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

[SRWCF]

Yikes. My point being people don't keep much cash at home these days? Everything is credit card, Venmo, Apple Pay, etc. ????

I don't know...my mom is 77 and liked to have cash on hand at all times. She did not use Venmo or ApplePay. She recently sold a home, so she had a bunch of liquidity in the bank. I saw she withdrew $5k shortly after the sale and I still don't know where the money went. $5k is A LOT of money to a desperate person. It could be NG went to pay a contractor with cash, and he eyed a wad of it in her wallet and saw an easy target...This is just a scenario that I could see happening with my mom. The difference is my mom has Dementia (now in memory care) and NG is "sharp as a tack" according to LO. Being sharp does not preclude someone from being too trusting, though.

 

[tbgo]

I’m interested in your ideas. Your post piqued my interest, got me thinking.

Perhaps TC and his bandmate friend were helping Nancy with some errands or tasks at home. Example:Nancy witnessed the bandmate with a large quantity of drugs in the trunk of car.

They were not sure if it registered with Nancy what she saw, if she might tell someone.
So the bandmate hatched and carried out the plan. TC was not involved with the abduction, but maybe knew about the drugs.
All just ideas…
MOO

That would make a great suspense novel or movie but I think it’s probably less complicated than that. Then again, this case is so wacky you have to keep an open mind. I think the entire thing was amateurish. If it’s not kidnapping for ransom then they should have tried to make it look like a robbery. They didn’t bother to do that. If the ransom is connected and real, the person came up with the idea after the fact. You don’t wait 72 hours to make demands, not to mention sending it to TMZ and then a local news affiliate.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

For what it’s worth I don’t believe the ransom is connected to the crime.

I am thinking about the cleverness of the ransomers and wondering about hacking of a smart tv. I haven’t really followed that topic much, but what kind of likelihood is there that the ransomer is a smart hacker type who also might be able to have a look at the house via hacking a smart tv camera? That could provide the location of items.

The FBI Warns That Smart TVs Can Be a Gateway for Hackers to Enter Victims’ Homes

If you’re the proud owner of a new smart TV—or already have one—the FBI says be aware of privacy implications and risk of cyberattacks.

www.idwatchdog.com

 

[SaraSmile]

It looks to me like fine purple flowers and greenery used as filler in a vase flower arrangement. I've been wondering if such an arrangement might have been on a table near the front door and was knocked or stuck to a sleeve or in hair, as someone brushed past it, taking it outside.

Someone mentioned it was windy the day before.
MOO

 

[SRWCF]

agree on a lot of this...
I really do think a lot of us are thinking of those peripheral people to the relatives or NG herself.....
Sooooo often the case....

This thought has constantly gone through my mind:
"Maybe it did not go as planned, and NG was no longer with us which is why the ransom letter says this will be the only contact"

Have they clarified succinctly that ONLY NG, AG, and TC were at dinner that night?

It was Nancy's birthday after all,so others could have easily been there?

I presume AG /TO's kids were there, too.

 

[SaraSmile]

That would make a great suspense novel or movie but I think it’s probably less complicated than that. Then again, this case is so wacky you have to keep an open mind. I think the entire thing was amateurish. If it’s not kidnapping for ransom then they should have tried to make it look like a robbery. They didn’t bother to do that. If the ransom is connected and real, the person came up with the idea after the fact. You don’t wait 72 hours to make demands, not to mention sending it to TMZ and then a local news affiliate.

Right, haha, it took a while for the ransom letter!

 

[SlimPickens]

Brian Entin made me laugh when he said that the sister and son-in-law don’t have real jobs. They’re poets and he could find very little on the son-in-law being a teacher. He did note that he had been in a band. I’m sure law enforcement are looking at who would stand to benefit the most financially.

You never know though, the perp could someone completely off the radar. Some random weirdo.

As someone who has a real job (and small family), and who also facilitated care and administrative day to day transactions for my elderly dad before he passed (and now do so for my elderly mom), I can assure Mr. Entin that that in and of itself can be a full-time job. Some days I feel like I have three full time jobs. I think it's a blessing that these two have the flexibility to care for NG as much as she wants/needs, and I bet SG and her brother value that too.

