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

[Trino]

Why would a kidnapper/burglar knock on the door in the middle of the night?

NG was comfortable in her home. Probably no criminal problems in the area. Cameras. Family nearby. Guesses are she was over-confident, never considered she could be harmed.

 

[smileyface516]

The Church call should be looked into. Unless NG never missed a day and had a dear friend at Church who would immediately notice she didn’t come and called her back, and after she didn’t pick up, panicked and called AG. Possible but pretty far-fetched. What was the outcome of that call? They discovered that NG was gone without much delay. I can’t imagine that would have benefited a random stranger. But it gave AG and SIL valid reason to enter the premises, potentially before any household help showed up at NG’s. So either the call was genuine or it is related to AG/SIL. MOO

I think the church call has been looked into and that's why it's not showing up on the timeline anymore.

 

[tkcrockett]

Was there sputum in it?I don’t think it was a spray,just droplets as if falling straight down.A bloody ,dripping nose would do this.I don’t think she stood there for long.Hit and carried or pulled inside as she was starting to re-enter.

here is where I saw the sputum info...

• Saturday at 8:53 AM

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I agree they appear to be passive blood drops as she stood at the front door area bleeding. There is what appears to me to be a projected/impact spatter to the right of the mat - meaning a force coming in to contact with an already actively bleeding source. Although, it is possible that it could be aspirated blood from a couch or sneeze while actively bleeding. Hopefully LE tested that area to determine if there was air/mucus mixed in with the blood. Poor Nancy.

Yesterday on her podcast, The Nerve, Maureen Callahan was discussing Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance with Ashleigh Banfield.

Maureen said she read that the blood drops on the porch had been tested and the blood came from Nancy. Also that there was sputum mixed with it, that suggested it had come from her mouth or nose (as opposed to a cut on her arm, say).

 

[Curiousobserver]

No Suspects, No POI, No Suspect vehicles in this case...

Pattern of activity suggests they are desperate for leads and keep coming back to look under every carpet, behind every bush

Search of AG home was with consent.

 

[maskedwoman]

While its a little quiet in here, for those who are adamant the one/s who wrote the ransom notes are the same one/s who kidnapped Nancy, what is your reasoning?

And for those who believe the ransom note writer/s are not the same as those responsible for what happened to Nancy, what are your reasons for thinking this?

And for those who are on the fence, what are your reasons, what is it that is making it difficult to lean one way or the other?

(we don't have all the evidence and information from the investigation, so noone can really know right now what LE know, but just thought it would be interesting to review where we are all at and why)

I believe the person who wrote the "real" ransom notes are the same ones responsible for Nancy being missing, for the simple reason they know things about the house that real strangers would not know. I also don't think whatever happened began as a ransom plot.

Becoming a kidnap victim in the United States because of a high profile family member is so rare I couldn't find statistics about it. There are a only a few examples that go back decades. I excluded Getty, since he was kidnapped in Rome. Sinatra Jr's kidnapping was not done by strangers. It was actually pretty nuts. That leaves 2: Lindbergh and Hearst. Lindbergh was for money. Hearst was some attempt to start a revolution against the government. The rest of the high profile cases are really normal people abducted by strangers who didn't ask for money. So, until there is compelling evidence proving kidnappers exist, I'm comfortable ruling that out.

The elderly are almost twice as likely to be killed in their homes than younger people, but they are still 75%+ killed by people they know.

Statistically, I just think it is a lot more likely that Nancy was either deliberately or accidentally killed by someone she knew rather than dying after being kidnapped by strangers. I also believe that the ransom plot bloomed out of her death, because they were desperate to send the investigation off looking for strangers and not at them. The ransom letter came much later than the experts think it should have, and I think that's the reason.

Who is them? Hopefully, we are going to find out sooner rather than later.

Jeanne

 

[LAborn]

NG was comfortable in her home. Probably no criminal problems in the area. Cameras. Family nearby. Guesses are she was over-confident, never considered she could be harmed.

My point is no criminal is going to knock on the front door in the middle of the night and expect an answer. LOL

 

[Sakura2Sophia4Lucia]

i THINK THE SPUTUM PART WAS SOMEONE HERE SPECULATNG. I CANNOT FIND ANYWHERE THAT THE BLOOD DNA WAS MIXED WITH SPUTUM.

Somebody upthread posted a link to a ex-FBI or LE person with expertise with blood and sputum, and that person spoke confidently about some of the blood being sputum. There was a discussion last night on this forum with the link, too.

Another poster posted recently that there is somewhere on this website where we can put a word or words such as "Sputum" and look at posts mentioning that word.

