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

[SMK777]

This is a really crazy thought but i hope they searched the guest house. I just remember JBR and them.not opening the door to check the little room and that's where she was found.

I didn't realize there was a separate guest house on the property. It would be really remiss not to search it.

 

[mysteriousways26]

Apologies if this has already been posted, I cannot keep up with this thread.

Link to Article referenced in attached screenshot from True Crime Society’s Instagram Story

 

[submarine7]

I watched that interview and felt that retired FBI agent was either out of his depth or not up to speed on the case. For one, he said sealed warrants would still be viewable as in existence in court records to the public/reporters when they are most definitely, definitely not.

They are once they are executed.

 

[TKG]

I didn't realize there was a separate guest house on the property. It would be really remiss not to search it.

Yes and there are TWO septic systems on the property.

 

[dogmom805]

dbm

 

[ab01]

They are once they are executed.

Search warrants are not always immediately released or unsealed after execution. While law enforcement must return the warrant to a court, often listing seized items, the supporting affidavit (detailing the probable cause) is frequently sealed to protect ongoing investigations
. Unsealing usually requires a formal motion.

Key details regarding the release of search warrants:

• Return Requirements: Following execution, officers must return the warrant, typically with an inventory of property taken, to a magistrate.
• Sealing and Privacy: Warrants and affidavits can remain sealed for extended periods if disclosing them would jeopardize an investigation.
• Access: Access to the documents is generally restricted until charges are filed or the investigation is complete.

 

[wibbleflea]

Many including LE experts believe it was the person/s intentions to play this out in the media, perhaps to inflict further distress. Those experts also point out this is very atypical and counterproductive for usual ransoms involving professional criminals (who quietly just want the money without heat on them).

Highly probable. It doesn’t play well as a ransom. The perp has recklessly reduced his chances of a payout.

It could be that a kidnap was never intended, but the tech sophistication seems a bit much for a robber – the use of anonymizers/VPNs, familiarity with (I presume) cold crypto wallets, and enough familiarity with tracking to know that NG’s watch and phone had to be left behind.

Assuming NG was really abducted from the house, I wonder if the perp may have been tech-savvy enough to have carried no networked devices at all, so a geofence or cellular dump wouldn’t work.

Would be good to know who fitted all the security devices to NG’s house. And whether the smashing of the lighting over the back yard would have been heard by the neighbours when it was quiet.

 

[SMK777]

Yes and there are TWO septic systems on the property.

Were they searching them yesterday? And why so late, as they suspected homicide from the beginning?

 

[Cindizzi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2021089000300143073

https://twitter.com/x/status/2021051913001894182

 

[Bodhi]

Eh. The thing with a search warrant is you have to have probable cause to get one. It’s one thing if the house the crime was committed in was the same one the suspect lived at - you have probable cause for days to secure a warrant in that case. Wanting to search a family member’s house for thoroughness does not meet the threshold. They have to use consent searches initially, unless they have specific reason to believe there is a likely chance they’ll find evidence of the crime at that location.

Consent to searches hold up in court just fine. Is it better to have a warrant? Sure. Is a consent search better than no search? Also yes.

JMO

Right. I was explaining that consent warrant confuses consent searches and warrants.

I realize an application for a judicial search warrant must document probable cause, where LE will search, and what they expect to find. If granted, the judicial warrant sets the parameters of a lawful search of private property.

We're all eager for resolution, so we are inclined to view searches from the investigators' standpoint. We want LE to get in there and solve crimes. But the standards required for a judicial warrant in the United States are front and center today. The threshold required for judicial search warrants protect us all from unreasonable search and seizure.

 

[agilbe]

This is a really crazy thought but i hope they searched the guest house. I just remember JBR and them.not opening the door to check the little room and that's where she was found.

i have wondered the same. But then I think the dogs would have probably picked up her scent.

 

[truecrimel]

After the deadline has come and gone, here’s what I think about the ransom atp:

There was something in those letters that not only was convincing enough for the family, but for investigators to take seriously. IF we are to assume HL is correct about the notes having information pertaining to the watch’s location, the investigators could’ve immediately ruled it out as a hoax, but they didn’t. In fact, they went back to the scene multiple times in what can only be assumed an effort to confirm details from the notes. And those who have read the notes and given interviews also seem to think there’s some legitimacy there.

Additionally, in order for the sender of the notes to remain anonymous for this long requires extensive knowledge of cloaking software and VPNs. If this was a hoax, some wacko exploiting it (like the guy who was arrested), the FBI would’ve been able to track it no problem. So whoever sent this would’ve had to know details from the crime scene and be technologically savvy enough to evade detection from even government agencies.

The first note came in Monday to media (we don’t know if there was other communication to LE or family prior). Ransom demands are usually instant, so waiting 24 hours+ to send it is very odd. However off it is to me though, it seems entirely too convenient IMO for a scammer who’s that technologically capable to insert themselves that early into a case just starting to break. They’d really have to be betting on the case being difficult to solve and their own capabilities on the fly upon seeing the early news reports.

I’m at the point where it is either someone from another country completely uninvolved, exploiting this case after hacking into the crime scene photos somehow - OR - it is someone with some actual involvement in what happened to Nancy.

