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

[Chimera]

What does make sense is the SIL. He was with her that night. Dropped her off. I think there is a strong possibility he discussed $$$ with her. She said no to his request. He dropped her off. Stewed about it for a few hours. Maybe had some drinks. Went back to her place to try and change her mind and things got out of control. Or he could even have went back to her place later on to end her so that he and his wife would get their share of the inheritance. To me that makes the most sense to me, and the simplest explanation.

The ransom is either him trying to buy time and give a fake narrative of what happened, or just some idiots who are trying to take advantage of the situation.

Snipped for focus.

Often the simplest explanation is the correct one.
Agreed regarding the opinion of the ransom requests, too.
LE are most likely building a case and that can take time ?
Imo.

 

[ab01]

What if LE didn't put the contact from the church friend on the timeline because that contact and the family beginning to look for Nancy is the exact same time????

I have actually wondered about that

 

[whitelilac]

Every morning when I get up, after the previous night’s imagination and thoughts being on overdrive with crazy scenarios that are fitting for a Harlan Coben thriller, I’m back to thinking this is less complicated than appears to be. That NG was attacked and taken away by unknown persons connected to her, (or not), and that this whole ransom business is a separate opportunistic hoax by a sophisticated scammer. Or, a deflection scheme by the person (s) involved. But at this time I lean to the former as I honestly don’t see a family member having the wherewithal nor the tech knowledge nor the means now while being under likely surveillance to carry out these untraceable ransom notes.

However, with each more straightforward scenario, there’s something else that throws a wrench into the operation…eg the missing church friend communication. Now if something did happen within the family, that’s a possibility I can see, we really don’t know the dynamics or personal issues, financial or otherwise.

 

[Tillicum]

Is this something between Savannah and the person who is sending the ransom notes?

It really makes you question everything. Like is there more to the added security measures NBC is taking with other employees? Is there something more specific behind their precautions?

 

[Sundog]

I don't think most on this board understand how difficult it is to do what the kidnapper has done.

A simple VPN works by routing your internet traffic from your browser or email app to a private server, that server then uses a different IP address, or rotating IP addresses to mask your traffic to the recipient. But that transaction is stored at the VPN's servers. Some VPNs will send your traffic through multiple servers this way to further wash the trail. In the US, VPN providers must keep a user log so you will be traceable. What the kidnapper has done must be very sophisticated and to me indicates a professional hacker or group that took advantage of the situation to try and make some money.

In an interview posted upthread with a former FBI agent, he stated that the ransom note writer's use of VPN could involve thousands of servers and although it would be possible to track each one of them, think of the time involved. So pretty much impossible to do in any reasonable time frame. And if part of the traffic goes through a server in a country that doesn't cooperate with the U.S. in a timely manner, or at all, then that complicates it even more. JMO on watching the interview posted here somewhere upthread.

 

[Van Helsing]

You must know cartels are not all from South America?
We are talking about Americans committing this crime. Maybe your own neighbor is one of them. Cartels are everywhere.

As in my example.
It's fictional, but the series "Bosch" clearly illustrates foreign cartels other than from the Americas.

 

[Napoli]

• Saturday at 8:53 AM

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• #8,589

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).

Maureen probably read it here!

 

[wibbleflea]

The call referenced on this complaint refers to HIS call demanding ransom.
I don't see anything referring to a call reporting her non-attendance of church.
What do you see that I'm missing?

https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/media/1426976/dl?inline

"On the morning of February 1, 2026, a friend of N.G.'s contacted the victim's family and notified them that N.G. had not attended church that morning."

 

[LAborn]

Retired FBI special agent on Hidden Killers says, "Culprit someone who had access to Nancy's house in the last 6 months or year at the longest. Not a family member." He completely dispelled the notion it was AG or SIL. He thinks it was a home invasion gone wrong. And they are likely examining all the people who may have been contracted for work, and all their contacts. Then see about home invasions in that area.

 

[txsleuth70]

Oh wow. It never occurred to me that we might actually know if payment was made.

Normally we have no idea in that regard, but this is being done in a way that the outlets who received the communications would be able to track.

Hmm, maybe they aren't going to pay it after all. Perhaps they know she's deceased, have stated they will pay for return of body, but it's just a ploy to buy LE time to apprehend. Gut wrenching either way for them. Hoping for the opposite.

 

[birdbox]

Bitcoin transactions are publicly visible on the blockchain. This is the entire premise of bitcoin (but to reiterate, there is no personal information associated at this point). There are multiple websites that let you explore the blockchain and look at transactions. For example, Blockchain Explorer - Bitcoin Tracker & More | Blockchain.com

If we had the bitcoin address in the ransom note, we could confirm this ourselves.

Yes,LE

MAYBE THE CHURCH FRIEND IS THE PERP! TRY THAT OUT FOR A TWIST!!!!!!

New level of case insanity unlocked.

 

[LMDlong]

I read somewhere that the front door was locked, but that the back door was wide open.

I wish we knew when and who went to check on NG that Sunday morning, what door was entered and if it was unlocked , if so was that normal for her ?
I haven’t seen anything about this, but it could be part of the investigation that needs to be kept confidential because of future court cases.

 

[arielilane]

I’m not sure when this camera overlooking Nancy Guthrie’s driveway was removed, but it’s not there right now.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2020883028269293587

 

[DS2021]

MAYBE THE CHURCH FRIEND IS THE PERP! TRY THAT OUT FOR A TWIST!!!!!!

This isn't a james Patterson novel. This is real. You can't just blindly accuse someone of murder w no evidence

 

[303gmf]

I'm sure it's a thought because of geographical location, proximity to the border.

At the risk of an off topic post, cartel blame was bandied about in the Rhoden murders in Ohio as well

 

[turaj]

Link?

sprinkler head broken

 

[AZLocal]

I had to look up javelinas. Would they not eat bodies that are dumped in the desert?

Also, I am thinking if NG was killed (accidentally or not) by family, would the ‘kidnapping’ be a means of getting a (decomposing) body back to the rest of the family for burial? So sorry that I am even using these words that may be read by the many people who loved NG.

More likely to be coyotes in this awful scenario.

 

[Fargo]

The call referenced on this complaint refers to HIS call demanding ransom.
I don't see anything referring to a call reporting her non-attendance of church.
What do you see that I'm missing?

I believe this is what people are talking about. The family was contacted by a friend when Ms Guthrie was missed at church that morning. https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/media/1426976/dl?inline

 

[Megnut]

If the ransomers are independent of the crime-sceners, the ransomers got really lucky that the crime scene is not inconsistent with a kidnapping, that there was apparently no proof of death at the home AND neither NG nor her body have turned up this whole time. Ransomers IMO seem pretty confident that they had a whole week+ to extort money from the family with no risk of a discovery (NG/body) defeating their threat.

JMO

 

[tlcya]

The call referenced on this complaint refers to HIS call demanding ransom.
I don't see anything referring to a call reporting her non-attendance of church.
What do you see that I'm missing?

the info about church friend contacting family is on page two of that document. Not the snipped portion of the complaint that is featured in the member's post. here's the portion that mentions church friend:

Hoax ransom Complaint doc