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

[MyJoey]

I can’t believe nothing wasn’t taken from the house, older people usually have money hidden (as another poster said) plus they may have valuable collections over the years, coins, stamps, art work. The person/persons were in the house long enough to look for these items.
Police may not be reporting items taken but I’m sure there’s a lot they aren’t saying.

 

[Lalalacasbah]

Sadly it's quite common along the border for small sums (50k etc.)

Many border towns on the US side (TX, AZ, NM) have US citizens kidnapped for ransom and brought into Mexico. You can google tons of articles that range from young women, to prominent town figures etc. The US Dept of State has an advisory on it.

That's so creepy, do they actually let the people go once ransom is met? Terrifying.

I know it's been brought up in the thread (from parts I've read trying to keep up), I guess I have to remember AZ being close to the border and be open to that (I'm Canadian so seems so nuts to me this happens!!)

 

[Sadi]

It sounds like the news outlets got the letters around the same time, and I swear we knew the pacemaker information beforehand. Also, do we actually know what the notes said about the floodlight? That one was broken? Or is this speculation?

I thought it was mentioned publicly about the watch and floodlight, not just in the ransom note. Do I have that right?

 

[SMK777]

How can he be confident that she will be found alive? No meds, and could very possibly have been deceased from the beginning.

What does he know that makes him say that?

 

[DizzyB]

TV is on in the background and the router thing was mentioned-totally forgot about that! Did anything connect to Nancy’s router long after she got home?

 

[QueenBofOB]

A family member or close friend could find much easier ways to obtain money from her, and maybe they have in the past. It merits an examination of who might have money problems. Nonetheless, my speculation is based on someone who is frequents the property and is aware of her circumstances and wealth. Someone who doesn’t have wealth and wants to hit the lottery.

Elderly are so vulnerable to financial predators. A cautionary tale to all. A good fiduciary is essential to elder years.

Amateur opinion and speculation only

I wonder if she was one of those seniors who frequently went to casinos in the area? My mother used to go all the time and had a very strange experience once, with another person who seemed to be targeting her. I emailed the casino about it, but of course never received a reply.

 

[thefragile7393]

I.....have no words. I mean of course it's possible. Stranger things have happened. Exactly though, what is the basis for him saying this though? No one knows.

 

[cspotrun]

I said this yesterday, but I think the timeline given was only intended to show the comings/goings at the house, not everything known.

Notice they don't include details from the party.

Party details would not be verifiable via a third party unless others in attendance; sounds like there were none—we’d know). The church call would show verification via a third party, which would be a significant detail as is the Uber verification. They included SIGNIFICANT details, of which this one was purposefully omitted.

Edit: we also have no knowledge of a party. Only dinner.

 

[nycpizzaparty]

I haven't been assuming that anything reported was done for the benefit of informing the public. Doesn't LE strategically use the media to help their investigation? Such as saying or not saying something and watching how certain people react? Is it not possible that the Ashleigh Banfield "exclusive" was deliberate? I'm not trying to be a conspiracy theorist. I just don't take LE press conferences or news releases at face value because I think it's sometimes investigative tactics.

 

[thefragile7393]

I'm fairly new here, still trying to figure things out, and I tend to be a strict rule-follower--on one of my first (of few) posts, I was very gently chastised by a moderator for quoting a non-acceptable source, and was directed to the website rules.
Am I correct in thinking that insulting a Websleuths member--and in this case, a Websleuths Guardian--goes against Rule #1?
Maybe it's just "an opinion" and is therefore acceptable. My mom taught me that "if I do not have anything nice to say, do not say anything at all." My mom was pretty cool.

guardian or not does not matter, one does not personally insult anyone. Attack the post, not the poster.

 

[shonyakay]

How can he be confident that she will be found alive? No meds, and could very possibly have been deceased from the beginning.

What does he know that makes him say that?

He said there is no evidence that she is deceased. That is a pretty bold statement.
Is he basing that on the ransom note that said she was alive but was scared?
I'm not sure.

 

[thefragile7393]

I haven't been assuming that anything reported was done for the benefit of informing the public. Doesn't LE strategically use the media to help their investigation? Such as saying or not saying something and watching how certain people react? Is it not possible that the Ashleigh Banfield "exclusive" was deliberate? I'm not trying to be a conspiracy theorist. I just don't take LE press conferences or news releases at face value because I think it's sometimes investigative tactics.

why would they use AB for that? Why would they allow a reporter to potentially compromise an investigation and then walk it back?

 

[shadowsc]

Megyn Kelly talking about SG's use of the phrase "Talk to us and you'll see" in the context of the movie Silence of the Lambs. It is a little bit chilling to watch the context in the movie and wonder if/why SG chose that phrase.

 

[thefragile7393]

He said there is no evidence that she is deceased. That is a pretty bold statement.
Is he basing that on the ransom note that said she was alive but was scared?
I'm not sure.

That is a very bold statement to make. I have suspicions that I'll keep to myself to be nice but the focus on the note and this assertation makes me...question a lot of things I guess.

 

[Friday Fan]

Sadly it's quite common along the border for small sums (50k etc.)

Many border towns on the US side (TX, AZ, NM) have US citizens kidnapped for ransom and brought into Mexico. You can google tons of articles that range from young women, to prominent town figures etc. The US Dept of State has an advisory on it.

I can't find anything. I'm reading "at the border", but it happened in Mexico at the border not in the US. Matamoros and Juarez resectively. (2023 and 2025) However, it was in Mexico, not in the US. A border town can be in Mexico.

In one rare case someone was lured into Reynosa, Mexico with the promise of a job, but was kidnapped in Reynosa, not the US.
The DOJ explicity states that the person was kidnapped IN Mexico because authorities wouldn't bother to invest resources into a kidnapping that occurred there,

I don't think NG was lured into Mexico!!!


If I am wrong, please provide a link. I see no evidence of numerous kidnapping cases on the US side of the border.

Reality about this is needed!

 

[Izzylizzy]

16 mins ago
Chris Stewart L&O

 

[Bluewing3102]

I can’t believe nothing wasn’t taken from the house, older people usually have money hidden (as another poster said) plus they may have valuable collections over the years, coins, stamps, art work. The person/persons were in the house long enough to look for these items.
Police may not be reporting items taken but I’m sure there’s a lot they aren’t saying.

I firmly believe it was NOT a burglary gone wrong. I agree that maybe police didn't reveal anything stolen, but absolutely nothing has pointed to it even remotely being a burglary.

Typically burglars case houses in advance to see if things are worth stealing to begin with. And most burglars don't want to interact with people so they wait until they verify the victim has left the house. Given the location of her house it would be easy to wait for her to leave and steal something during the day with minimal fear of being seen by neighbors.

It wouldn't make sense to sneak into a house when they know someone is sleeping and also not know if there was anything valuable to take before hand.

JMO

 

[GussiedCanoodler]

i know distance from phone can be one reason but what happens if the person is deceased?

When someone with a pacemaker dies, they contact the company to turn it off. The machine does not recognize that someone has died (or alert anyone either). Pacemakers are different than internal defibrillators.

 

[Dexxie8]

This case is crazy. I don’t know what to make of it and for some reason I don’t think the ransom is legit. JMO. I don’t understand why the sheriff is leading people on to believe she’s alive either. What am I missing?

 

[ChiaPet]

I think SG was provided much if not all of the language in that letter.