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

[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

 

[shonyakay]

I am squarely on the fence, but admit I'm starting to discard the ransom-letter theory. Why didn't the perp send the ransom note right away? When did the first news station receive it?

jmo

From my understanding the first of the ransom notes were sent Monday evening to two Arizona television stations. If it was an abductor they could have waited to send these ransom notes until they were long gone out of the area with Nancy.

 

[stmichael]

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.

We don't know who got the live push alerts. We do know there was no sub service so no cloud (no video saved, no replay, no monitoring) Honestly we don't know if the other cameras were even charged or hardwired. It's possible given the other context that some of those may have been dead battery and non-operable.

Unfortunately a case of lax security and not being on top of what you have, which in a residential scenario with a single elderly occupant is not uncommon. Seems like a lot of elderly people living in the illusion of a "safe neighborhood'. The neighbor interviewed who saw the white van said he has "metal doors" so he's not worried but he'll carry a pen and pad now to write strange things down LOL (like take a picture with your phone)

 

[Diddian]

NG's pacemaker disconnected at 2:12 am according to the timeline provided by LE in the recent press conference.

Family did not learn of her disappearance until around 11 am.

I'd be curious to know whether there is typically any activity at NG's home around 6 pm. To a perpetrator who KNEW that the NEST cameras only recorded for 3 hours and wrote over after that time passed, it would be important to have left the home with the camera a good 3 hours before anyone else shows up who might raise an alarm of any kind. Activity early in the day might include delivery of a Sunday newspaper to NG's front door, arrival of a landscaper or pool cleaner or window washer (although since it was Sunday, probably not likely and 6 am is also a fairly early time to begin work in a residential neighborhood).

 

[txsleuth70]

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?

There is nothing to indicate her meds were taken with her.

 

[Magic8Ball]

I bet the caller has been adamant that their name not be released. Their life will turn into a living nightmare when the press gets a hold of that name.

Yes, and I'm also confident LE has strongly, strongly, strongly urged this church person not to speak with anyone about anything related to this case.

Its a good thing the fellow church-members, clergy and LE have all kept a lid on this person's identity; otherwise, you know there'd be all kinds of media knocking on her/his door.

Hopefully, the media doesn't descend en masse to her church on Sunday...if they do, at least have the decency to wait out in the parking lot until services have ended before trying to conduct interviews.

Of course, asking the media to have some decency is like asking Sheriff Nanos to keep his foot out his mouth.

JMO.

 

[Alkali13]

I'm sticking by my initial gut feelings:

• This wasn't a kidnapping and the ransom note isn't real.
• This wasn't committed by the family.
• This wasn't financially motivated.
• NG was removed to destroy evidence.

 

[DizzyB]

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

Could alerts have gone to Nancy’s phone, which was left behind? First alert could be the “offline”/went dark one, perhaps second was after it had been removed? Maybe the perpetrator/s triggered something while removing the battery or destroying it?

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.

The app on the Apple Watch replaces the bedside unit-my question is, what happens when out of range of the unit or app?

 

[tbgo]

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

Aren’t Nest cams the same as Ring? Both are doorbells? This is so confusing.

 

[academyrd]

So if the church phone call thing is something that the FBI is unwilling to verify, doesn't it prove that they don't trust what Annie/SIL are telling them? If no church call to Annie, how did they know to check on her at 11:56?

All in all, we have SIL as the last person to see her alive supposedly dropping her off at 9:48, we have Annie the first person to check on her (for reasons unknown).... seems like the two of them are squarely involved in the entire 14 hour range when things went down....

 

[tbgo]

I'm sticking by my initial gut feelings:

• This wasn't a kidnapping and the ransom note isn't real.
• This wasn't committed by the family.
• This wasn't financially motivated.
• NG was removed to destroy evidence.

What do you think it was then? Someone simply killed her and removed the body? What do you think the motivation was? Why was she targeted? The person just didn’t like her? I mean, a robbery gone wrong could technically be financially motivated.

 

[allboys]

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

Agreed. I did hear a retired FBI profiler profile perp in Nancy’s case as being a male in his 20s. That may have been before the ransom notes came in. I’ll try to find a link.

Edited to add: I couldn’t find a link. I believe it was in interview with a female profiler. But it was a few days ago, so I don’t put much weight into it.