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

[ChiaPet]

If she is dead I’d guess that SG said celebrate WITH her because they want to have her body back rather than a celebration of life without the body

 

[K9Enzo]

Is there a reason this is all playing out over Instagram? And not privately?

On one of Megyn Kelly’s shows this week it was speculated that one platform was selected and FBI is working with IG to monitor reactions and interactions to the videos. IMO

 

[citizen_sleuth]

I wonder if posting these messages on Instagram was a strategic decision by LE/FBI because this platform may be easier for them to surveil from a forensic crime perspective?

JMO but I believe the person sending the demands will only communicate via the media because it provides an additional layer of anonymity. Establishing a two-way line of communication may prove easier to trace. Whether the demands are from the perpetrator or someone looking to capitalize on NG’s disappearance, they have a vested interest in maintaining their anonymity. MOO.

 

[bestill]

I hope and seriously pray that the family has some confidence that their mother will be returned before they pay. This is a tragedy!

 

[browneyes]

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

That was heartbreakingly scary.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Full transcript

We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

This new message does answer many questions.

This is why I believe the ransom messages were so late coming...because Nancy most likey perished and these criminals did not know what to do. So first, try to get the ransom with no "proof of life", and wait. And then, if nothing comes, come for the jugular that they will have to pay to get the body back.

Oh how I hope that the fbi and their forensic measures can track this while this dear sweet overwhelmed loving family sp painfully expresses.... we will pay.

 

[Sarahlou]

Is this new, or is from earlier in the week when the Sheriff said he wouldn't be speaking again until this (past) Thursday?

No, definitely not normal. All the former FBI guys making rounds on media are saying kidnappers who ask for ransom go through backchannels to reach the family, and they have never seen a case like this or using major media.

I actually don't take this video to mean that whoever this is told the family that Nancy is deceased. Like.... the first "deadline" was only that the demand or price would increase. The second deadline for Monday was the one of serious consequence. Why if the kidnapper wants his money is he going to suddenly be honest and a good citizen and be all, "well actually she's deceased but if you pay me, I'll return her." They could just stay ambiguous, you know the family was already going to pay with or without proof.

I don't think the "celebrate" necessarily means a "celebration of life service." It could have just been something like the ransom note writer said, "Your mother wants to celebrate that you agreed to do x" or whatever.

I have no idea. I don't think it's the sister's husband. The siblings are all holding hands and look united.

Any idea what's on the brother's hat? He has worn that hat in all the videos.

BIB - It says Saguaro National Park

 

[diggndeeperstill]

If she is dead I’d guess that SG said celebrate WITH her because they want to have her body back rather than a celebration of life without the body

I needed that explanation. The word with is the one I was having problems with.

 

[flabbergastedfart]

Nancy could've been a victim of a romance/sweetheart scam.

Think about it. She's an elderly, single woman who may want some romantic companionship. From what I've heard, she recently lost her dog so she's probably extra lonely all alone in that big house. Sure, she has a church community but she's been attending virtually for awhile and could be spending more time online. Her Facebook account looks like the typical random mishmash of stuff and doesn't necessarily scream tech-savvy. She also appears to have lost some weight and she may have been feeling a bit more confident.

Social media is full of scammers. I could easily see a bad actor luring into their web of lies while gassing her up. They're messaging back-and-forth all day, every day. She tells him about how her life story, her hopes and dreams, her values, and how her days are going. He's a successful silver fox who actually isn't because they're all stolen photos. Maybe he isn't really just one bad actor, but a group of them who have figured out who she's related to and that she has money.

Anyway, she's telling him about her children and how Annie is a jeweler. Perhaps Nancy has told the scammer man about the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, which if I'm not mistaken, is the largest show in the world for rockhounds. People travel from all over for this event. Scammer man/men are interested and tell Nancy that this would be a great time to meet. What they're really thinking is, "Jackpot! Now's a great time to travel to Tucson, blend in with the crowd, and rob Nancy."

What makes me pause with my theory is that these scammers usually don't ever want to actually meet. Maybe they wanted to just be in the area and wait until she's out to rob her house. Who knows, maybe they're extra bold in this instance. Let's go back to their messaging back-and-forth. On fateful January 31st, Nancy says something like "Ok, I'm going to my daughter and son-in-law's house for dinner tonight and tell them about our relationship. I'm so excited for you to meet them!!!" I've heard that a lot of seniors (not all) are embarrassed to tell their kids that they're dating again, so this could very well be a big deal for her.

Annie and Tommaso have been drinking while cooking, and don't want to pick up mom under the influence, so they request an Uber ride for her instead. Nothing weird about that. Nancy arrives and tells them her amazing news once they've all sat down for dinner. Annie and Tommaso are all "WTF!? You're talking to a scammer! Cease all communication IMMEDIATELY." Nancy is upset and has been so brainwashed that she messages scammer man when she comes home saying, "I'm home now. My family doesn't believe in our love and I'm so upset. They want us to break up now." He replies with, "Nothing can come between us, my love. They'll come around. Don't give up!"

At this point, the scammer/scammers are beyond PO'd at Annie and Tommaso. They've already bought tickets, flown into Tucson, and now their plans are this close to being thwarted. They decide to take out the ultimate revenge by kidnapping Nancy in the middle of the night and sending ominous ransom notes.

I'll be the first to admit that I have an active imagination, but you can't tell me these scams aren't common. Check out this video, this article, and this article. My mom also used to be a flight attendant and told me about a passenger she had once on a trip coming back from London. The passenger was an elegant-looking, elderly woman who was visibly upset. When the crew members asked what was going on, she said that she was totally stood up at the airport the other day by a man she was supposed to meet and had sent a lot of money to. She really thought they were in love, and was so ashamed and embarrassed to tell her kids. At least she made it home alive.

