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

[rosesfromangels]

Why would she answer the door in the middle of the night though? Did she hear something? Doorbell ringing and she saw someone she knew? I’m trying to look at the possible situations.

I thought she had a hearing aide that suggests she might not have heard a bell. My amateur guess is that she was attacked in her bed.

Amateur opinion and speculation only

 

[K.jill]

If Nancy was was injured or killed by a family member do you think it was preplanned to the extent that cameras were disabled before entering the house?

 

[Sadi]

I still don't believe the ransom notes are from the abductor. I was watching this case from the very beginning. There was no ransom note yet. ALL of the media people were saying "there's no way she could have wandered away. This must be a kidnapping of some sort." I think some people got into their head they could make money off of this and send in fake ransom notes and I imagine there have been multiple ransom notes. We already know one faker was arrested in California. It really seems the sheriff has been focused on kidnapping ever since the beginning, but I worry he relied on that theory too much. No cadaver dogs have been on the scene. It took them FOUR tries to find another camera on the roof. The sheriff's department put up and took down crime tape four times; should have kept it up continuously until they knew what actually happened and what they were looking for. I still think someone does not kidnap a 84 year old, physically fragile woman. IF this was done by kidnappers and were going to release her, they would have been sure she had her meds, had her cane, etc. Sometimes the answer is just the easiest one: family member. I don't think family member has made any ransom notes. And just because a ransomer "might" have some info only one who was in the house knew, well there have been dozens of people going in and out of her house since this happened. And all of the photographs might be downloaded somewhere and in offices where there are even more people looking at everything. Plus there are photos on Facebook of Nancy and possibly in her own home, so many ransomer saw something, like a picture on a wall in the background and pretended they saw it when they "kidnapped" her.

1000% in agreement with you. The two crimes are not related and someone is taking full advantage of the situation to get the money.

 

[na19]

Have they released the description of the vehicle they were looking for the other day?
Or why they were at Circle K looking at footage?

 

[maskedwoman]

Seems to me that if a family member were in dire financial straits, SG would not hesitate to help them out. JMO

Probably, but family dynamics are complicated and so is money. And although these people are instantly familiar to us, we don't actually know them. People with jobs in the public eye are not always the same behind closed doors. I have been dismayed many times from learning that a celebrity I had always thought was a pretty decent sort was actually a royal jerk to everyone behind the scenes. Sigh.

If someone has a legit crisis, all things being equal, most people who can would be happy to help. But we have no idea what the private family relationships and history are.

 

[LAborn]

Nobody seems willing to go there, but this has the earmarks of a cartel extortion written all over it. Well researched. Somewhat sloppy execution, and all the leverage.

LOL oh please. No way. Maybe you missed it, but the letters sent were very well composed, grammatically correct, layered. I don't think "drug cartel" hearing that.

 

[Inthedetails]

Why wouldn't they put cameras down the septic tanks to actually see down there. Their efforts seem half**sed.

And I sort wish they would put up tents and/or screens while they worked to keep the news out of the way. Of course, I find the drone footage interesting but I also feel yucky that the crime scene is exposed while they work. I know they can't tent the whole yard, but at least sections where they are working.

I want to be wrong and that in the end we'll all be impressed eventually.

jmo

 

[rosesfromangels]

My grandma lived in the home where she had lived for her nearly her entire life until she was almost 90. My grandpa had died 30 years earlier so she lived alone but several relatives lived nearby and we stopped in daily to check on her. I picked her up to take her to get groceries and to go out for lunch or dinner several times a week. She didn’t want to leave her home and she was very independent. She felt well and didn’t have any memory loss or other issues.

A few months before she turned 90 my two uncles (her sons) decided that she shouldn’t live alone and moved her in with one of them. She immediately became disoriented, lost her appetite, began declining and died just a few months later.

She had been so happy in her own home, and I often think about how many more years she would have had if she had been allowed to stay in her home.

There are no easy answers with elder care, just tradeoffs. None of us can second guess unless we are willing to step up ourselves.

Amateur opinion and speculation only

 

[Wsimm]

yes, yes.
This call CAN be verified. True, they don't have to tell us..... but we know they do say things to calm the swelling public reactions.
Any new press conference will be flooded with questions about "the church lady" (just a little funny)

But IF they are leaning towards AG and TC.... they probably WOULD have to keep this to themselves.
It is just such a significant piece of the case.

I definitely think there was a call. Whether it actually came from someone from NG’s church or someone involved in her abduction has yet to be revealed. I’m guessing LE hasn’t been able to verify the caller? I have no idea how burner phones work and if the call came from one, would this be the difficulty in verifying?

It’s my feeling if SIL is involved he’d have to had help from someone other than just AG. In that case the call could’ve been from that “someone else” involved. Maybe the call stated that they’ve completed their portion of the abduction. If the phone number is unverifiable it could be explained away as someone calling from NG’s church.

If SIL and AG are not involved, the call could have come from the abductors masquerading as a fellow church member who’s concerned NG was absent from Sunday services.

 

[Cassie P]

To me this is key as well. Who called you? When? Let me see your phone? Why did they call you? Let's go talk to them. The alleged caller: Did you call them? What time? Let me see your phone. Why did you call them?

If any of them lie... LE: Let's talk about this in private at the police station, you might want to bring your lawyer.

