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

[Megnut]

Yup
However, here's a thing I posted a few days ago which has bugged me

Why did NG take an uber to dinner that fateful Sat night?
Hunh - who makes an 84 yr old do that?
Even if she wanted to, I wouldn't let my 84 yr old mom to take an uber.
You might just have the one in a thousand weirdo driver be her driver
Just me I guess

And then she's driven home by the daughter and/or SIL
Which kinda proves my point

And... (speculating that NG's car might have been captured outside of NG's property) if NG drove her car home, opening her garage at 9:48 pm to drive her car in, why did she uber to dinner? Why was her car not available at 5 pm? And if NG drove her car, why did the police say family dropped her off?

The unanswered question -- was NG's car driven at any point that day/night? It's a fair question because LE seized it.

JMO

 

[MarciB]

FYI, if it hasn't been mentioned, Hidden True Crime posted a new video about this case this morning. Vinnie Politan of Court TV is Lauren's guest. Some new info (no bombshells) and some good insights. I recommend it

 

[Charlot123]

So we either have:

1) someone in the family, most likely SIL and/or Annie motivated by some kind of financial gain that they hoped to gain from her passing, and the ransom stuff is just someone trying to capitalize on the situation. Or I suppose the responsible family member(s) could have orchestrated the ransom hoax as a distraction.

2) an actual professional kidnapper who has experience doing this and saw NG as a good target (at least in part because SG wealth).

3) someone not in the inner circle, but someone who is familiar with NG and her house and was in her extended circle somehow. Either a lawn guy, an electrician, a pool guy, etc. that knew who she was, knew who her daughter was, and hatched some half baked plan to either rob her, kidnap her, murder her, etc and then sloppily executed it. The motive here would be money as well in the form of ransom.

4) some deranged politically motivated person who disagreed with SG or felt slighted by SG somehow and was interpreting her on TV from his basement and decided to lash out in this way. Similar to a politically motivated mass shooter or incel type.

5) I hesitate to even write this, but a sexually motivated rapist, murderer, kidnapper who saw her, stalker her and executed a plan on her that night. You wouldn’t think that this would happen to an 84 yo but sadly it does.

Taking everything we know currently into account, I would rank them 1,3,4,2,5.

What say you, WS?

1. Always possible, but if AG was in the plan, I'd view her as the victim. She did stand out during the family interview but mostly because she was trying to suppress tics. (IMO. All three children looked rather introverted to me, btw. Was it mom's trait? Was NG not too extroverted, probably not an idle talker, a smartie, an independent woman who made it even when got she widowed, until this happened?)

So if AG's husband was involved, he probably did it behind her back, or intensely manipulated her.

2. Highly possible especially if NG partook in SG's show. All one has to see is that the daughter is successful and mostly, loving.

3. Also highly possible. I'd bet on the abduction being for money in this case, and the person being "upset" with NG for being "too critical" or such. I know such a story, with a much younger victim. The person had a prior (concealed) criminal history. I'd add people from the "hired helper's" family to the group.

4 or 5 - sounds unlikely to me. If it turns to be 4 or 5, then, sadly, the world is even crazier than we think. I know things happen, but it is still unlikely. Although an "incel-type" could organize things easier from the standpoint of ransom notes, or such.

 

[Sessiebo]

Was curious about what AG has authored, but she taken her website offline.

Idk if you can make sense of this but it's a elaborate review of her book.
I'm not a poetry person so halfway through i got a headache and thought "never mind"

Project MUSE -- Verification required!

 

[Sadi]

I wonder how much time and energy they were investing in her care?

Are you meaning working at her home or someone taking care of her due to health issues?

 

[SaraSmile]

FYI, if it hasn't been mentioned, Hidden True Crime posted a new video about this case this morning. Vinnie Politan of Court TV is Lauren's guest. Some new info (no bombshells) and some good insights. I recommend it

Yes, nice that Vinnie knows Savannah ( from court tv), he shares fondly of her and Nancy.

