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

[YankeeTrucker]

I got to thinking as I watch the video of the three siblings and what must be going on. I don't know how much is shared with family by LE on working theories? Could LE be telling SG about theory of TC involvement but keeping it quiet as they close in on him or his associates? Just because they sit there holding hands making these videos does not mean something is not going on the rest of the time. I doubt. they are. all staying together at this point. AG home is. being treated as a crime scene. Read into that what you will. I sure hope family not involved but now thinking they might have been.

This is the sticking point for me. There is no way that I could sit next to a sibling that I thought was implicated. Or stay at their home.

 

[ivyvanmad]

I’ll be blunt this morning. In my opinion, NG demise originated from AG’s home. The what and the how, I don’t know. Investigators returning to her home again last night documenting, mapping, and collecting evidence was the final event that moved me in that direction. IMO

We were given information about the pacemaker spiking and disconnecting from the watch around 2am, and there is a flutter of activity in and around her house at 1am-2am (can’t recall the exact time stamps). I would imagine they have location/ coordinates of where her watch was during the hours between arriving at AG’s house and disconnecting with pacemaker. Her watch and pacemaker are intricately connected that night IMO

 

[stmichael]

When is the ransom exchange? Then what?

6 million by Monday 5pm or she gets un-alived is the latest being reported.

According to the first note and the "radius" Harvey Levin at TMZ came up with the first note said they'd bring her back in a few hours once the BC is deposited. No further details on that.

Staggering Nancy Guthrie ransom demand amount revealed by local TV station

The alleged captors threatened the elder Guthrie’s life if the deadline – set for 5 p.m. local time – wasn’t met, the outlet reported.

nypost.com

 

[priyaya]

dont think she ever made it back home
think they have video that shows the SIL car wasnt where it was supposed to be when it should have been
think the house was staged with drips of blood and cameras cut off and apple watch brought back
think savannah and brother are playing along with ransom until they make an arrest
FBI doesnt show their cards unless they have a sealed case which i think they are working towards now

 

[SMK777]

After last night’s search of AG’s house that suggested luminol was used, I can absolutely come up with a scenario where there was no call from anybody at NG’s church that sent AG and the SIL to her house.
If that’s the case, as you say, that could have been LE’s first indication that AG and the SIL’s story was not on the up and up.
I’m not quite ready to die on this hill with you, but I will fire a couple of volleys before I run.

That's quite possible.

 

[bdawk20]

What are people’s thoughts on the towing of Nancy’s car from the garage? Do they think she actually used the car that night? They took it when they came back in some sort of renewed search, but I’m struggling to put together what that might mean.

 

[Skagirl]

Many pages ago, there was some discussion regarding NG's Will or Trust. It was suggested that one of the deadlines for the ransom payment might have been related to NG possibly amending her Will/Trust between the two deadline dates for payment. DH and I discussed this last night, and both agreed that no attorney would "amend" or "change" the Will or Trust of an 84-year-old woman on demand. An attorney would have sensed immediately that Mrs. Guthrie was under duress and that she was being forced to do something against her will. It isn't easy to alter a long-standing Will or Trust.

I agree with this. My day job is as a paralegal and we do POAs and wills all the time. We always meet with people when they want a change made to ensure that they are of sound mind and not being pressured by family members to make changes.

 

[mikeshanty]

In this scenario are you assuming her intention was a ransom? Maybe it was a domestic gone horribly wrong (even by her spouse) and then a blundering cover-up/distraction after the fact. Many cases have unraveled in blundering, unbelievable ways.

The ransom as far as we know with all the details released to the press could have come after the fact or another event or be unrelated. Many experts, former FBI etc. have said it's a very atypical ransom. If one's end goal was a ransom you would want it quick and quiet and contact the family directly, have other proof than a description of things at the crime scene after the fact.
It is possible the "ransom" is an after the fact cover up or distraction and that NG was deceased prior to it, in an assault, accident, domestic, etc. either by a blundering wannabe kidnapper or by someone in her immediate circle. It is possible the ransom is a scam by another party that was clever enough to get some facts of the case (as far as we know no unique identifying information has come since then. If they had possession of an alive NG they could obtain that.)

The ransom was always the weird part in how atypical and convoluted it appeared. It may well be an indirect product of another event and even by another party. And it may be put out there with no true intention to genuinely bargain for return, because they can't offer that (either NG is already deceased, or the "ransomer" can not deliver her/doesn't have her).

I agree the domestic gone wrong is a plausible scenario. But the ransom cover up theory is still too sophisticated for someone with AG's profile. How would they be engaging in this while under heavy scrutiny of LE? If there is another party involved, this increases the likelihood of SIL / AG being found out. Statistically, the more people required to enforce a "cover up" the more probable it becomes of the whole thing collapsing.

 

[Missyrocks5]

Please let me know if I am missing an angle here in my thought process. Let's for argument's sake now say that her ending happened at the home of her daughter and SIL. If it was perhaps over money, say they were taking money from an account of hers, and she found out confronted them, or anything like that, and say the SIL did something, if AG had no part in it, wouldn't she have called 911?

