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

[stmichael]

TMZ and the local station both reported that the note stated "the final deadline to pay the alleged ransom in the kidnapping expires at 5 PM Arizona time today."

Savannah Guthrie Believes Mother Nancy Is Still Alive, 'We Need Your Help'

Savannah Guthrie and her family are not giving up hope Nancy Guthrie is alive ... but she's desperately asking for the public's help in locating their mother.

www.tmz.com

What's interesting is that the original Tuscon KGUN9 leak also said they implicitly said in the note that NG's "life is in peril" if the deadline is not met. I haven't seen that really take off in the media but it's a noteworthy condition.

One mil hostage negotiator talked on how this isn't set in stone that he dealt with hardened ISIS kidnappers and they moved deadlines all the time, but we really know so little about these "ransom notes" in the media and many experts are dubious.

 

[RayVon]

And why the sudden appeal to the public a week later? I know she will be under enormous stress, but something in her tone and approach seems a little more upbeat in this latest video?

Desperation.

 

[Vegasgrl]

Transcript:

"Hi there everybody. Um, I wanted to come on and just share a few thoughts as we enter into another week of this nightmare. Um, I just want to say first of all thank you so much for all of the prayers and the love that we have felt, my sister and brother and I. And that our mom has felt. Because we believe that somehow, some way she is feeling these prayers and that God is lifting her even in this moment and in this darkest place.

We believe our mom is still out there. We need your help. Law enforcement is working tirelessly, around the clock, trying to bring her home, trying to find her. She was taken and we don't know where. And we need your help. So I'm coming on just to ask you not just for your prayers but no matter where you are, even if you're far from Tucson, if you see anything, if you hear anything, if there's anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement. We are at an hour of desperation. And we need your help."

So that’s why the billboards are still going up.

 

[EncyclopediaBrownJr]

I think if you wanted to go down this path, the way I would start is by taking a look at the Pima County Assessor website. Check into who has viewed the records for NG's house in the last 3-6 months. That should be a very small number (for a random house, I would guess zero, or a single digit number — maybe a few more in this case because of her relation to a high profile person). I don't think it's incredibly likely that the perps here would have looked that up; even if they were doing some serious planning, I think they could get most of what they need from Google Maps and Earth. But it's at least something to look into, if you do suspect that it was carefully planned. And I think it's more tractable than going through the hundreds of billions of searches Google does in a week (let alone two months).

Yeah this is interesting stuff. This is next level crime solving tactics for sure.

 

[HoveringWombats]

Artificial intelligence experts work with cops to find clues in Nancy Guthrie ransom note

Sources told The Times the ransom note felt credible because it included details about a specific damaged piece of property and the placement of an accessory in the home. The Times has not reviewed the note, but sources with knowledge of the investigation said it sought $6 million.

www.latimes.com

New article on LE using AI on ransom note. Does anyone have access to article, who is a subscriber?

There's really not a lot of detail in the article. It just says that they're working with "AI experts" to determine the validity and origin of the messages.

"For decades, FBI profiles and veteran detectives parsed the grammar and syntax of ransom notes looking for clues that could reveal someone’s education level or socioeconomic background, among other details. Now, such messages can be written by AI, eliminating a writer’s signature voice. Adding to the issues in the case, the kidnappers are asking for money using cryptocurrency, which is much harder to track than the money drops of years past."

(Hopefully quoting a small snippet of a paywalled article is allowed. Please delete if not.)

 

[mikeshanty]

Maybe Savannah gave the FBI access to her Instagram and they are posting for her, therefore typing differently than she does? Also so they can monitor if she’s getting any strange messages possibly from the perp? Or maybe she really is typing in lowercase herself to appeal to the perp based on the notes they’ve received

Her Instagram is absolutely being monitored by the FBI. Instagram have an arrangement with federal LE for this specific purpose. But I don't know if the FBI would be drafting her captions.