 

[bluestsocks]

I wouldn't assume anyone would make her, and maybe she wanted to. My parents are close to 90-I can't make them do anything, or not let them do anything. A lot of people say things like this but IMO reality is a lot different for many people.

My 83 year old dad still drives his truck everywhere and Ubers when it’s in the shop. Plenty of people that age live vibrant, independent lives making their own choices. I’m with you on this - I honestly don’t recognize what some people are saying about this kind of thing. Of course there are people with elderly parents that age who don’t uber or need a lot of help, but my parents still work occasionally, run and live in their own home, drive and uber, manage their own social lives, and basically everything else. I just shovel snow for them and help with managing their electronics basically because they hate dealing with them.

 

[Strangeworld]

Perhaps @tricia or another moderator could weigh in on this post to let everyone know if this comment “All that said, as of this AM, they have collected the elusive white van” needs further verification. I believe Tricia may be able to suss out what’s going on here. I think we all are just trying to understand where this information came from. From SG directly (as AJ says she knows SG), or from another verifiable source?

I agree, it is going to trigger alot of conversation over the next few days and it would be good to clarify, even it is just saying 'I heard from a source...'

 

[Nikynoo]

When she is saying he may be the prime suspect but LE are saying they have no person of interest or suspect, she is vulnerable to a defamation suit. What is more interesting to me is who gave her the information and why her? I assume some person in LE gave her that info. Did they also give it to other news outlets? Did the other news outlets pass on it because their legal departments couldn't get anyone on record?

Thinking about it, would AB have a solid relationship with LE in Tuscon? I have my doubts, so is the source from the FBI? I have my doubts there too because this would mean that AB has impeccable sources in every police force and FBI unit in the USA.

 

[Strangeworld]

The joy of having a long thread... much easier to pull an older post forward.

In case some missed it.. here ya go!

Does that apply though if Trump has specifically brought himself into the topic of discussion by the statements he made? I think when Tricia made this post IMO it was to stop any derailing of the thread with politics, but Trump, as a politician and the president, has brought himself into the discussion. I think that justifies discussion of what he said

 

[Wsimm]

Yup
However, here's a thing I posted a few days ago which has bugged me

Why did NG take an uber to dinner that fateful Sat night?
Hunh - who makes an 84 yr old do that?
Even if she wanted to, I wouldn't let my 84 yr old mom to take an uber.
You might just have the one in a thousand weirdo driver be her driver
Just me I guess

And then she's driven home by the daughter and/or SIL
Which kinda proves my point

I feel the same way. I’ll say again, that’s why I love this site… so many different personal perspectives. It really gets you thinking. For me personally my mom is 86 in excellent physical health, fiercely independent and I too would describe her sharp as a tac. With that said, I’ve become increasingly protective of her over the last 10 years. Primarily to keep her desired independence as long as possible.

 

[Nikynoo]

Right.
We know the name of the company owned by the neighbor.
WHEN did Nancy last have work done on her roof---do we know this?????

January.

 

[DS2021]

Thinking about it, would AB have a solid relationship with LE in Tuscon? I have my doubts, so is the source from the FBI? I have my doubts there too because this would mean that AB has impeccable sources in every police force and FBI unit in the USA.

I also question how this source is so exclusive that they appear to only be giving this info to AB and no one else

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Hello all! I've been reading and keeping up with the thread for a couple days now and all the thoughts and leads everyone has been posting has been inspiring, so I thought maybe I would leave my thoughts here to inspire anyone else!

My main focus has been the motive of this crime. If money was the motive, then it is my belief the ransom notes would have included either Proof of Life or some form of an open communication line, therefore assuring they receive the money they want. I think regardless of intelligence, the kidnapper(s) would have known no money would exchange hands until there is Proof of Life.

