the time can be verified by their cell phones. The call from the church member, the call to 911, the location of the phones, perhaps even that they opened the garage door.

All true, but all I am really saying is that, if it was confirmed information (which should have been easily done, as we know) and NOT under suspicion or dispute, then why not include it in the timeline when it was included previously?

 

[HoveringWombats]

I don't know why we keep debating about the uber being "odd." We've established repeatedly that in many families and with many relatives (including mine) this would not be odd in the least. We've also established that in some families they wouldn't do it. Fine. Families are different. If it's normal in some families, it could very well be normal in the Guthrie family, so I don't think it really says anything either way about the crime. Going on and on about this is like hearing that they had pizza for dinner, and saying "I don't like pizza, so someone in the family must have done it!"

 

[TMich6811]

I understand we are looking at the family and people close to her, also the last one to see her. With those items, I think it’s fair to say he needs considered but I think those are fair to say - we need more info.

We don’t know that he is abusive or substance using. We don’t know that he was gone that night.

Thanks for those who responded I really thought I missed a gigantic piece and this is too much of a beast to try to find it