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

[avalonisland]

Is there a confirmation from church friend she was supposed to go to friends house for service online and did not arrive so they contacted SIL and AG. I can't find a link.

Pima County Sheriff confirmed this. The church was the NY one that Savannah attends in person and NG and friends watch the online service at 9AM Tucson time. (11am Eastern). I think friends alerted AG around 11AM but it was after Noon that AG alerted 911.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The clips, which run less than a minute in total, provided investigators and the public with their first view of someone outside Guthrie's home in the Tucson foothills. However, the footage did not indicate what happened to her or whether she is still alive.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the“armed individual” seemed to have“tampered with the camera,” though it remains unclear if the holster actually contained a firearm.

Patel added that the videos were retrieved from“back-end systems” after investigators spent several days trying to recover footage that had been lost, corrupted, or otherwise inaccessible.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavit opened a media briefing by noting that she and President Donald Trump had just reviewed the newly released footage.

The FBI confirmed that the Guthrie family has received ransom letters demanding payment.

In Instagram videos, Savannah, Camron, and Annie Guthrie addressed media reports about a ransom letter. The family has pleaded for their mother's safe return, requesting proof of life and contact with whoever abducted her, and in one video, they indicated they would pay.

The FBI stated it was not aware of any ongoing communication between Guthrie's family and the alleged kidnappers. Savannah Guthrie shared images and video of the masked individual and urged the public to contact law enforcement with any information

Nancy Guthrie Missing Case: Man Detained From Rio Rico Breaks Silence After Release - 'Felt Like Being Kidnapped'

Nancy Guthrie Missing Case: Man Detained From Rio Rico Breaks Silence After Release - 'Felt Like Being Kidnapped'. Rio Rico man Carlos Palazuelos, who was picked up by law enforcement officials for questioning into Nancy Guthrie missing case, shared that his detention on Tuesday“felt like being...

menafn.com

 

[avalonisland]

True, but this^^^^ is a NEW timeline. The sheriff originally said the family arrived at the home to check on NG at 11:10 am.
That was incorrect info he was putting out there. LATER he complained that people were taking his statements and details so seriously...

Sheriff also called in homicide after seeing crime scene. Would love to get more info on what the house looked like inside when first responders post 911 call arrived at NG house.

 

[txsleuth70]

Polygraph tests are bogus. They’re totally subjective and attorneys advise their clients not to take them.

Attorneys often advise their clients to take them - especially in the event a client adamantly claims their innocence.

Personal experience with a college student who was cleared in part to a polygraph test. May not be admissible in court - but someone/certain parties cannot UNSEE a PASSED result.

The power of a passed result can help keep an innocent person on the right side of the street.

 

[Cindizzi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2021808606409322953

 

[RedHaus]

I am beginning to think this was never a kidnapping. The person on camera was hired to clean up the crime scene and perhaps dispose of the body, and Nancy was murdered before his arrival. I won’t speculate on the murderer, though. I think we all have our thoughts, and that is enough. Still doesn’t explain the Apple Watch sync, if it happened earlier in the night, though. The kidnapping theory has just gotten weird and is going in too many insane directions.

Interesting theory. If his role was 'cleanup' that might explain the porch perp's lackadaisical style, his extreme layering to avoid DNA transfer, and a stuffed backpack, which could contain tools of his trade such as a sack or tarp.

If this theory has any legs, it could imply an accomplice inside already, having entered another way. And as an OP opined re: odd sized tire tracks on the driveway, perhaps NG was taken out in a trash can that the 'cleanup' guy brought.

It would also imply, if at all close to the truth, that NG's disappearance and the ransom circus may be separate crimes.

I just have to wonder if NG walked into a home invasion when she returned from dinner on 1/31. Either the perps were already inside or they were waiting for her to return. And sadly, perhaps she was murdered to eliminate a witness. Unless the perp(s)'s intent was to kill her.

Total speculation and my own opinion. Since we're on Day 12, it just makes me wonder if this was not an abduction.

 

[SlimPickens]

The weirdest thing about the Nest cam footage we've seen, to me/MOO, is that they were even at the front door, given all the other possibilities.

Indeed, almost like he went there just to get the camera out of the way. With circle driveways like that generally made for the convenience of visitors, I wonder if his accomplice (if he had one and LE suspects so) parked off street until he removed the camera so that he could pull right up to the front door as a matter of convenience? If so, and taking her out the front was the plan all along, then that confirms there was an actual plan. And for that actual house. And for that actual victim. Aforethought like that would take military-esque discipline, preparation, and precision to pull off successfully and with little to no trace. Possibly even mock runs.

