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

[NothingToSeeHere]

If this were an inside job involving family, and the ransom is an unrelated opportunist, why take her off the property? Could take years to have someone declared dead and get inheritance if that’s motive. If the ransom is related why are they still holding out when the family said they would pay? Nothing makes sense… MOO

Would a family have to wait for someone to be declared dead before selling a home, or is the years-long wait just for things like life insurance?

 

[Cassie P]

In one post someone said it almost looked like it was a guy with a few drinks in him, the way he was just casually strolling then picking up the latanas flowers, then fumbling with the doorbell cam. I chuckled, but it resonated. He does have some sort of casual detachment or abnormal comfort level given the gravity of what he's doing, and it's not in some cold and calculated pro-criminal way.

Regarding the way the gun was holstered at his crotch. There is a way to conceal carry a sidearm called appendix carry. It involves tucking the gun into your belt, front and center. It gives you quick access for a fast draw but can be awkward.
View attachment 644009
What he did was not concealed. It was an awkward low hanging version of this, and it was in a long hanging holster that did not seem to match the gun. This seems to indicate opportunity, cheap, worked practically but it did not match the gun and that further makes me think the gun could have been a replica/airsoft used just for intimidation. If he thought he might actually need to use the gun in commission to a crime why would he have such awkward gloves on that would put him at such a disadvantage if there was a potentially armed homeowner. But if he's coming for an 84 year old lady that lives alone in a dark secluded neighborhood. a replica displayed front and center might be all he needs to threaten her. Remember in the earlier frame he had the gun concealed, and he came up with it hanging front and center, which means to me, he wanted it to be seen, likely for intimidation and coercion to get the homeowner to comply.

So it seems to me to be an awkward, practical albeit fumbling way to display a threat (which again may not be a real firearm, we just don't know) that matches the obtuse practicality he displayed with the rest of his get-up (mouth light, thick awkward gloves that he thought would hide fingerprints/dna better perhaps, reflective backpack--poor choice strictly practical, will do, etc.)

I am wondering about drugs and alcohol use/addiction.

Yes the part that feels off is someone young, inexperienced, or mentally ill/ intellectually impaired who is acting in a way he thinks a criminal would behave, dress, etc. Maybe based on TV or movies. Not the real world. But it is very poorly done. This is what feels off to you,

Yes his comfort level was not from overtraining and confidence like you would see with an experienced criminal, or highly trained military etc. And they would understand the importance of the task ahead of them. The serious consequences for failure, etc.

So we are looking perhaps at a teen or young 20’s male. Someone whose frontal lobe is not yet developed completely so is reckless, poor judgement, cannot envision consequences or seriousness of behavior. Add a great deal of testosterone in a person who does not yet know how to handle that in socially appropriate ways. And drugs or alcohol.

Unfortunately, the risk assessment of this type of person is not good.

Interesting in terms of the gun.
Did you see the gun on this guy in the initial frames?
And then later he moves it?
Or did someone hand it to him do you think.

There are many ways to act threatening with a gun.
He chose to use a highly sexualized placement.

 

[Sakura2Sophia4Lucia]

That's going to make family holidays very very interesting in the future. I admit, I don't see that much resemblance to the picture.

They don't send a SWAT team or get a warrant to search a house because of a tip of the person apprehended last night looking similar to this person. IMO LE had to have had other convincing concerns and information about this person (e.g. their movements, their vehicles, their cell phone activity, pings by NG's house while delivering packages, relative saying they were acting suspicious, etc) for a judge to okay the warrant and for the SWAT team to be deployed. JMHO

 

[PCHS]

Would a family have to wait for someone to be declared dead before selling a home, or is the years-long wait just for things like life insurance?

I mean she is 84..not to sound morbid but it is more likely then not that they will be able to access the money within a few short years without committing a crime.

 

[SlimPickens]

I think it's from a different time period. The FBI said it was of "the individual." So it must have been before and not after, because he disabled the camera before the crime.

