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

[acutename]

Something is missing - definitely. Just don't see this as an abduction for $$$.

some one said this before- was there already a financial crime that NG knew about? Just tossing that out.

 

[pixiepixel]

I was unclear if those who extorted the teens were caught? But I agree about circumstances not aligning.

It's my understanding that the people extorting the teens have not been caught or identified yet.

IMO, the FBI is probably working hard to rule out a connection between these two events as part of assessing the validity of NG's ransom note.

 

[thefragile7393]

I was unclear if those who extorted the teens were caught? But I agree about circumstances not aligning.

not yet......from is seen. However there's no evidence completely of a home invasion similar to the scottsdale incident, or anything like that. Teens aren't as smart as they think they are necessarily with stuff like this, they are usually in over their heads and get themselves caught rather easily IMO

 

[MizStery]

Deleted (duplicate post from earlier in thread)

 

[rosesfromangels]

well, they were aerial surveying the neighborhood.

Good. They have sophisticated drones that can detect ground disturbance and chemical signals from remains.

Amateur opinion and speculation only

 

[Alkali13]

What does an elderly woman have in her home that a thief would want? Cash?
How much cash do people keep at home these days?

The older generation tends to like to keep cash on hand at home just in case. Children find it all the time when cleaning out their parents houses in the strangest places (coffee can in the freezer, hole in the mattress, etc).

 

[naomiuk]

My opinions only:

What are the chances that Nancy Guthrie is still alive? <20%

What are the chances the one responsible was a healthcare person, gardener, maid, electrician, etc? 40%

What are the chances the one responsible was a family member? 60%

What are the chances the police and FBI will eventually solve this case? 80%

When do I think a person(s) will be arrested? Within the next 10 days.

I think <20% is wishful thinking unfortunately, but otherwise I completely agree.
I think the police are closer than they appear

 

[SaraSmile]

Another thing on the dual deadlines for the ransom note. I think it can make more sense if you put yourself in the head of a person who truly wants this to be the one and only message they send, with no further communication (largely as a strategy to avoid being caught). In that mindset, I think it actually makes a decent amount of sense to think a little bit about the various ways things could play out, and trying to address them all in the one message you're going to send, so you don't have to come back and send another message later.

I'm not going to ascribe perfect competency or sanity to the person doing this, but I think there's a certain logic that is possibly happening.

I get what you are saying. Perhaps the kidnappers thought ok, we will send a ransom letter that is professional looking, well constructed, good grammar, address ahead most upcoming questions. Their thought, trying for credibility, the kidnappers will be perceived as “ honest enough” ( I know, sorry, crazy thought), to encourage Nancy’s family to believe if they deposit ransom, they will get Nancy back.

I know, farfetched to the extreme, kind of like “honor amongst criminals”.

 

[Moonchime]

Take a look at Annie’s breathing in the video.

Wow! She is breathing heavily. Not just that, but her blink rate is off the charts. It could all be explained by her nervousness and the fight to hold back tears. It's interesting, though.

 

[stmichael]

It was detected by another sensor in the house AFAIK

It is reported that it was the Ring doorbell cam that was taken off the mount on the front door. All articles including the latest show that in their stories and the Sheriff said it was the same camera, agreeing it's confusing it went offline first (removed) then detected a person. She also had Nest cams.

From experience having Ring cams on two houses and my parents (as well as POE hardwired 4k cctv), Ring cameras can push a "person detected" for taller animals (deer), large motion (flags flapping in wind in the frame) etc. They can also be somewhat glitchy. The big thing here is there was no subscription to the cloud so no footage was recorded or could be remote viewed (by daughter, police monitoring etc.)

Camera snatched off Nancy Guthrie’s house could have been kidnapper’s ‘test’ to see if cops responded, NBC crime expert says

“What’s with that 20-minute gap? The camera gets ripped off the doorbell, but then there’s motion seen on the camera outside, you know, 20 minutes later,” NBC National Law E…

nypost.com

 

[SaraSmile]

the really weird thing about this is, if he was not connected to the other ransom request, and money was put in the bitcoin wallet, it would not go to him so how crazy is he? wants 15 mins of fame and jail ASAP?

Haha, he tried to insert himself, failed! No extra $, and jail time for him.
Very amateur.

 

[thefragile7393]

I posted about it mainly because I didn’t hear of the people that were extorting the teens being caught- and I want to know how:why they picked a target in Scottsdale. 9 hours away from teens. Makes me wonder if the extorters live in the area but met the teens who lived in CA. If the extorters live in the area, did they find someone else at same time? It’s weird.

I haven’t used signal but that’s supposedly where they met the teens. It’s an encrypted messaging app, but do people just meet there?

Supposedly two people only known by code names instructed them and extorted them. Why they chose AZ and not CA? I have no idea. CA has much more wealthier people. Scottsdale is affluent but not like many of the CA cities. I'm guessing it was personal to one of the two code name instructors.

