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

[Pharmasgirl]

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.

What a bunch of sick perverts to get off on someone's pain! (sorry...)

 

[LRinCA]

Earlier today someone pointed out that the day Nancy was abducted was the 35th anniversary of the movie’s release.

OMG


Well, that hit like a ton of bricks.

 

[MassGuy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020317703635104193

 

[Skully7100]

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?

Remember BTK. He was known to everyone in that town. Just not as a killer.

 

[zecats]

Agree- IMO she died during or shortly after the abduction. The delay in the first note was figuring out what to do. They took their shot at getting paid without proof of life. This is their second best chance to get paid.

Has there ever been a crime of kidnapping for ransome where the family would knowingly pay for the return of a deceased person? I empathetically understand wanting to have their family member back, and in all the horrors of having to make a decision like this. But, dang…what a scary precedent setting moment this would be. Utterly heartbreaking. Maybe the family’s video message is attempting to disguise that they know this. JMO

 

[shadowsc]

I read a comment that said that the word in the video: "This" can be referring to a negotiation, an agreement, an acknowledgement to a demand, and that's how I took it too. That maybe this kidnapper wants something else from SG beyond money. I have no idea what. But the whole family looks so grim. If they are conceding to some demand that's about more than just money, I can't imagine what that might be. If they believed money might actually get their mom back alive, I would think they would have looked a little more hopeful and less defeated.

 

[mikeshanty]

Honestly at this point LE had BETTER know way more than they're letting on. It's alarming that someone can get away with this for so long despite all the resources of SG/the FBI.

LE hasn't made any real comment about public safety, but if they don't get a handle on this ASAP I would consider the revelation of this vulnerability a huge public safety issue.

MOO

They know it is a targeted incident with no risk to the wider public. I hear your frustrations about LE, but you are assuming this is an unsophisticated actor. For all we know, this could be a highly sophisticated state attack (pure speculation to illustrate the point the perps are not standard kidnappers).

 

[carolmaria]

Just sitting here pondering this Silence of the Lambs angle. Obviously, someone who would kidnap another person is demented to a certain degree. Is it possible that this kidnapper signed his/her note with Buffalo Bill (the name given to the character in SOL) and they are trying to humor this person by responding in kind? Just a wild thought.

I was thinking similarly, that there was some kind of reference to the film in the first note. The possibility sickens me.

If it’s the case, I can certainly understand the motivation to include a coded response in the video.

And the fact that I’m even considering this grieves to no end.

 

[Vaderman]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020317703635104193

Fourth time's the charm?

 

[K.jill]

OMG


Well, that hit like a ton of bricks.

i just looked for myself and google says Feb 14.
Maybe whoever posted that can clarify.

 

[MassGuy]

Live drone footage:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020318494991216704

 

[jeff2034]

I suspect that someone has communicated to the family that NG is deceased, and have told the family that we will tell you where the body is if you pay the ransom (essentially holding the location of the body ransom). This is the only way the latest message from the family makes any sense Below are excerpts from the message and my interpretation:.
"We understand" = we understand she is deceased
"We want to celebrate with her" = we want to celebrate her life with a proper funeral
"This is very valuable to us" = recovering her body is very valuable to us (if not why want wouldn't they say "she is very valuable to us?"
Couple that with no demand for proof of life.
It could still be a hoax - meaning whoever is asking for the ransom for the location of the body has nothing to do with the actual kidnapping/murder. It could also be a ruse from the FBI (i.e. the real kidnappers who do have her and have kept her alive may get nervous that the family is about to pay someone else is saying she is dead). This to me seems very improbable though.

 

[katydid23]

Harvey said that “maybe they’re (LE) looking for a really intelligent person, who’s text savvy and who also has gone missing in the last week”. He also went on to say the letter is “constructed well, it’s layered, it’s grammatically all correct”. It appears the letter comes from a sophisticated, intelligent person.

OR it comes from chat GPT?

 

[*LD*]

Re: the doorbell detecting someone before 2am, LE has reported around 945pm the garage door opened for 2 minutes and then closed. They don't tell us anything prior to that. My understanding was that the doorbell cam wrote over itself after a certain period of time because she didn't have a subscription? So they only have a certain number of hours data available.

What if the garage door was opened long enough to go inside, get the car keys, and drive NG's car someplace else

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

NBC News summary of the case thus far.

What we know about the search for Nancy Guthrie

The mother of “TODAY” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie was reported missing Feb. 1 after she did not show up at church, setting off a desperate search.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[TheDinks]

Reason to pay now... adds to opportunity to discover who has demanded ransom

If the bitcoin can be traced.

 

[Vegasgrl]

The family doesn't know if they will get NG back. They have likely paid by now. Emotionally things are about as bad as can be. Hoping for the best.

 

[K.jill]

OMG


Well, that hit like a ton of bricks.

I am going to go and delete that post. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Cassie P]

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.

Yes I agree, sadistic mind games.

 

[*LD*]

Earlier today someone pointed out that the day Nancy was abducted was the 35th anniversary of the movie’s release.

That's false. It was released on February 14, 1991