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

[rosesfromangels]

Did NG have housekeepers and/or nurses who visited her regularly?

Service providers to her home would be the very first place I would look.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[submarine7]

I'm not the person you're asking, but I do think it's important to understand that there's a whole range of ways to hide your origin on the internet. Even under the umbrella of "VPN" there are a lot of pretty different things that the term encompasses. Long before there was ExpressVPN and all these consumer "privacy" VPNs, VPN was used to securely connect networks together. And today, yeah, if sign up through a reputable VPN service based in a Western country, and use that to commit crimes, it's probably not going to go well for you. Another step down the line is a VPN service based in, say, Russia or India. Maybe not impossible to trace, but it's going to be a bit harder. Now, do multiple hops through multiple sketchy providers. A bit harder still. Next, maybe set up your own VPN, hopping through cloud providers (maybe in compromised accounts). Or route your traffic through compromised PCs on residential networks, or a series of rogue proxy servers.

Imagine this scenario. I park somewhere in the parking lot of a mall. I use a high-gain antenna to connect to an open wifi network that some store or restaurant in the mall is running. I proxy through Russia, India, back to a different Russian proxy, and finally exit through a compromised windows computer in some innocent person's house in Michigan. The only thing I do through that proxy is open news station tips forms (NO access to an email account or anything else), and submit a plain text tip through the form. Yeah, this takes some work to do, but you don't have to be a genius. There's a lot of information out there on these things and it's not that buried. This would be quite difficult and time-consuming to track down. And honestly you probably don't need to make it this convoluted to hide effectively.

While it's 1000% true that many people get caught while doing things that they think are untraceable, it's also true that it isn't that hard to make it pretty difficult or potentially impossible for investigators. I know it's comforting to believe that the feds can trace anyone, it's not true. They can trace a lot more than most people think, and most criminals make enough mistakes to get caught, but it's not rocket science to hide.

MOO - I know I am not verified as an expert and I don't really know exactly what the boundaries of the rules are on this, so let's just say this is my opinion and leave it at that.

There are also dark web ways to communicate that can conceal your identity. For instance using the Onion server concealed your location/identity but I don't much keep up with this topic anymore, but there have always been ways to conceal your identity.

 

[Lawnguylander1964]

Just a side note, but the “eagle eyed churchgoer” and their timely phone call have been left out of the official timeline.

JMO but I think it’s significant that such a significant event is not included.

I'm starting to think that it wasn't a church-goer who called AG but the people who kidnapped NG.

 

[Sadi]

The flood lights being destroyed is interesting. I’m guessing they’re asking if anyone close to Nancy knew about that. If it was damaged before she went missing - the person close to her may have also known about that (in the family) beforehand or they caught it via the media although the media, I don’t think, ever picked up on it and reported about it. Would someone actually damage them before they went in and kidnapped her. I doubt anyone went up on the roof at 2am and smashed them. Let’s say the SIL was involved, maybe someone did all this when she was away for a few hours that day. I guess flood lights would help a camera see them. It doesn’t sound like the doorbell detected that someone was at the residence before 2am. Then again, you never know.

They could end up arresting someone and never get to the bottom of who was sending the ransom letters. We may end up with suspicions that the person who did it was also behind them but we never get any hard evidence. I swear if the SIL and daughter are behind this, oh, boy… The media will have a field day looking into these two.

Could the floodlights bulbs been removed or adjusted so they didn’t actually light up? It would be interesting to know when the roof camera was installed and by whom? Is it possible the perp installed it to monitor things?

 

[connie9030]

So is it possible that because it was sent after the news of NG going missing but the headlines (24 hours later?) that the ransom request is a hoax? Surely if it was a genuine kidnap ransom the request/email would have been more or less immediate?

Yep. I think that's what some are saying. If the ransom note was left at the scene, that would be another story. Nobody knew yet. For a professional kidnapper, getting the money would be paramount. Not keeping NG for longer than necessary especially with the whole world watching. IMO it's someone overseas sending the KOLD letters. No fear of arrest.

 

[tbgo]

many people do that..nothing noteworthy about it in my opinion.

Yes, I have family that does this too although they drive, so after they park their car in the garage they head into the house via a door in there (inside the garage). The FBI did go back and were thoroughly going over Nancy’s garage. Maybe the SIL drove into it and let her out close to the door to the house inside the garage. Maybe he went inside with her that way. Going into the house via the garage would avoid detection. Although, again, it looks like she was kidnapped at 2am. Did he go in with her after the drop off and set things up in a way that would make it easier for him to get inside the residence later - doing all this while she wasn’t looking?

 

[HoveringWombats]

Yes I've seen a few interviews now with cyber experts who say Bitcoin is the most traceable crypt currency. The problem will come when/if they try to liquidate.

That's why some people think it might be a troll..