 

[turaj]

My cousin just got a pacemaker and it connects to a box beside his bed that transmits to the cardiologist’s office. He doesn’t own a smartphone.

that is the set up that my relative has..straight to doctor and if something is wrong they are alerted and call patient or contact.

 

[korncrasy]

Yes, the plant at the door also looks like lantana. Doubt it was part of an arrangement.

It's weird that they're so close to the door and not next the the sidewalk. It would seem "juvenile" "immature" to cut a few lantana stems and pass them off as a "gift". Yet, there are people who do this with lantana. (There are little kids who pick mine) I wouldn't expect Nancy to do this. I wouldn't expect another homeowner to do this.

It's almost as if someone came to the door with these in their hand to lure someone out. MOO MOO

Thanks for your observation....

Image source: https://www.justjared.com/photo-gallery/5275540/guthrie-home-01/

Was NG grabbing at the bushes to not be dragged away.Maybe she had them clasped in her hands and almost made it back to the door?
And what is that square orange thing on the doormat?

 

[stmichael]

that is the set up that my relative has..straight to doctor and if something is wrong they are alerted and call patient or contact.

Yes generally the med practice will receive alerts. It was also reported that the pacemaker was connected to her apple watch, though that was left behind. Interesting it is reported that one of the "proof" details in the ransom note was something telling about the apple watch, along with her clothing details and something else.

 

[naomiuk]

Who is AC? The son-in-law, you mean? Yeah, I know how long he's been here. My husband is Italian and we've lived in the States since 1998, with many trips back to Italy over the years. Italians don't change culturally or their core values and beliefs just because they live in another country. Same goes for Americans living abroad. My best friend's neighbor is a 76 year old Dutch man and she desribes him as "very much still Dutch" regarding his demeanor, etc. and he's lived in the States for years, as well. This is my point.

Italian people are not a homogeneous group, everyone is different- same as in every country.

 

[cspotrun]

I assume NG's floodlights are motion-activated (since some news coverage indicates that continuous light floodlights are not permitted in that neighborhood).

Given that it appears NG must have had a SMART garage door opener (since LE was able to determine what times that door opened and closed Saturday night), I wonder if the floodlights were also SMART devices (connected to a wireless network and able to send notifications, if they detected movement and turned on OR if a bulb failed). If SMART, then information may be accessible to LE about what times they detected movement and when they were disabled, enabling LE to tighten timelines. Alternatively, they may just have operated from sensors detecting motion (since some news coverage has indicated that continuous light floodlights are not permitted in the area).

If motion-activated, the floodlights should have turned on when NG returned home and that would have been evident as her family's car drove up the driveway to drop her off Saturday night. And if they did not turn on as expected, that would be alarming and motivate family to do more than just drop NG off and let her go inside (especially since there are two floodlights and one would not expect both bulbs to naturally fail at the same time).

Read through all threads. Here’s what I’m thinking:

• FBI and sheriff haven’t confirmed call received from church—if they had, it’d be included on official timeline.
• I’m assuming no outdoor security cams in front of house besides doorbell camera. Otherwise it would have activated upon NG return home thru garage. Since she entered thru garage, no alert besides garage door open/closed.
• I’m guessing flood light was in back of house. This could be same device that alerted after 2am. Maybe not.
• Smart devices in and around home likely installed by family member.

 

[shonyakay]

Double Post

 

[EncyclopediaBrownJr]

I wonder how long her medication is good for before she runs out. When was it refilled? If it’s close to when she was abducted that might coincide with somebody knowing her. But then again what’s the end game? If the ransom letter is legit, how come the abductors aren’t following up with communication?

 

[justwannahelp]

While I think it's likely the ransom email is from the actual perpetrators of this crime I don't believe it originated as a kidnapping for ransom. I believe this started out as a different crime - robbery, sexual assault, extortion, domestic argument - and the killing (yes, I believe Ms Guthrie is deceased, unfortunately) and the "kidnapping" is an after the fact red herring.

I believe professional kidnappers would have left a ransom letter on the property. Common paper, common ink, no fingerprints, no DNA, untraceable, rather than electronic communication that WILL be traced sooner or later.

Life isn't a James Bond movie and the odds are overwhelmingly that this crime started in a garden variety way done by garden variety people who committed a rash act and a panicked series of events followed afterwards.

I would look close to home.

This is all my personal opinion.

These are my thoughts exactly. The ransom note is “hey look over here, not….here” IMO
It’s a panic note sent by the actual perp in hopes of throwing LE in another direction and not an actual ransom note for ransom, b/c she likely died in those early morning hours

I think LE and the fam know this which is why they aren’t rushing to pay the ransom. They know a lot more than we do, and an arrest is likely imminent. JMO of course