 

[Napoli]

She's taking her power back and not letting them have the control?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Perhaps you have never heard of Israel Keyes:

Keyes's last confirmed victim was 18-year-old Samantha Tessla Koenig, a coffee booth employee in Anchorage, Alaska. Keyes kidnapped Koenig from her workplace on February 1, 2012, took her debit card and other property, then raped and sodomized her, before strangling her to death with a rope.

He left her body in a shed in his backyard and went to New Orleans, where he departed on a pre-booked two-week cruise with his family in the Gulf of Mexico. When he returned to Anchorage on February 18, he sexually assaulted Koenig's body. Keyes then removed Koenig's body from the shed, applied makeup to the corpse's face, and sewed her eyes open with fishing line. He took a picture of a four-day-old issue of the Anchorage Daily News alongside her body, posed to appear that she was still alive.

After demanding $30,000 in ransom, some of which was paid into Koenig's bank account, Keyes dismembered Koenig's body and disposed of it in Matanuska Lake, north of Anchorage.

Israel Keyes - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

oh god, I had actually forgotten how young this evil guy was!
Yuck.

 

[C Auguste Dupin]

I'm wondering how this squares with their last message of "we will pay" ? Like, did they ?

I'm thinking back to the kidnapping of Julio Iglesias Sr by the ETA back in the 1980's. His son, the famous singer, stayed engaged, promising to pay, willing to pay, eager to pay.

They wanted about $2million. (Ironically that would be about $6million today.) But after 20 days of talking back and forth with deadlines, extensions, "raising money," etc., the Spanish Anti-terrorist unit in a surprise pre dawn raid raided the holding area and freed him unharmed.

I think that keeping the ETA talking and hopeful was part of what made success possible.

I, of course, hope that similar mechanicians are at work here.

 

[Diddian]

Everyone is focused on the deadline tonight, and previous videos have focused on just that (ransom). This seems like a pivot, attempting to rally the public to help resolve this. I think what's done is done in that regard, and now it's time to focus on other avenues.

It'll be interesting to see if any payment is in fact made today.

I agree this is an attempt to rally the public to help resolve this.

IF ANYONE has seen anything that might lead to the discovery of NG's location, SG is asking them to report such to LE and let LE sort the tips out.

Examples:
Any oddities seen Saturday night/early Sunday morning (Jan 31/Feb 1) in the few mile vicinity of NG's or AG's home. Unusual vehicles. Erratic driving. Driving without lights on.

Vehicles pulled over or people seen unexpectedly around some place that a body could be permanently hidden/dumped.

Presence of strangers in unoccupied homes or at unoccupied properties.

Vehicles pulled over at unusual locations alongside roadways where a body might be dumped down a steep roadside, or near trailers or railway cars that have been sitting in place for long periods of time, etc.

Changes in behavior of relatives, associates, or others that might indicate they have been "off" or "stressed" or "disassociated" since February 1.

Associates or relatives or service personnel who unexpectedly changed their plans with you after Feb 1.

 

[mikeshanty]

Genuine question - how would NG be alive by now if it has been documented in a legal filing that her medication was left in her home and the sheriff was on record saying she needs vital medication or else her conditions becomes fatal within 24 hours?

 

[wibbleflea]

There's really not a lot of detail in the article. It just says that they're working with "AI experts" to determine the validity and origin of the messages.

"For decades, FBI profiles and veteran detectives parsed the grammar and syntax of ransom notes looking for clues that could reveal someone’s education level or socioeconomic background, among other details. Now, such messages can be written by AI, eliminating a writer’s signature voice. Adding to the issues in the case, the kidnappers are asking for money using cryptocurrency, which is much harder to track than the money drops of years past."

(Hopefully quoting a small snippet of a paywalled article is allowed. Please delete if not.)

I was just about to post the same thing. You'd have expected more detail following that paragraph but that and the headline are alll we got.

It repeats the ransom deadlines, and the $6m demand. It suggests that experts found the note credible because it specified the location of the what they describe as an “accessory” (Apple Watch, judging from previous reports, though that’s not specified in this one) and the damage (presumably rear floodlights).