It appears, at least on the surface, that this family is very close, successful, and supportive of one another. I imagine that SG's income supplements some of the family's careers and finances, and if so that would be a good thing. Yes, it could also facilitate underlying resentment if they let it, but taking the elderly mother out wouldn't resolve that.

JMO.

 

[shadowsc]

Regarding whether NG had recently been attending services in person or whether she was in the habit of watching them online, I'd like to see other sources besides the Daily Mail. LE doesn't have to tell us what they found. But I wonder whether some journalists could (politely & discreetly) ask around about this question, especially as we wait for other progress in the case.

JMO

This is what Brian Entin said yesterday on Megyn Kelly... he doesn't really know. But he did say his producers asked church itself and they said Nancy switched to online mass after COVID.

MK: Two other quick questions. The Daily Mail today is reporting that Nancy Guthrie did not attend a church in person and that she hadn't been for years since the COVID pandemic. That instead she'd been participating in the live stream into this church. And then they had one source at the church who told them that the church for the record is not saying that on the record.

Um but they're saying there'd be no way for anybody to know who is participating in the live stream. It's not it's not like a thing where you can see who's joining um you know people live stream in or they don't. Now that would be a material change from the story that the sheriff told which was that somebody at church noticed Nancy wasn't there. She was a religious churchgoer and um that that person called the family out of concern. Have you heard anything on this either way?

BE: So, the church near her house that we went to, the pastor told uh my producer the same thing that the Daily
Mail is reporting that she switched to online after COVID and was didn't come to church on Sundays. I just assumed
maybe she also went to a different church. Um that that was just my first assumption that maybe we had the wrong
church or that she had switched in the last couple of months or maybe, you know, sometimes people go to like a
couple churches. Maybe she goes online to that one sometimes and likes a different one too some Sundays. Um, so I
didn't read into it like the sheriff definitely had the wrong story. I just thought, gosh, maybe there's another church we don't know about.

 

[MommaV]

I apologize in advance if this was talked about already, but why did it take the police a couple days after she was missing to cordon off the property as a crime scene, which possibly gave plenty of time for the scene to be tampered with? Could the abductor(s) have taken her and later returned to the scene to place or remove things strategically? Was there time, prior to property being cordon off that annyone unrelated to the crime manipulate the scene in order to release a ransom note that lists evidence only known by LE? Seems like there may have been plenty of time for anyone to manipulate the scene to their advantage.

 

[SRWCF]

The first report I heard of this simply said SG’s mother was missing from her home in AZ. Like many, I’m sure, I thought perhaps Alzheimer’s or dementia was involved and she wondered off and would be found shaken and afraid but okay within a relatively short time period. But once I learned that there was no cognitive impairment and that there were signs of a break-in, I’ve had a pit in my stomach ever since.

It reminds me of how I felt when I first came to WS when Caylee Anthony was reported missing and every day we hoped to learn that her mother had sold her to someone or something along those lines — sounds awful but it was better to hope for that than to think about the alternatives - and every day the reports got more bizarre. It also remind me of how I felt when we started hearing about Tylee & JJ missing and we hoped to learn they were found in some cult compound or something - again not pleasant thoughts but better than the alternatives - and every day the reports got more bizarre.

And hours turned to days and days to weeks and weeks to months.

As awful as the thought of an 84 year old being held for ransom is and as uncertain as the outcome would be if that is the case, it seems better to hope for that the alternatives.

I pray those of you who are predicting an arrest is coming soon are correct and that whatever her condition NG is found soon. My heart breaks for her children and grandchildren and all they are going through. I truly hope that she is still alive and will be brought home to them. But each day that hope dims. If it is this difficult for me as an observer to try to keep believing that she may still be alive, I can’t imagine what a struggle it is for her family to hold on to hope. They are all in my prayers.

I felt so bad for the kids when watching their plea video. They look wrecked and destroyed by this.