It is simultaneously true that Bitcoin is traceable and that real life criminals continue to use it every single day. IMO the use of Bitcoin is not proof that it's a troll.

 

[Diva Louise AZ]

Why would NG enter her home via the garage and not the front door? This has been bothering me. The entire garage situation is bothering g me.

I’m a little younger than Nancy and I walk with a cane. When I get dropped off at night, I always enter through my garage. It’s very dark here and going through my garage provides a lot of light and the smoothest walking path for me.

 

[Considering]

Why would NG enter her home via the garage and not the front door? This has been bothering me. The entire garage situation is bothering g me.

We haven’t used our front door since we moved here 35 years ago. We have always come in via our garage. I don’t even carry a key to our front door. The only people who come to our front door are visitors.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Why would NG enter her home via the garage and not the front door? This has been bothering me. The entire garage situation is bothering g me.

When homeowners have an attached garage, it is very rare to use the front door unless you went out for a walk or were dropped off by someone, i.e. you weren't driving. Our "front hall" closet - typical "coat closet" - is in the back hallway leading to the garage. The only people who use the front door are guests.

 

[SUNchips]

AMPM, IMO.

I think you’re right! And I looked into the AMPM’s in the area (gas station part is branded Arco) and the image seems to match up to the location at 2800 N Oracle Rd, Tucson, AZ, in my opinion.

This would be 15 min away from NG’s house. It’s southwest and is towards the highway. It’s also in a not so great area of Tucson, kind of seedy with a lot of trailer parks around.

 

[tbgo]

Could the floodlights bulbs been removed or adjusted so they didn’t actually light up? It would be interesting to know when the roof camera was installed and by whom? Is it possible the perp installed it to monitor things?

I guess so but those floodlights are smashed, dangling from the side of the house now.

 

[Sadi]

I'm starting to think that it wasn't a church-goer who called AG but the people who kidnapped NG.

Wasn’t that verified by LE though? I thought it was.

 

[Fromeaster]

The only benefit from her death may be an inheritance. Maybe there was some conflict at dinner or a relative asked to lend or give money.

 

[Cardgame]

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

Yes I've seen a few people that bothered. It's definitely not just you.

It doesn't bother me because I can think of a few scenarios where it could be normal, eg mom wants to arrive before SIL gets home, AG has already had a couple glass of wine. Or AG also doesn't like driving at night. SIL only gets home just before NG is leaving so offers to go e her a ride.

But I also can't think of a reason why it would be suspicious. Maybe not very generous at worst, but (genuine question not rhetorical) how do you see it as potentially connected to the crime?

 

[Bluewing3102]

Let's say they did the ransom letter to stall, or delay the search.

They send the 1st one on Monday with clear deadlines and say they will not communicate again. They have not been found as of yesterday. So why send the 2nd one? The 1st is already creating the delay, has deadlines, the 2nd one, we don't know what is in it, but the reporter from the local news said it had no new deadlines in it. I don't know why they would bother with the 2nd one if the 1st one was already accomplishing the distraction.

JMO

I strongly agree with this. I don't see them needing it as a distraction. If you've committed a crime and are trying to evade law enforcement you distance yourself from the crime and stay under the radar. It's seems like the author of this note is purposely seeking attention. We've seen criminals before who find thrill in feeling 'smarter' than LE. They enjoy the thrill of the cat and mouse game. And they enjoy the media attention and notoriety.

JMO

 

[MommaV]

Convenience/might be easier to walk in, especially if it's brightly lit and requires less steps. From footage we've seen, there would be enough room to pull another car in, putting her very close to the door from inside the garage into the house.

It may have been quicker to get in the house rather than the time it takes to unlock the front door. I know lots of people who enter through the garage rather than front door when they’re not in a car, and I’m one of them, since it’s quicker for me and that’s where I take my shoes off. Maybe the parts of the house she mostly uses is more easily accessible, due to the difficulty with her mobility, going in through the garage. MOO

 

[Pharmasgirl]

I was referring to a comment made by The Word of God in the link on Massguy’s post.(see link above).If you go to The Word of God ‘s posts on X there is a pic of a white van , in his January post.He had commented that “ grandma Gauthier could be found in an abandoned warehouse , seen in a pic he posted.Sounds like a very weird dude!

there was some other dude on X saying she was at the bottom of a neighbor's well... All weirdness is coming out

 

[cady]

I'm starting to think that it wasn't a church-goer who called AG but the people who kidnapped NG.

Not out of the question...we have no idea who caller was.

 

[GailAnne]

We haven’t used our front door since we moved here 35 years ago. We have always come in via our garage. I don’t even carry a key to our front door. The only people who come to our front door are visitors.

The past four houses we've owned, we never used the front door. Garage door was in front of where we parked in the driveway.