So if money isn't the motive, then my next best guess is attention. The fact these ransom notes have been delivered only to news stations would corroborate this. Not to mention, SG's obvious ties to the news. It feels like a lot of this crime has been done to capture the attention of the country and News Cycle. (Another thought along these lines is the fact the response to the kidnappers from SG and LE may have been purposely not posted through news channels in order to deny them that fame, and therefore prompting the kidnapper to reach out again.)

That has been my line of thinking thus far, and if anyone disagrees with the above I would love to hear it. It's hard poking holes in your own theories haha.

On another note, I keep seeing mention of an Uber Driver and I can't seem to find where that comes into play, as far as I know NG was dropped off at home that night by her family. If anyone has a link or can quickly clear that up for me I would appreciate it.

One think that does keep bothering me, is that the ransom notes came in so late after the crime.
So I was thinking that she was dying/or dead....so they had to scramble.
See what they could get with no "proof of life", make the demands, but say "no more communication"

And when/if that didn't work the first time, then resort to still getting money
"proof of body"--so they could get Nancy back home for a proper buriel.

But I have also taken into account, that LE is not moving super fast with no Proof of Life, because they are hoping their digging might be able to get the perp.

So I still think the perps are in that "outer circle" of service people, and/or acquaintances etc.. (#3)

However, I still hold the possibility that someone in the inner circle was an initial connection to that outer circle....

 

[Aquabot13]

Those crypto ATMs are commonly used in scams with the elderly - Crypto ATM Scams: Don’t Let Fraudsters Drain Your Wallet

However, the scam usually involves the victim being directed to insert cash (sometimes they also take debit/credit). I'd wager that the amount the kidnapper is asking for in the ransom letter is far beyond what could be reasonably scammed at one of those machines.

Maybe, though, she had been doing smaller transactions for a while and this was a final escalation? Maybe a smaller-scale scammer realized how connected she is and decided to go for a big payday?

I don't think that's the case, but it makes about as much sense as anything else (so minimal). I do think that, even though NG is reportedly "with it," anyone can fall into these traps. AI can impersonate voices and there's so much data available online for scammers to leverage.

Either way, they should be able to see any transactions or large cash withdrawals on her bank account, and there would almost definitely be security footage on the way to/at the ATM. I'm sure they've checked financials already.

MOO

 

[bestill]

Slapping my head like a dummy. I was thinking Circle K was a campground.

KOA!!!

 

[birdbox]

And... (speculating that NG's car might have been captured outside of NG's property) if NG drove her car home, opening her garage at 9:48 pm to drive her car in, why did she uber to dinner? Why was her car not available at 5 pm? And if NG drove her car, why did the police say family dropped her off?

The unanswered question -- was NG's car driven at any point that day/night? It's a fair question because LE seized it.

JMO

I have a speculative answer not based on any fact whatsoever. My husband's parents once loaned their car to my neice (their granddaughter) for a couple weeks. Then they took an Uber to my SILs house to go pick up the car and drive it back home later that night.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

January.

Thanks,
All I remembered was speculation of something having been done "recently".
Did you remember if any particular contractor was mentioned?

 

[txsleuth70]

Thinking about it, would AB have a solid relationship with LE in Tuscon? I have my doubts, so is the source from the FBI? I have my doubts there too because this would mean that AB has impeccable sources in every police force and FBI unit in the USA.

Have you listened to what AB herself has had to say about that? She speaks on it.

 

[Strangeworld]

This case has so many twists and turns —and I just have to say that I found the repost and the question a little weird (sorry AJ). Why check back later? Could this be a veiled communication. For someone? Prob reading more onto the post —and repost (which is what caught my eye) but why ask that question twice and then come back later? What are you waiting to see?

I was a little caught off guard too. Moreso in terms of the discussion question, how it relates to the case. Although this is an interesting reflective question, it just felt a bit jarring as it came out of nowhere and seemed more about research.

I really want to know about the white van!