If she was afraid that she would end up being a victim herself, even if she got herself, and if they have a child, etc., out of the house at some point, wouldn't she have contacted the police? And isn't the fact that she did not contact the police if things got out of hand in that house proof that she was part of it?

People have noted that the holding hands with the sister in the latest video is not really holding hands. That body language speaks volumes. I don't know if she is still having to put on a façade pretending that she believes her sister had no part in this to try to get information, or to try to get cooperation to get whoever sent the emails/notes.

 

[birdbox]

dog could have barked during the kidnapping (or whatever it was) but. would anyone hear it out there with coyotes howling?

We lived near coyotes for 15 years and yes you can still hear a dog bark with coyotees howling. Having said that, I am reading she did not have a dog. Also coyotes move around a area quite a bit hunting. They will sound close sometimes, and distant at other times. They howl a good bit upon finding a rabbit or something else they are hunting and they only do this at night. It was really cool living near them. They never bothered any of our stray farm cats in all those years.

 

[SMK777]

Please let me know if I am missing an angle here in my thought process. Let's for argument's sake now say that her ending happened at the home of her daughter and SIL. If it was perhaps over money, say they were taking money from an account of hers, and she found out confronted them, or anything like that, and say the SIL did something, if AG had no part in it, wouldn't she have called 911?

If she was afraid that she would end up being a victim herself, even if she got herself, and if they have a child, etc., out of the house at some point, wouldn't she have contacted the police? And isn't the fact that she did not contact the police if things got out of hand in that house proof that she was part of it?

People have noted that the holding hands with the sister in the latest video is not really holding hands. That body language speaks volumes. I don't know if she is still having to put on a façade pretending that she believes her sister had no part in this to try to get information, or to try to get cooperation to get whoever sent the emails/notes.

AG may have felt that she too would be implicated. Calling 911 would also mean the arrest of her husband, public exposure, and the destruction of her family life. MOO

 

[SeattleStew]

The family’s failure to find blood at the front door a week ago speaks (somewhat) to their innocence and the guilt of a person less familiar with the family My assumption is the front door is never used by Nancy, so the family had no reason to dream that she had exited by the front door. That said, a stranger locking the front door(s) behind himself seems unlikely as well. Hard to figure out this one. So little makes sense.

IMO the missing cover for the Nest camera, and the blood on the doorstep is a ruse. Planted to confuse the investigators.

 

[lonetraveler]

I have the opposite opinion.

IMO, can they really speak “man to man” when they’re not on an equal footing? At the moment all the power is in the hands of whomever took Nancy.

What you see as lukewarm, I see as tightly controlled rage, knowing his mother’s life is up to the kidnapper right now.

He’s career military but he’s a jet fighter pilot, not National Guard. I presume he is accustomed to being in control in dangerous situations, and to keep emotion in check so he can do his highly skilled job.

But right now, he is forced to “play nice” in order to have a mother again.

JMO

My thoughts exactly.

 

[priyaya]

AG may have felt that she too would be implicated. Calling 911 would also mean the arrest of her husband, public exposure, and the destruction of her family life. MOO

then she better start talking now

 

[keek]

AG may have felt that she too would be implicated. Calling 911 would also mean the arrest of her husband, public exposure, and the destruction of her family life. MOO

That scenario happens all the time, cover up as the least damaging to themselves and family, children. IMO

 

[Wsimm]

If Annie and her husband did have something to do with it, she may not have even made it back to her house, it would be easier to keep her at theirs and plant her belongings back at her house (possibly the blood was from an earlier minor injury or they could have also planted the blood to look like an abduction).

I’m thinking NG and her Apple Watch would have had to be together until the 2am disconnect.

 

[Deleted member 117884]

The ransom-note writer could be a cruel opportunist.

Or, the ransom-notes could be fake, written by the perp to throw the investigation off.

Or, the ransom-note writer be real, written by the perp to get money.

 

[No_Stone_Unturned]

What are people’s thoughts on the towing of Nancy’s car from the garage? Do they think she actually used the car that night? They took it when they came back in some sort of renewed search, but I’m struggling to put together what that might mean.

To see if the perp had been in the car or whomever else used the car?

 

[priyaya]

I’m thinking NG and her Apple Watch would have had to be together until the 2am disconnect.

not if the watch just checked in at 2am every night
we dont know if it was separated before then and just missed the checkin

 

[mikeshanty]

That scenario happens all the time, cover up as the least damaging to themselves and family, children. IMO

I was just watching the Aileen Wuornos documentary. Her partner was caught up during the crimes and was the one who encouraged Aileen to confess in the end. I think we underestimate how hard it can be for the female partners of those who do the unthinkable. There was also an extremely high profile case in my country where a female partner of a double child killer was done for perverting the course of justice for providing an alibi to police about her partner.