I think I heard the Director boasting about substantial enhancements FBI analysts did to the video/photos after retrieving them from Google. I hope those enhancements weren't AI generated, like those photos/videos on social media when things appear and disappear at random sometimes. Could you imagine if these were AI generated/automated? Like they released them and didn't realize the backpack was off? Hopefully the smart people would've discerned that quickly. In any case, it would have had to have been before, since anything after would've negated the camera he took/destroyed.

JMO.

 

[AggieLou]

I

Apparently it is too dark to see anything other than what is in the sky.

I think LE has more from the Nest video than just what they've released. It's possible they have everything the camera picked up until it was torn down. Maybe they detained the person yesterday based on something else. And what about the camera that was noticed on NG's roof a day or two later. Was it functioning and who put it there. The homeowner? I saw someone wondering if it was put there by the perp/s to see the routine and coming and goings.

 

[cbaymult]

Jacket possibly looks like Ozark Trail as well. No distinct label, cuffs are very unique along with border around zipper. Wish there was as a good view of the rear near neck. Very distinct snap hook. Tough to tell, but watching in slow mo and zoom, looks like back of elbow may be off color/fabric like a the one linked below?

Walmart brand everything fits the bill of young, lacking money, inexperienced.

Ozark Trail Men's and Big Men's Mix Media Fleece Jacket, Sizes S-3XL - Walmart.com

Buy Ozark Trail Men's and Big Men's Mix Media Fleece Jacket, Sizes S-3XL at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

Or intentionally misleading

 

[Bluewing3102]

I have seen it done on tv shows
Like “Unforgotten”
So depends on store probably
And your assumption these were bought at same time/same location

I mean using SQL if you sorted by region (to encompass a reasonable radius), queried for these specific items, and maybe picked a date range of last month or two. You'd probably get some interesting results. I just don't know if regional managers or Walmart as an entity have databases like this.

 

[white rabbit]

ok as if it wasn't borderline absurd/ridiculous before, it's beyond pathetic sadness now.

there is video (on fox so i can't post it) of the driver of a white SUV pulling up to LE this afternoon claiming to be a G family PI. LE clearly waves him through, so either the driver is lying, the family is lying, and/or LE is completely incompetent. or it wasn't a PI at all, and LE is covering up who was really there...

mass media video shows a calm, slow-walking person rambling to NG's front door (without 'blood trickle' behind) in the middle of the night, trying to hide the nest/ring cam with...weeds? seriously? then the cam disappears? c'mon. this is a joke. if anyone can find a verified time stamp of the 'intruder' on a stolen camera/google cloud, i still won't belive it.

no claim/verification of AG/SIL's car being towed, but LE's been to the house at least a handful of times. they're finally going into the foothills to search miles of cacti, yet two days ago they're looking into sceptic tanks on the property. ok.

it's what we don't know at this point we should be focused on.

 

[nycpizzaparty]

I am wondering about drugs and alcohol use/addiction.

Yes the part that feels off is someone young, inexperienced, or mentally ill/ intellectually impaired who is acting in a way he thinks a criminal would behave, dress, etc. Maybe based on TV or movies. Not the real world. But it is very poorly done. This is what feels off to you,

Yes his comfort level was not from overtraining and confidence like you would see with an experienced criminal, or highly trained military etc. And they would understand the importance of the task ahead of them. The serious consequences for failure, etc.

So we are looking perhaps at a teen or young 20’s male. Someone whose frontal lobe is not yet developed completely so is reckless, poor judgement, cannot envision consequences or seriousness of behavior. Add a great deal of testosterone in a person who does not yet know how to handle that in socially appropriate ways. And drugs or alcohol.

Unfortunately, the risk assessment of this type of person is not good.

Interesting in terms of the gun.
Did you see the gun on this guy in the initial frames?
And then later he moves it?
Or did someone hand it to him do you think.

There are many ways to act threatening with a gun.
He choses to use a highly sexualized placement.

I think maybe a meth user. But they were crafty enough to not show any of their own skin which takes planning.