Overall I am overwhelmingly confused by this case. Typically I have a theory, but there’s a million avenues this case could go and each direction is different from the last. I can’t imagine what the Guthrie family is dealing with right now, how they could possibly be feeling. Whether the ransom note is tied to what happened to Nancy or not, two unbelievably cruel crimes have been committed against this family: the disappearance of their beloved mother and exploitation of their pain to the tune of $6M. Just horrific.

All JMO of course.

 

[ab01]

Huh. IMO this would explain the additional searches that were done at NG’s & AG’s. It always seemed to me like someone was running down a checklist saying, “ok did you do this? Ok, how about this? No?? Well go do it! Ok great job. Now how about this? No??? Well go do that too!” Maybe the additional searches that some of us were surprised weren’t done initially was because it took awhile for the FBI to get in there and make sure all investigative leads were done.

Which makes the removal of the cameras on the guest house even more troubling. I'm pretty certain it was the FBI that did that. Which I believe happened 4 days after Local LE had already released the crime scene. (face palm)

 

[tbgo]

The ransom note came, what, three days later? You know who would know where specific things were found in the house? Law enforcement. Detectives. Who knows if any of them ran their mouths and someone is trying to cash in with a fake ransom. The police seem to be in over their heads and making a lot of mistakes. Who knows if they let some info slip out. They could have said to someone (family, friends) without thinking where they found her watch. I don’t get the feeling that they’re doing things by the book. A lot of mistakes.

 

[airportwoman]

I don’t understand why the FBI is involved. They think this is an interstate or national level case because it is the mother of a TV host? It seems like if this is going to drag on for months, they have to justify why federal taxpayers have to pay for this long investigation when so many benefits have been cut for the common man. They should probably trust local LE to take it from here. MOO

The FBI handles kidnappings. That's probably why.

 

[clearskies1]

If it was all communal, they only need one person’s consent. If they were separated, for instance, and sleeping in different bedrooms that the other did not really access, that would change things. But shared property in a traditional arrangement where each has access to everything equally, they only need whichever is present at the property to consent.

JMO

I believe that if a residence is jointly occupied then "the consent of one occupant is insufficient when another occupant is present and objects to the search." However, if the objecting occupant is no longer physically present, then the consent of the co-occupant is sufficient to conduct a warrantless search. Fernandez v. California, 571 U.S. 292 (2014). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/571/292/

 

[Bodhi]

After the deadline has come and gone, here’s what I think about the ransom atp:

There was something in those letters that not only was convincing enough for the family, but for investigators to take seriously. IF we are to assume HL is correct about the notes having information pertaining to the watch’s location, the investigators could’ve immediately ruled it out as a hoax, but they didn’t. In fact, they went back to the scene multiple times in what can only be assumed an effort to confirm details from the notes. And those who have read the notes and given interviews also seem to think there’s some legitimacy there.

Additionally, in order for the sender of the notes to remain anonymous for this long requires extensive knowledge of cloaking software and VPNs. If this was a hoax, some wacko exploiting it (like the guy who was arrested), the FBI would’ve been able to track it no problem. So whoever sent this would’ve had to know details from the crime scene and be technologically savvy enough to evade detection from even government agencies.

The first note came in Monday to media (we don’t know if there was other communication to LE or family prior). Ransom demands are usually instant, so waiting 24 hours+ to send it is very odd. However off it is to me though, it seems entirely too convenient IMO for a scammer who’s that technologically capable to insert themselves that early into a case just starting to break. They’d really have to be betting on the case being difficult to solve and their own capabilities on the fly upon seeing the early news reports.

I’m at the point where it is either someone from another country completely uninvolved, exploiting this case after hacking into the crime scene photos somehow - OR - it is someone with some actual involvement in what happened to Nancy.

Overall I am overwhelmingly confused by this case. Typically I have a theory, but there’s a million avenues this case could go and each direction is different from the last. I can’t imagine what the Guthrie family is dealing with right now, how they could possibly be feeling. Whether the ransom note is tied to what happened to Nancy or not, two unbelievably cruel crimes have been committed against this family: the disappearance of their beloved mother and exploitation of their pain to the tune of $6M. Just horrific.

All JMO of course.

Excellent analysis. Thank you.

 

[TKG]

Were they searching them yesterday? And why so late, as they suspected homicide from the beginning?

LE said they were searching "a septic tank" not plural; I only saw a PCSD officer using a stick to feel for large items. In this neighborhood most homes have a small cap for pumping etc, nothing as large as viewed in the photo. To me that looked like a storm drain.

 

[desert-blue]

I’m at the point where it is either someone from another country completely uninvolved, exploiting this case after hacking into the crime scene photos somehow - OR - it is someone with some actual involvement in what happened to Nancy.

Agree. Hacking photos or a leak from LE.

 

[KBlackRabbit]

Pima County - Parcel Detail

Thanks for this. It also clears up the questions about their financial situation, at least in terms of property taxes. They paid the first half for 2025 on time and the second half isn’t due until March 2, 2026. No payments in the past years listed were overdue.

Whatever else may be going on with them they’re paying taxes on time.