LE has, without any shadow of a doubt, asked those questions and looked at those phones. But telling the truth about this also does not preclude the SIL or others from being guilty. What does support their alibi might be: their phone and their movement/activity that night. There is all sorts of data we aren't privy to- location data (my Apple watch would tell them when I was asleep and if I got up in the middle of the night, then there is video from the circle K that is at the outlet of their street etc..). LE has all of this, and is likely discussing the investigation with SG, who is a lawyer, and a journalist. And yet- she is still staying with her sister at her house (at least as of yesterday, I posted a link upthread) and holding her hand during videos. This is incongruous to the family thinking the SIL is involved.

-Yes the police have to verify the call actually took place.
-And if the church lady does exist, she has to be ruled out as an accomplice or perpetrator. Maybe she was not really a church lady.
-If the call did take place, it still does not exonerate the SIL. The call could have been a monkey wrench in the cover up plan. It forced a 911 call much sooner than planned.

 

[Sadi]

I thought she had a hearing aide that suggests she might not have heard a bell. My amateur guess is that she was attacked in her bed.

Amateur opinion and speculation only

I think this too, she was attacked and when she was removed from her home, she was no longer living.

 

[Trino]

I thought she had a hearing aide that suggests she might not have heard a bell. My amateur guess is that she was attacked in her bed.

Amateur opinion and speculation only

Maybe, but elderly persons often don't completely sleep through the night. I would say nightly they get up to use the bathroom, often stay up a bit.

 

[Inthedetails]

She was driven home; for whatever reason she was already bleeding or started to bleed leaving the vehicle, innocently or not.

But how does that tie in with the garage door opening?

Not knocking the theory, just trying to place it in the timeline of known events.

 

[LAborn]

And I sort wish they would put up tents and/or screens while they worked to keep the news out of the way. Of course, I find the drone footage interesting but I also feel yucky that the crime scene is exposed while they work. I know they can't tent the whole yard, but at least sections where they are working.

I want to be wrong and that in the end we'll all be impressed eventually.

jmo

Good point, why not put up a tent?!? They know how high profile this case is, have some discretion. It just seems everyday they are proving how bungling they are. I mean, anyone could go to the store and get cameras to place down there on those long sticks. Even if they didn't have the equipment on hand. I thought of that with zero experience. Yes, I'm hoping we're all proved wrong and they have been cracker jack the entire time.

 

[korncrasy]

This door looks like it would be heavy and APITA to unlock.

Were all the locks on those doors still locked when LE arrived?
Also, when my camera needs charging I bring it in.Did NG bring the doorbell in because the batteries were dead and discovered the entire thing needed replacing and tossed it.
The blood on the walkway could be from her fidgeting with it and getting hurt.My husband bleeds doing everything.

 

[rosesfromangels]

And I sort wish they would put up tents and/or screens while they worked to keep the news out of the way. Of course, I find the drone footage interesting but I also feel yucky that the crime scene is exposed while they work. I know they can't tent the whole yard, but at least sections where they are working.

I want to be wrong and that in the end we'll all be impressed eventually.

jmo

I’m with ya. There are people genuinely interested from a forensics perspective, and then there are ghouls. I find the latter despicable.

Amateur opinion and speculation only

 

[Trino]

Must take into consideration also that there are no footprints in the blood which falls within the walking path...

No footprints to smear the blood is definitely strange. And, was there blood to the septic tank?

 

[Ashley74]

Found this interesting. Think this points to the ransom being written by someone outside the country.


“But some experts remain wary of the ransom note, which specified that the payment be made in the equivalent of US dollars, which some said could indicate the sender was not in America — and could be someone trying to scam the Guthries out of millions as they search for their mother.”

“If you’re domestic, why would you ever put ‘USD?’ You put 6 million,” former FBI agent Michael Harrigan told The Post.”

The tiny detail in the Nancy Guthrie ransom note that makes FBI experts think the writers aren’t even in US

 

[tkcrockett]

May I pose a question?

From what I saw, and I may be mistaken, the door had a metal gate. Where I am from, we have the metal gate for security reasons, and if we answer the door we usually stand behind it and look around to see who is ringing.

Now, and bear with as I am slow in the mornings (and not much faster the rest of the day), the doorbell camera lets you know who it is, and you go to open IF you recognize the person, ESPECIALLY late at night.

My point, and I do have one if you give me a moment to get to it, is that if NG went to the door, she KNEW who it was. If she didn't and she opened, she did it cautiously (one hopes), and the metal gate would be (again, one hopes) locked. It will, as is the case with storm doors, open out towards the porch, and she would have been behind the door that opens IN towards the house.

This scenario would indicate that, if she indeed opened the front door, she knew the person who rang, and was welcoming them into the house. Forcing their way in would require a key for the gate, and if they have a key for the gate, WHY RING?

Again, my own thoughts, and I meander, but I grew up in a household of old people (raising me as a child) and we had gates and doors, and old people habits (which I now obviously exercise in an age-appropriate manner.)

Oh, and we have solar powered security cameras that announce people on the driveway, the walkway to our door, our porch, our side gate and our back door...unless we are expecting someone, or recognize who is on our property, we do not open.

My own opinions and thoughts and it's time for a second cup of coffee so forgive me if I've been nonsensical.

if she opened the door from inside, why go outside? If she went outside to open the door wide to let someone in, isn't the blood on the wrong side of the mat? The way the blood appears, she would have stood right in the way of anyone intending to enter. I also need more coffee!

 

[rosesfromangels]

I think this too, she was attacked and when she was removed from her home, she was no longer living.

I think there is a strong possibility that you are right. She was in fragile health to begin with.

Amateur opinion and speculation only