 

[abanddb123]

Ay yi yi. I have like 30 pages I missed in just a couple hours and this has turned to chaos that's VERY hard to navigate through. I am a new poster but "long time lurker", but I'm getting burnt out on things like ChatGPT telling us it's theories on what happened.

I said very, very early on I believed it was potentially a home invasion gone wrong but was sort of dismissed because the focus was all on SIL. The more the police sorta botched things, the more attention and suspicion landed on SIL.

Police arrived to a scene that apparently quickly indicated foul play, as they began with searches and the homicide team was called in which is NOT the norm when someone is reported missing. Something about that scene indicated there was a serious problem. BBC - Timeline of events EARLY in investigation

As with child abductions (& other disappearances), time is extremely important with senior citizens disappearances. I don't know how the sheriffs department will ultimately really answer for their repeated dropped balls, but this is a level of dropping the ball I don't remember seeing since the JonBenet screw ups.

I don't know what to make of the newest video. This is just an absolute cluster muck of a case at this point.

I sooooooo agree!!!!!!!! How can we discuss and communicate when it's hard to navigate.

 

[Lovecats]

Fair enough. If she thinks SIL could be involved, maybe appealing to a possible accomplice then? Idk what to think.

Never thought of that. In one of the videos the family made SG said “ we understand” maybe meaning we know what happened (SIL involvement) and “we will pay” meaning giving up the info will get the accomplice some money. Seems farfetched but just thinking out loud

 

[Diddian]

someone ease guide me on how to speak to a mod, thanks

Hit the report button and when the text box comes up, type your message to them. They will see it.

 

[Melisende10]

Sorry if this has already been asked. Can someone with Bitcoin knowledge confirm that Bitcoin accounts / wallets are publicly accessible to view? It is being reported that the Bitcoin account still has a $0 balance but i'm not understanding how anyone even if they have the account / wallet number could see the balance. I know absolutely nothing about Bitcoin

Yes. You can just google bitcoin address lookup. Anyone can look up a bitcoin address balance if they have the address. It is not like a bank account where only the account holder can see. Anyone can see your balance but again you have to actually have the full bitcoin address. You can also see all transactions of money in and out.

 

[tbgo]

I could still see it being someone who is obsessed with/wants attention from/wants to hurt or inflict pain on SG. They are local to Tucson and can't reach SG in New York, so they decide to target her family. Maybe they've been stalking both her sister and her mother for a while now. They pick last weekend ahead of SG leaving for Italy and abduct NG.

Sending ransom notes to TMZ ensures maximum publicity of SG's pain. If they really wanted money, they would've contacted her privately and told her not to involve LE. But the way they went about it (TMZ and two local stations) feels like the person wants attention that they can watch on TV and they also want SG to make videos pleading for them to let NG go. It's not really about money--its about spectacle and control and inflicting pain on a person they've become fixated on (the reason could be quasi-political, romantic, or some kind of delusion we couldn't guess).

Interesting theory. The person would have to be a loner though. I mean, if they had people in their life I think those people would have picked up on something. Transporting a dead body or holding it is not something most people can do without someone noticing. The more people involved the more likely it is for someone to crack or start running their mouth.

 

[mikeshanty]

Did anyone else clock the "hour of desperation" remark in the video? Could be read literally given the timing?

 

[K.jill]

Maybe Savannah is thinking abductor will drop off her mom in another state and wants people in all of the states to be on the lookout for her mom.

 

[maskedwoman]

Sorry if this has already been asked. Can someone with Bitcoin knowledge confirm that Bitcoin accounts / wallets are publicly accessible to view? It is being reported that the Bitcoin account still has a $0 balance but i'm not understanding how anyone even if they have the account / wallet number could see the balance. I know absolutely nothing about Bitcoin

If you know how, yes. Apparently any address created remains valid. Since TMZ had one, they can still look at the wallet, even if another address is used to make a deposit. I feel so hip now!