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

[Napoli]

I yoyo back and forth. I was leaning family involved a few days ago with the ransom being totally separate and a scammer, now I lean towards more validity of the ransom and the kidnapper being affiliated with one another. Though I can't make logic of the kidnapping and ransom angle, I have to just accept understanding on what kidnappings for ransom are 'typically' needs to be thrown out the window in this case. How LE and FBI are acting, Susannah implying on the most recent video she will pay, and the FBI continuing to put up missing persons billboards (all the way in Houston, even, mentioned earlier in this thread), makes it sound like there is at least some plausibility to this.

Timeline fogginess and unwillingness to clear TC gives me pause, because at this point, if it's not ransom note writer, many seem to think it's TC. Anything I say about possible TC/AG involvement is just me speculating, trying to look for possible solutions that could explain inconsistencies. As a teacher myself, accusations he is currently facing online in part (imo) thanks to AB could be devastating for his career even if he's cleared. I've seen speculation it's a ruse to put the true kidnapper at ease but even an implication he's possibly involved will haunt him professionally, we are under so much scrutiny every day and many a parent would be worried about him teaching their children. At the same time, I'm horrified to think of someone I consider a fellow peer could carry out a crime like this, even if it was (I stress this, theoretically) in a moment of extremely rash anger. One of the grades he reportedly teaches (6th) requires a remarkable amount of patience, compassion and good humor to be successful. It's hard of me to fathom, even though I know sometimes the people you least expect can be responsible for horrible things. I would hope that Pima County investigators would understand the severity of all that, and would make it their top priority to clear TC first and soon after publicly. So them not doing so, even if I have some questions about their investigating methods, makes me think there has to be something there, even if we're not personally privy to it. I don't think he would have the capability of setting up these ransom notes anyways with how much scrutiny he is probably under, unless he has an accomplice, which then carries this into the realm of premeditation.

All of this is JMO, of course. If you had to make me pick right now, I'd probably say kidnappers are real and wrote the note. But, I think there still has to be something that prevents LE from clearing TC, or its otherwise pure incompetence, and I'm hoping for NG and her family's sake it's not that. (Sorry for the rambling, it's late here)

well, if you want to be TECHNICAL, SG hasnt been cleared either... NO ONE HAS BEEN CLEARED AS BEING INVOLVED>>>DIRECTLY OR TANGENTIALLY! TC is not the perp, imo. I have cleared him! JMO

 

[CrimeDawg123]

I've jumped around alot on what I think happened to Nancy, almost every day I think something different after reading comments here and in the media. But where I'm at right now (all IMO and not source-based):

Ransom notes are opportunistic due to the delay in them being sent and that there are 2 deadlines

A particular family member (or possibly 2) involved in Nancy's disappearance, unsure what unfolded or if it was planned. Blood was planted, they missed the camera on the roof (hopefully LE have footage from this but not hopeful). Something happened in the home of AG, either during or after. I believe LE found something in AG's garage. I also suspect LE have found camera footage of a car related to Nancy's disappearance on the night/early morning she disappeared.

Could be. I just don't understand why media hasn't reported if either of them have been brought in for questioning. I would think they'd have been grilled over and over by now. Isn't media also camped out at the LE headquarters?

 

[Love Never Fails]

I'm leaning towards it being one person. Whoever wrote that ransom note has had no worries NG would be found. That original note was a 7 day offer, so to speak. I'm thinking if you're an opportunist, you'd be making it no more than 24 hours. The more I read this thread, the less sure I am that family is to blame. JMO.

Thanks for the jumping off point.

It might be hard to get hold of a million dollars (or if it was six later on) in 24 hours.

 

[CandyKiss]

I’m still wondering how much blood was found inside the home. We know it was in there. How much would make a big difference. If it was a huge amount, she would have likely died at the scene. It doesn’t seem that that’s what their takeaway was from whatever they found inside the home. I wonder if anything was knocked over. That would indicate a struggle.

IMO: not much.

The family’s entrance is the garage door, AG and TC enter the home in search of NG and then call police.

Police arrive at front door and notice blood on front porch, enter the home and notice items of interest and lock it down as a crime scene.

If there was a LOT of blood in the home – keep in mind, the average body holds 10-12 pints – I’m sure AG and TC would have noticed.

 

[shonyakay]

I've jumped around alot on what I think happened to Nancy, almost every day I think something different after reading comments here and in the media.

This

 

[SMK777]

Thank you so much for posting this!

You're very welcome!

 

[Sadi]

Just speculating, but if someone else drove NG's car back to her home and put it in the garage, it might explain why LE is looking for Tesla video from cars that may have passed the vehicle, as that would definitively prove who was behind the wheel and at what time. Perhaps the Circle K video showed NG's car passing the store, and LE noticed at least one Tesla nearby. Pure conjecture on my part, so take it with a grain of salt, fwiw.

Yes, I believe this too, looking for an unidentified male driving a car of interest and the timeframes. They haven’t provided any details about the color/make/model of any cars or dates/timeframes because they don’t want to give anyone the impression they’re onto them. If this is a random kidnapping/abduction/crime, and N’s car was used for any part of the crime, why would they return the car to her home rather than leave it abandoned somewhere else? Unless they know the car should be at her home and it would be suspicious if it wasn’t. Seriously, they could have just left it in a sketchy area with the keys in it for anyone to take it. MOO

 

[CrimeDawg123]

IMO: not much.

The family’s entrance is the garage door, AG and TC enter the home in search of NG and then call police.

Police arrive at front door and notice blood on front porch, enter the home and notice items of interest and lock it down as a crime scene.

If there was a LOT of blood in the home – keep in mind, the average body holds 10-12 pints – I’m sure AG and TC would have noticed.