 

[wyome]

I don't know...my mom is 77 and liked to have cash on hand at all times. She did not use Venmo or ApplePay. She recently sold a home, so she had a bunch of liquidity in the bank. I saw she withdrew $5k shortly after the sale and I still don't know where the money went. $5k is A LOT of money to a desperate person. It could be NG went to pay a contractor with cash, and he eyed a wad of it in her wallet and saw an easy target...This is just a scenario that I could see happening with my mom. The difference is my mom has Dementia (now in memory care) and NG is "sharp as a tack" according to LO. Being sharp does not preclude someone from being too trusting, though.

Oh my I get the cash thing. My father kept wads of cash in briefcases, drawers, and cigar boxes. When he moved into memory care I had to pry it away from him and deposit it into his bank account. It was difficult because in his mind, he NEEDS to have ready cash.

 

[ly502]

What do you think someone she hired would have to gain from this?

If she was indeed killed before leaving the home or if this was the main goal, I just don't see a motive for anyone aside from family.

 

[TMich6811]

Bothers me a crap ton if churches are actually speaking to reporters unless they’ve been told to

 

[muddlehead]

I'm so pleased this thread is still in one piece at 310 pages
I remember when they would break into another thread after 60 pages or so
This, obviously, easier to follow
Thx to those responsible

PS
Interesting to me, and likely only me, that NG took an uber to her dinner date w/fam 4 miles away that fateful Sat evening
But, got a ride home from fam after

 

[moonbeams]

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.

My mom was a couple of years older than NG and she didn't have anyone coming in daily. She walked with a cane and drove (short distances to church, local doctor appointments)

 

[moonglow123]

As someone who has a real job (and small family), and who also facilitated care and administrative day to day transactions for my elderly dad before he passed (and now do so for my elderly mom), I can assure Mr. Entin that that in and of itself can be a full-time job. Some days I feel like I have three full time jobs. I think it's a blessing that these two have the flexibility to care for NG as much as she wants/needs, and I bet SG and her brother value that too.

It appears, at least on the surface, that this family is very close, successful, and supportive of one another. I imagine that SG's income supplements some of the family's careers and finances, and if so that would be a good thing. Yes, it could also facilitate underlying resentment if they let it, but taking the elderly mother out wouldn't resolve that.

JMO.

Yes, I normally like Brian but that’s kind of a gross cheap shot. Imagine the family isn’t involved, and here Brian and AB are smearing them? Can we please wait for any confirmation at all that the family could be involved before we begin personally attacking them.

 

[Inthedetails]

Bothers me a crap ton if churches are actually speaking to reporters unless they’ve been told to

Yes, I think the reason we don't know definitely about the church is because congregants and church admin/leadership are being thoughtful to NG, the family, and the investigation.

jmopinion

 

[tbgo]

Has anyone the possibility that the ransom email was written at NG’s home using either her computer or phone? Then delivery of the email may have been scheduled for delivery to several outlets at a later time to give the abductors time to get wherever they were going?

This explains the untraceable nature of the email. But leaves some uncertainty as to whether a hacker sent it or someone physically in possession of NG’s device.

I think that they would know by now if someone sent the email from her computer. To not be detected, they would have to use her email account too. If they used their own their account through one of her devices, that account could still easily be traced regardless of the device it was sent on - unless they set up the account right there at her house. Then the perp would either have to be wearing gloves or wipe down the keyboard or her phone for prints. The person would be taking a long time in that house to pull that off and the timeline between something alerting the doorbell and her pacemaker no longer being picked up is not that long. They also had to remove her body from the premises. Not enough time to do all of that.

 

[SRWCF]

Yes, I normally like Brian but that’s kind of a gross cheap shot. Imagine the family isn’t involved, and here Brian and AB are smearing them? Can we please wait for any confirmation at all that the family could be involved before we begin personally attacking them.

Total cheap shot. Yet someone here characterized TC as a "loser, wanna be poet with no job." I wanted to add that the wife actually has a lot more out there about her poet creditials than him, so...

 

[SMK777]

If she was indeed killed before leaving the home or if this was the main goal, I just don't see a motive for anyone aside from family.

I can imagine if she had to fire a worker after discovering theft, and mentioned reporting it to police, that things could escalate in an attempt to silence her, and lead to a clumsy attempt at coverup story.

This scenario keeps coming to mind because decades ago where I was living a similar scenario occurred.