 

[MCB1151]

The usage of "this" is...unsettling to me. "This is important to us." "This is the only way we will have peace"

"We understand" - I'm still not convinced completely these ransom demanders have NG BUT if they do, I could see this being an acknowledgement that while there may not have been an alleged intent to kill her, she may have passed due to her own medical issues that have now gone unmedicated for a week.

And to play devils advocate - these ransom demanders may just be continuing to exploit a situation they never had control of. It's believable an 84 year old woman could have passed away in the commission of this and whoopsie, we never intended this to happen. They pay, they don't get a body because they've never had NG. The idea that kidnappers would return a body for money just seems...insane. Locard's exchange. The potential for evidence that would absolutely nail them is an awful big risk.

 

[mikeshanty]

I agree it appears she’s no longer with us but what gets me is why do they say “celebrate WITH her” to me that indicates someone who is still alive. Again, I think they’re responding in some way to something the captor wrote in a message. But the word ‘with’ to me is really not indicating she’s deceased as of this moment. We can try and spin it in any way, but usually you’re not celebrating WITH a dead person, you’re celebrating the dead person.

Possibly to avoid irritating the perp. It would be an almost categoric statement by SG that NG is dead. This way, SG gets her point across but leaving it ambiguous enough that she does not sound like she is disclosing to the world that NG has passed. JMO.

 

[katydid23]

Which makes me wonder why her blood was found outside the front door.

I think maybe someone was carrying her or forcing her to leave through the front door.

I don't think she was ever bleeding on her way INTO the house. But who knows?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

They all look so tired and sad. I hope they didn’t get a message that NG is dead and if they want her body back they have to pay.
Every day at about this time something seems to break.

i feel your first sentence IS what has happened.... it does make sense.

 

[KBlackRabbit]

Is there a reason this is all playing out over Instagram? And not privately?

It might have been a demand from the kidnapper. The kidnapper might be getting off on all of the attention and making the family beg in public.

Harvey Levin did say the second note contained something “consequential.”

 

[EJB123456]

I would suggest that Celebrations of Life are highly differentiated from funerals....
And I believe they are becoming more and more a replacement for funerals.

Funeral, memorial, wake, and celebration of life are all basically the same thing, a ritual to mark someone’s death. A celebration of life often emphasizes the life they lived rather than the fact they are gone.

Probably depends on your religion and age but in my experience sometimes even in a church with a mass there will be some notion of calling it a celebration of so and so’s life. I like how @KBlackRabbit described it.

 

[shonyakay]

One other interesting thing is that the Sheriff stated that there wouldn't be any more press conferences until next Thursday.

People are asking me about this so let me add this caveat - he stated Thursday unless something comes up and then they will address it. He stated his reasoning was because there is no point in stating the same thing over and over. He stated these things at the presser with the FBI when LE gave the timeline of events.

 

[Sakura2Sophia4Lucia]

Its tricky. My dad died and a few months before that his attorney died and the practice was closed. All the old copies of the will were in storage boxes in the dead attorneys warehouse and my sister an attorney presented a new will whereby I, the oldest daughter was cut out. I hired my own attorney they said looked like first page of will was removed and replaced but long battle ahead in court. These things with family and money get crazy REAL quick. My sister and my dad's secretary worked together to edit his will he had saved on his computer. Scanned in signed by his former attorney. I didn't have the money or heart for the court battle while grieving my dad and raising kids, so I just went my own way empty handed. So I dont put anything past anyone!!!

Hate that you went through this, Birdbox. IMO, you correctly perceived that your time spent grieving your Dad and raising your kids and generally doing life-giving things was far more important than being involved with a sister and court case that would have been totally death-dealing.

You raise something really important. When money is involved, sometimes people sink to unimaginably and incomprehensibly horrible places.

 

[Summerliz03]

This new message does answer many questions.

This is why I believe the ransom messages were so late coming...because Nancy most likey perished and these criminals did not know what to do. So first, try to get the ransom with no "proof of life", and wait. And then, if nothing comes, come for the jugular that they will have to pay to get the body back.

Oh how I hope that the fbi and their forensic measures can track this while this dear sweet overwhelmed loving family sp painfully expresses.... we will pay.

This is exactly what I think happened. But I’m still confused/curious how they would get the body once the ransom is paid. It’s hard to know how the demands are being made since we have no idea what the letters are actually saying.

 

[Wsimm]

Here is what is mind-boggling. How the heck does a perpetrator have 100% confidence that there aren't internal cameras? Its a fairly large home for an 84 year old lady. A lot of folks i know monitor their older parents, grandparents with an inside camera (sure creepy) in their living room, etc. It would be again, out of character of some mastermind "outsider" to boldly adopt a position that there is no ring subscription, no internal camera, no silent motion sensors that call cops. That is a hell of a lot of assumptions baked in that cake.

Agree. The suspect/s have been described as highly intelligent, sophisticated and tech savvy. One would assume with those attributes they wouldn’t have touched NG or her home without knowledge of alarms, cameras and monitoring subscriptions to both. Someone had to have some inside knowledge somehow?

 

[Qbert]

Full transcript

We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

“This the only way we will have peace.”

I want to remain hopeful, but I feel like that wording is often used by families when someone has been missing for a long time and they believe their loved one is likely no longer alive, and that at least having answers especially a body to bury would bring them peace and closure.