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

[shadowsc]

Is it possible the message received that they’re responding to has nothing to do with the first two known ransoms? Maybe an additional source of communication was made to them?

That's what I first thought, but it would contradict what the FBI said. Assuming they are being forthcoming.

“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted on social media, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

The “Today” show host was referencing a message that was sent to the Tucson-based television station KOLD on Friday afternoon, according to Kevin Smith, a spokesperson for the FBI office in Phoenix.

KOLD said it received an email related to the Guthrie case on social media that day but declined to share specific details about its contents as the FBI conducted its review.

'We will pay,' Savannah Guthrie says in desperate video plea to potential kidnappers of her mother

Savannah Guthrie has told the potential kidnappers of her mother Nancy Guthrie that the family is prepared to pay for her safe return.

apnews.com

 

[Sakura2Sophia4Lucia]

One theory could be that there is a reason that SG conveyed the message that she did and that perhaps they want the abductors to think that the family thinks she is dead. I borrowed this theory from someone i listened to and I am not sure what the advantage is but my point is it may not be what is seems to us the listeners.

Agree that messages are being conveyed to project a particular message.

With SG, who surely got strong guidance from the FBI, her message was conveying what FBI and SG wanted to convey to the abductors.

LE and FBI has consistently been communicating in a way to get across the message they want to heard rather than to convey accurate facts. JMO

 

[MCB1151]

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

Excellent question.

I feel like it's a power move. If only the ransom demanders see them plead for their mother, that's all well and good, but if the world watches them essentially beg the ransomers for their mother, THAT is control.

 

[academyrd]

It is horrific to think of what SG has gone through this week. She probably has not slept. I believe they look like they are losing hope in this latest video because they are… People can only take so much. But it might not be an indication that they know anything further or received 100% confirmation she is dead.

 

[Moonsie]

But didn't they say her pacemaker disconnected from app/ Bluetooth like 2:30am which means she was in the home up until that time?

The official timeline does not say “pacemaker disconnected from app.”

It says “pacemaker app shows disconnect from phone.”

moo.

 

[TheDinks]

Listening to this again, it is possible that the abductor gave the family proof of life in that the abductor relayed something to them that Nancy told them while in captivity. And the family said, basically, okay this is very valuable to us and we will pay. So they took it as proof of life.

No, sorry.

 

[Megnut]

Taking a moment because this isn't Season 4 on Netflix. A real family, a real Grandma, a real nightmare. Whether this was one crime or two, this part is twice ruthless. IMO no one intended to hold her hostage nor return her. Whoever is behind this, it's the rawest clash of good and evil, playing on heartbroken people's emotions. Extortion of the highest order. Or lowest.

Sometime I wonder if we're even the same species.

JMO

 

[Sakura2Sophia4Lucia]

why wouldn't SG just say we understand our mother has died and we are willing to pay.

something is weird...I think it sounds a little coded or something. mOO

Agree that SG's message is coded. Very carefully scripted, I would guess, with the FBI script.

 

[LRinCA]

I'm continuing on with this strange Silence of the Lambs theme. The van in Silence of the Lambs was, I believe, a white van.

"A neighbor of missing Nancy Guthrie said he saw a suspicious white van on their street in the days before NBC host Savannah Guthrie's mother"

 

[gitana1]

I'm pretty sure it was someone who knew her.


Another WS member was saying how a kid kept coming by their mother's house because she paid them for chores one time. Eventually the kid wasn't so nice.

I can see Nancy paying a down-on-their-luck person for some odd chores, then that person wanting more money, but she refused and it boiled to a head. We've seen this with the elderly numerous times.

All MOO...

My gut tells me that family member(s) are responsible for Nancy’s disappearance. My inclination would be that the ransom notes are unrelated because it’s unlikely that a family member would have (or know someone who has) the capability to send the notes from an undiscoverable IP address. Then again, I suppose it’s possible that that the FBI does know the source of the ransom notes, but is building a case behind the scenes that we are unaware of. MOO.

I was discussing this case with my elderly mother today and going through the possibilities. The possibilities I think of are:

1. Stranger abduction/sexual predator - I have never known one of these cases involving s victim that age. Predators/thrill killers leave their elderly victims in the home.

2. Home invasion/in-home burglary - they do not typically take their victims from the home.

3. Abduction for purposes of robbery- we have heard of no attempts to force her to take money from an ATM or anything like that.

4. Cartel activity - despite the hype, I have heard of no cases of a cartel kidnapping stateside, especially not of someone who is not Mexican. Those involve wealthy Mexicans south of the border. And no ransom has been published that included an avenue for payment.

