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

[shonyakay]

Poor Savannah…looks like she hasn’t slept in days

She will never be the same.

 

[Vegasgrl]

In my humble opinion, “untraceable” is being overstated here. You are right that Bitcoin can obscure identity at the surface level, but real-world ransom payments still involve intermediaries and behavioural signals that can and do lead to identification. Bitcoin isn’t truly anonymous; it’s pseudonymous. Identifies aren’t visible on-chain, but wallets can often be linked to real people over time through behavioural patterns, exchange touchpoints, metadata, and post-event analysis. This is why law enforcement frequently identifies parties later, even if not immediately.

I edited to untraceable(if you want it to be). There's no reason for SG to go to those extremes. She can probably afford to pay, and being identified as sender is not a secret. Someone could always help her or reimburse her at some time. I don't know if we have a verified figure for the ransom demand?

 

[dogmom805]

dbm

 

[Sundog]

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.

Good information to know, and you explained it very well as an overview. Thank you.

 

[pirateboy]

Savannah has just posted a new video on Instagram. Extremely eerie.

You aren’t lying. My gut reaction is she was asked to say something like that by the random letter

 

[birdbox]

Very rapid developments last night...

Very quiet today...

Lull before the storm --

I believe it's coming.

JMO

Target acquired, boys.

 

[wyome]

I heard this morning there wouldn’t be another unless something big happened? MOO.

I did too. Not sure where next Thursday came from, but I'm not surprised if LE said it. They're all over the place.

 

[thefragile7393]

The Guthrie family has responded to the new message “Bring her home.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020279077459095904

I just worry about this. Opens up more scrutiny for the 3 of them...claiming they aren't emotional enough or too emotional or too this or too that...it's exhausting.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

SG uploaded a new plea, says “we received your message and we understand” and “we will pay”

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[Sessiebo]

The Guthrie family has responded to the new message “Bring her home.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020279077459095904

Does this mean the ransom notes are legit?

 

[txsleuth70]

I think it would not be permitted for third parties to finance a ransom, especially not the President. Presumably it would open up the third party to persistent blackmail and extortion in the future, and might even harm the family's chances as it might escalate the negotiation ("oh, I might try my luck for 1 billion dollars in that case"). Just my opinion.

Well, of course, a third party could fund the ransom. Maybe not the POTUS, but there are no laws against a third party contributing.

 

[mikeshanty]

SG's Instagram video. I guess there was a very serious threat in the latest communication by the "we understand" comment.

 

[EJB123456]

The Guthrie family has responded to the new message “Bring her home.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020279077459095904

Just when I think things are headed in a different direction this gets posted and we’re back to a kidnapping. I’m entirely kerfluffled.

 

[Sessiebo]

I just worry about this. Opens up more scrutiny for the 3 of them...claiming they aren't emotional enough or too emotional or too this or too that...it's exhausting.

I think it's pretty clear in that video that they are emotionally drained

 

[Charlot123]

I've never followed a case this complex, but I have followed countless cases. In doing so, it's easy for me to gauge where law enforcement is with an investigation.

Not only am I not seeing an indication that they are lost, but I'm seeing the opposite. We're not seeing all the things we usually see when that's the case.

Press conferences have become more sporadic, no regular press releases, and they're not asking for tips about vehicles or persons of interest.

I see a focused homicide case.

Sadly, yes.

I don't know if the "cryptocurrency group" is related to "abduction" or not, but it seems that from the get-go, they had no one to negotiate about.

 

[shonyakay]

This is one of the strangest cases that I have seen. It has shades of JonBenet Ramsey and the McStay family cases.

 

[SUNchips]

Maybe Valero


Never mind. Maybe it isn't. Maps shows "Circle K" gas (which are gold) Valeros's blue and they're dominant here, but maybe they they changed their style. These pumps have been here since 2019.

I just can't find any other blue gas pumps. Maybe it's a local energy company???

Valero and Circle K often team up.

https://www.valero.com/themes/custom/valero/logo.svg

View attachment 642516

Valero Energy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Why are you asking about the brand of gas. I know it's a Circle K store.
.

It’s AMPM which has Arco gas. It’s almost certainly this station imo: 2800 N Oracle Rd, Tucson, AZ 85705

 

[Aphrodite Jones]

I also heard that the back door of Nancy's house was left open, but now I question every lead I'm getting. Either way, reports have repeatedly mentioned that there's evidence of a forced entry. THAT ALONE should have given the local sheriff reason to keep the crime scene under wraps. YIKES! Today, the sheriff still says he's "confident" that Nancy will be found alive. Perhaps he's fighting the guilt he feels? He has to know he blew it in the first critical hours. But at this point, I want to believe him. I want to believe that Savannah and her family will have their prayers answered. Keep the faith. That's all.

 

[birdbox]

Is it possible someone was waiting inside the home when she got back? I saw video of how dark it is there. What kind of kidnapper would make demands and then just sit there not communicating and giving the family what they want. I agree with others here who have said it could be scammers just trying to profit from this situation. Maybe the ransom could just be the throw everyone off and buy the person a few more days of freedom to try to run. I hope this lady is still alive. I never could understand how someone thinks they have the right to take someone away from their families.

Anything is possible in this case.

 

[MassGuy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020280366595281225