The blood on the porch might even be from a different incident that Nancy had that is unrelated.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Sometimes a child of an elderly parent gets POA and starts draining some of the bank accounts. Elderly parent finds out about it and there is an argument.

They often say that Forensic Accounting can take a lot of time...
In this case, I feel certain that all of this has been done quickly and extensively.
We will never know the results of this, but the family obviously does.

If everything looks to put the family in good stead, I just cannot imagine what SG is going through with the massive public machine against her sister and her partner....
On the other hand... if she knows enough to prove otherwise, I just do not believe we would have all this coded messaging with potential ransom people.

Living Hell....

 

[Strangeworld]

I'm going to pull together the theories into one post, maybe a graphic. If you want me to include your theory in a post you've already made, just add @Strangeworld to your post and I'll include I'll already include the ones replying to my post asking for theories

 

[Skigh]

In the SIL theory, with a death and cover up, the phone call from the church friend threw a monkey wrench into the cover up plans. He thought he had more time to stage the crime scene and put other pieces into place? So he had to think about how to handle that call, now he was under a time pressure. He had to go to NG's house, pretend to look around and call 911. The police got involved much sooner than planned.

I have wondered exactly the same thing. Had Nancy not been missed in church ,I wonder how long it would have been before somebody became concerned about her ,especially on a Sunday when many people just potter around their home .

 

[shonyakay]

Pure speculation but I think it all centers around SG. I think the fact she immediately called the Arizona senator once she found out about her mom, she was spooked for sure. Then, next thing it’s personal security has been increased with her fellow members of the Today show. Then DJT chiming in…there’s something major and private going on behind the scenes and the public may never be privy to what that is. That’s my opinion anyway. I don’t think it’s random. I think planned. MOO

'Today' Increases Security as Savannah Guthrie's Mom Remains Missing

Find out the latest about the investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.

www.tvinsider.com

Another thing in support of this is would the POTUS really get involved if this solely appeared to be a garden variety homicide with disposal of a body?

 

[Sadi]

I'm not adamant about one theory, but I do think it's possible that whoever harmed Nancy tried to make it look as if she had not necessarily been kidnapped, but either her body had to be hidden to remove say DNA that could be in a database (to make it look like it was a known criminal), or to make it look as if Nancy had fallen and wandered off in a concussed state. Then it could be possible that after hearing different theories during the next 24 hours or so, as to a kidnapping, and whatever evidence the family might want to prove it was the person who was at the house, they followed through with the belated ransom demand. Maybe they don't really expect to collect the money, so gave a figure they thought the family would not be able to pay.

It's my theory that whenever crimes look disorganised it's as a result of a spanner in the works and something changing in an original plan.

JMO

I don’t think the kidnapping and ransom are related at all, but I don’t have any evidence other than my own opinion. Why would they wait to release their demands instead of providing that soon after N was discovered missing? I also question why provide two deadlines? I think someone else saw an opportunity and acted on it.

 

[EightiesBoo]

I mentioned before — why didn’t we see dogs doing scent trail or cadaver dogs? Is there a reason that maybe we aren’t aware of? What would be a scenario that they wouldn’t try and do a scent trail?

Also, I know we know the times of the garage opening and closing but is there an alert at the front door around that time? Not her going in but someone coming out if she was walked inside or the car driving by the front door to drop her off? I know mine alerts for a car in the front. But maybe this is just something we don’t know or is insignificant.

Going back to the beginning and the basics because I think there are some subtle clues into things LE have done or not done.

Do we know the blood is 100% hers? Is it her type or her DNA? Do we know that she absolutely made it home that night even?

 

[Starkville]

Can someone explain the significance of this? I'm not getting it?

“Oh, snap!” Is an expression of being deeply impressed or surprised. Kind of like “Oh, sh*t!”

Either AG is lying about somebody calling from church, which could be verified in a matter of minutes, or there's something fishy about the church caller.

Purportedly, they called at 11 which would mean NG was expected at the earlier service. The second morning service started at 11 I think. Why would somebody from church lie?

What if it was someone NOT from church? Maybe it was the kidnapper, wanting to get the ball rolling.

I’m suspicious about the omission of the call from the Sherriff’s new narrative; but it’s not because I find AG/TC hinky. There’s a reason that they deliberately dropped it from the timeline. As Websleuthers point out, it easy enough to verify that a call was made to NG or AG.

IMO, it might be about who made the call, and what was said.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Wait, NG had POA for their new house? Or what did she have control over that involve SIL?

NO... this has been corrected.
AG had POA at the moment of house purchase. Common occurance.

 

[Starkville]

Do we know if family members have a lot of large debt? And how much debt is it?

And what kind of debt?

IMO, owing on a credit card or for medical bills is quite different than owing a bookie or dealer…

 

[tkcrockett]

In the SIL theory, with a death and cover up, the phone call from the church friend threw a monkey wrench into the cover up plans. He thought he had more time to stage the crime scene and put other pieces into place? So he had to think about how to handle that call, now he was under a time pressure. He had to go to NG's house, pretend to look around and call 911. The police got involved much sooner than planned.

do we know who called 911? do we know that SIL was the one who went over to check after the church call?

 

[jillybean51]

Let's say she had a nose bleed from rough handling....like an elbow to the nose or swallowing that blood then spitting it out (less likely) They then picked her up, cradling her and she bled on the perp's jacket.

I think the blood was from when she opened the door and hit.She was likely then pushed inside after that.

 

[shonyakay]

What do you make of Sheriff Nanos really putting an emphasis on that garage opening at approximately 9:48 p.m.?

Timestamp: 6:45

Is he saying the "approximately" is what he can't stress enough - or the actual opening of the garage around that approximate time?