 

[missy1974]

Good idea! Maybe to throw off investigators.
USD is usually $ in US
€ for Euros

I'm in Canada, we also us $ but there is a HUGE difference in the value of the currency... believe me LOL

using specific currencies like USD is normal when talking in crypto IMO

 

[jillybean51]

Is there solid evidence that she was dropped off at home just before 10pm? Is it possible she was actually dropped off earlier, and whatever happened happened earlier, and the activity around 2am was actually "clearing up"? JMO

Her pacemaker didn’t disconnect until 2

 

[MerlinFalcon]

blood scenario is plausible except it was said upthread that the blood had sputum in it...had to cough/sneeze/spit.

Was that reported? I hadn’t seen it. She could have had a nosebleed, bent over to get the flowers or package and coughed or sneezed it out.

 

[Bbgiraffe]

This is all just my opinion but I have been following this and I think the ransom is a ruse. I think it is something to try and throw off investigators. In a lot of cases suspects come up with elaborate stories and elaborate plans to try and cover something up but eventually it all comes out.

So maybe the person who perpetrated this crime has sent these ransom demands to make it seem like someone else is behind it.

If the ransom note was not in the equation and we were just looking at the investigative activity we have seen so far with the locations searched, despite LE not naming any POI, I would have my suspicions on who may be involved.

 

[DS2021]

blood scenario is plausible except it was said upthread that the blood had sputum in it...had to cough/sneeze/spit.

I don't remember that being specified officially. I think it was just an assumption

 

[MerlinFalcon]

the cutup foliage might have just blown in from yard...entryway acting like a "catch-all" like mine does. Since there are no footsteps, perhaps she tried to exit the home and she was pulled back in. Not sure how much blood was found inside...

There is bird poop on the porch as well. Maybe birds nested above the porch area and bits of foliage fell out.

 

[SaraSmile]

I have a question which may have been discussed here already. You all know how it is with such a fast moving thread… is the ransom supposed to be paid today? SG said “We will pay.” I don’t know if to assume that meant on time, or early even. If they came to that decision, I was thinking they’d pay sooner in order to their mom back (hopefully) earlier the better. Or was it a message that we are working on it and will pay. Be patient with us and our mother.

JMO
They are stretching out when the ransom payment will be paid( maybe never). LE believe NG is no longer alive, no rush to pay, and ransom may be a scam.
Looking for NG body in septic tank. Other nearby hiding spots( grid search)

 

[Deleted member 117884]

Why would a kidnapper/burglar knock on the door in the middle of the night?

No, I don't think anyone knocked. I get package notifications without the delivery person ever knocking. At least where I live, deliveries are left at the door and I get a photo of the package. Then I open the door.

It's just an idea to make sense of the blood in that spot.

jmo

 

[Trino]

I wondered if heat seeking equipment was used. Maybe find her nearby, early on that way. If she was driven out of town to desert, too vast to check out there.
JMO

Definitely the desert should be a consideration but 100,000 sq miles. No idea where to look. She would not be alive.

 

[judithannegg]

Just now, I took a photo of a televised CNN story on the Guthrie disappearance: This is my photo.

View attachment 642929
Please note that there is no mention of the “11:00 am phone call from church member”

I noticed the same thing! My theory has always been that she was dumped in the desert not too far away. Not too far because abductor wants her to be found so that inheritance can be given quickly. Back door was left open to give implication that she wandered away. (We have yet to see any boots on the ground doing searches besides her yard, just aerial searches.) But maybe the "church" phone call was a quick ruse to get family member to call 911, but didn't really think about the fact that LE would ask for evidence of the phone call, so even though it was initially reported, since then has LE mentioned that call or has it just been repeated in the media and on social websites?

 

[LAborn]

Is there solid evidence that she was dropped off at home just before 10pm? Is it possible she was actually dropped off earlier, and whatever happened happened earlier, and the activity around 2am was actually "clearing up"? JMO

They know when the Uber dropped her off at AG for dinner and games, and more than likely the drop off back at her house is verified by electronics (the garage door opening, AG, maybe even AG car electronics).

 

[swanniee11]

But what prompted AG to go to NGs house?

Maybe AG who has been taking care of NG tried to call to check in on her that morning and no response so they went to check on her. IMO. Just a thought.

 

[Sadi]

Is there solid evidence that she was dropped off at home just before 10pm? Is it possible she was actually dropped off earlier, and whatever happened happened earlier, and the activity around 2am was actually "clearing up"? JMO

Her pacemaker activity would show that, correct? Is it paired to her Apple Watch only for tracking/messaging her medical team? Someone else could have just opened her garage door and close it too I suppose. The sheriff stated she did not walk out of her house herself and would have been carried out. She weights 150, so either the person is very strong or there are two people involved. The house viewed as a crime scene right away, was it due to blood inside? Damage? The door kicked in? The 911 call would be interesting to hear what was said and who made that call.