 

[milkshakedonkey]

Fox has been allowed in this thread but that video was also already posted.

 

[PCHS]

I

I think LE has more from the Nest video than just what they've released. It's possible they have everything the camera picked up until it was torn down. Maybe they detained the person yesterday based on something else. And what about the camera that was noticed on NG's roof a day or two later. Was it functioning and who put it there. The homeowner? I saw someone wondering if it was put there by the perp/s to see the routine and coming and goings.

Oh I would certainly think there is more..and they didn't release the whole thing.

 

[HoveringWombats]

The Guthries' ransom demand is in Bitcoins for a reason

Ransom notes for Savannah Guthrie's mom demanded millions in Bitcoin. Here's why criminals like it.

www.usatoday.com

Says you can’t trace it to an individual. Only to an account.

This has been discussed a bunch previously in this thread, accessible via search, so I won't rehash details. In short:

Simply sending money to a bitcoin wallet (or, conversely, the person receiving funds in a bitcoin wallet) does not do anything like instantly make them traceable. They can leave it sitting in the wallet forever and not be found (there are exceptions). And could potentially spend it as bitcoin and not be found (though that's pretty risky).

However, converting bitcoin to USD or other fiat currency is generally traceable to an individual (with some caveats and fine print). This is where most of these people get caught.

 

[Black eyed pea]

wondering now if the perp could have worn two pairs of gloves. like for whatever reason. it could screw any hope of DNA if it's the outer pair we found. otoh, maybe someone who knows gloves could tell us that it's pretty hard to do because of friction or whatever.

Was wondering the same thing!

 

[cbaymult]

I think maybe a meth user. But they were crafty enough to not show any of their own skin which takes planning.

Too fat for meth user

 

[LRinCA]

ok as if it wasn't borderline absurd/ridiculous before, it's beyond pathetic sadness now.

there is video (on fox so i can't post it) of the driver of a white SUV pulling up to LE this afternoon claiming to be a G family PI. LE clearly waves him through, so either the driver is lying, the family is lying, and/or LE is completely incompetent. or it wasn't a PI at all, and LE is covering up who was really there...

mass media video shows a calm, slow-walking person rambling to NG's front door (without 'blood trickle' behind) in the middle of the night, trying to hide the nest/ring cam with...weeds? seriously? then the cam disappears? c'mon. this is a joke. if anyone can find a verified time stamp of the 'intruder' on a stolen camera/google cloud, i still won't belive it.

no claim/verification of AG/SIL's car being towed, but LE's been to the house at least a handful of times. they're finally going into the foothills to search miles of cacti, yet two days ago they're looking into sceptic tanks on the property. ok.

it's what we don't know at this point we should be focused on.

From what I understand, we can post links to Fox for this story only right now.

 

[submarine7]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2021767105591607415

People are so odd
I wonder who started that rumor that I fell for.

 

[cbaymult]

Was wondering the same thing!

The gloved hands did look extremely thick

 

[Der Detektiv]

Too fat for meth user

It’s been suggested the perp is wearing a few layers underneath.

 

[SlimPickens]

They don't send a SWAT team or get a warrant to search a house because of a tip of the person apprehended last night looking similar to this person. IMO LE had to have had other convincing concerns and information about this person (e.g. their movements, their vehicles, their cell phone activity, pings by NG's house while delivering packages, relative saying they were acting suspicious, etc) for a judge to okay the warrant and for the SWAT team to be deployed. JMHO

Judges almost certainly feel public pressure too, and I bet sometimes even get anxious themselves about a popular true crime's outcomes. This judge could've been given IP coordinates that were spoofed to this guy and found it compelling enough to deliver the warrant. Particularly if the guy had been in the general area at some point in the general timeframe (geofencing or whatever they call that).

My understanding is the guy was actually cleared. Stated so by LE. That isn't something they would say if they didn't know for sure, because a prosecutor would have to deal with an onslaught of reasonable doubt, and a jury pool who probably knows enough about law and this case to draw skepticism.

JMO.