5. Other abduction for ransom- we haven’t had a ransom case in how long? Do we know of any? Regardless, ransoms require avenues for payment. I have heard of none.

6. Someone who has had contact with her, like a service worker of some sort or criminal neighbor- again, typically in those cases, either we would hear of ATM activity, there would be evidence of a robbery or, a body would be left behind.

7. Political violence - those types are injustice collectors who can’t hide their hatred and are typically caught quickly. Also, targeting the mother of a newscaster, who lives apart from them, for the newscaster’s perceived politics, seems a bit of a stretch. Possible, though.

8. Someone who knows her well - this is the most feasible to me. Someone knew her well enough to know where her cameras were and that they were not linked to the cloud. Someone knew what security measures she had.

But, although the most feasible to me, it still doesn’t tell us why. Was she going to change her will? Was someone demanding something she was unwilling to give? Did someone have a grudge? Where did they take her?

 

[missy1974]

Here is the entire clip of the anchor from KOLD talking about receiving the second message. I do not get the impression from the anchor that the message said Nancy was deceased. (And the FBI says in this response that SG's video was a response to yesterday's message received by KOLD.)

I agree, and I can't even imagine she would do any interviews yesterday at all if there was even a hint of that. At least I would hope not. Remember, they didn't say anything about the 1st letter until TMZ got a copy too and broke that news.

 

[Sakura2Sophia4Lucia]

Taking a moment because this isn't Season 4 on Netflix. A real family, a real Grandma, a real nightmare. Whether this was one crime or two, this part is twice ruthless. IMO no one intended to hold her hostage nor return her. Whoever is behind this, it's the rawest clash of good and evil, playing on heartbroken people's emotions. Extortion of the highest order. Or lowest.

Sometime I wonder if we're even the same species.

JMO

Well-said

 

[scaredtopost]

Am I the only one who just told their daughter not to pay ransom for my body if the kidnapper kills me? Just wondering... I told her to save her money. I've also negotiated with my husband to login to websleuths to start a thread for me if i go missing since he refuses to do a dateline. He said the husband's always guilty, or portrayed that way, and I can't really argue with that. But for real, I can't imagine what her family is going through and I wish them peace and answers soon ♡

 

[maskedwoman]

It’s entirely possible the ransomer is not the same person as the perpetrator. They could be completely unrelated.

But if thats the case, how does the ransomer know things about the scene?

 

[emigrate]

oh Lisa Frank....that's a whole other ball of wax....

Lisa Frank factory? What is this about? I have been trying to catch up and go back to see things I have missed, this is moving so fast I can't get caught up

 

[MCB1151]

There don't seem to have been extensive searches in the area - which I thought was weird. They've gone out in the desert a few times but not for very long and it hasn't semeed like an in detail search.

Just seems odd. It is HARD to find a body in the desert because it's just wide, barren land. Even with K9s it's difficult to find someone. But one would think if you have a suspicious disappearance of an elderly person, you might at the very least bring in a tracking k9. Grid searches for evidence. Something.

 

[K.jill]

The author of the ransom notes appears to me to be bold, arrogant, confident and likes the media attention. Very bold. If this is also the abductor do they have experience in breaking and entering, stalking?
Editing to add: heartless, cold blooded.

 

[Puzzles8]

It appeared to me that SG was reading a script.

I noticed this time SG didn't have a sheet of paper in front of her. SG spoke softly and a delivered a well rehearsed message.The three sat closer together and struggled to look at the camera. They all looked utterly exhausted and defeated.

Prayers up for their family, they look to be at their breaking point.

JMO

 

[MadCowWisco]

I think the words in the video were chosen very carefully in order to account for a number of possibilities which is why some of the language isn't natural. I think they believe she's likely dead since no proof of life was given and maybe something threatening was shared. I think they wanted the word "celebration" to have two possible meanings - if she's still alive then you can return her, we will pay, and will celebrate with her (this gives them an opportunity to still return her alive while also signaling it will be happy for them not a moment where they will seek "justice" - they will celebrate!) on the other hand, they recognize she is likely dead and they also want the person to know they can return her for a celebration (of life) if so. Either of those outcomes is valuable to them.

Sorry. I hope I'm wrong but I think they just want her back so they get closure on all of this. Finding who did this should be the next focus.

 

[moonglow123]

I feel like it's a power move. If only the ransom demanders see them plead for their mother, that's all well and good, but if the world watches them essentially beg the ransomers for their mother, THAT is control.

Yep. It really strikes me as some sick person that's giddy they're causing so much suffering for the family, and loves having it aired out publicly. And probably gleeful they've outsmarted law enforcement thus far.