JMO.

 

[Aura]

How many of those people take an 84-year-old woman with them?

If this is mistaken house or whatever, I dont think they took her, I think they hid the body, or buried it, and then did all this ransom notes stuff to give them time to run somewhere.
**Edited to add: Now thinking more on it, I dont think this is the case. If this was mistaken house type of thing, I think they would've just killed her and left her where she was.

 

[avalonisland]

Has it been verified that it was a 9 a.m. service because from my understanding there was two different services with two different times (which both included online viewing) like many churches have?

It goes live at 11am eastern time on Sundays but perhaps NG and friends watch on youtube a different time when they gather Sunday mornings.

 

[avalonisland]

If this is mistaken house or whatever, I dont think they took her, I think they hid the body, or buried it, and then did all this ransom notes stuff to give them time to run somewhere.
**Edited to add: Now thinking more on it, I dont think this is the case. If this was mistaken house type of thing, I think they would've just killed her and left her where she was.

I think ransom notes separate from the intruder who destroyed cameras who was separate from the crime that caused NG to bleed and disappear. I think NG disappearance was inside intimate job from those super close to NG.

 

[avalonisland]

I don't think the Carlos guy hurt any elderly woman but maybe he accepted a job to disable cameras or something on 2/1/26

Carlos has a strong tight alibi and I hope he and his family members get their cellphones back so Carlos can resume his hardworking job as delivery guy. Police were going after the wrong man who had black bushy eyebrows and darkish facial hair.

 

[avalonisland]

The bizarre part of his story to me is that he says the police were following the car that his wife was driving. His wife pulled over the car and he got out of the passenger side before the police ever turned on their lights? Who does that?

Their child was also in the car I think and I think they were working a door dash delivery job. Lots of LE cars marked and unmarked were following them. C was honorable to get out of car, imo. He was protecting his loved ones.

 

[desertgirl11]

Would it be logical to think that the “perp” would have silenced NG? She could’ve screamed on that doorway or anywhere in the open. Was she ‘silenced’ somehow? *awful I know…

 

[avalonisland]

Not so much the latest developments, but until the information about the destruction of the cameras, I was leaning towards this being a medical event and she just hadn't been found yet.

I'm still not convinced the kidnapper and the ransom person are the same, but I'm not seeing everything they're seeing. We're only getting a fraction of a fraction of the picture.

MOO

I just think the man doing the bizarre nest removal and smashing floodlights could have done whatever he needed to do that night without removing NG from house. Once an elderly woman is in bed, especially one who was probably exhausted from late night dinner and family games and who was in chronic pain and had issues walking, it would be hard to get them out of bed to even check on noise. There's so much info about what went on inside house and at Tucson family dinner and game night that is not being released to public.

 

[LooksSusToMe]

I wonder if this is a home invasion that was mistaken house. Like thefragile7393 said, they do happen, but it usually has to do with drugs.

My initial reaction was home invasion gone wrong when this first happened. Perhaps the perp(s) had items in the backpack to tie up the homeowner(s) while he ransacked.

Perhaps NG fought back/told him who she was and promised to get him more $? So then he took her in hopes of a bigger payday?

 

[avalonisland]

Poor guy just got blamed for the biggest public crime in the entire United States of America for nothing. I'm done until whoever did this (I think it was obvious from the start) is arrested and charged and/or NG is found. Ty for your attention regarding this matter.

Poor guy indeed who he along with family members are without their cellphones. What's scary is that he has features of the scary guy in video at NG house and it was not this poor guy. I hope LE does better, as this guys name is now all over internet and he is innocent.

 

[tbgo]

The "talking heads" on tv are driving me crazy. They really don't know anything about this crime, and are making sweeping generalizations. Specifically, about "ageism". And that an older woman should not be living alone.

No one brought issues of age up when the college kids in Moscow, ID were murdered.

They’re running out of material. I’m waiting for one of the cable news shows to start interviewing the psychics and tarot card readers making videos on YouTube about this case - yes, they do exist.

 

[slowpoke]

This. I posted earlier that the gloves resembled ones that Tattoo artists use, they look like black nitrile gloves being worn over thicker gloves, IMO. Mechanics also use them frequently. Just doing a little research, they are not found in that color in many places outside of Home Depot, Menards, or ordering them online. It just seems to me that unless they were seeking those specific gloves out, it maybe something that they had a personal supply of already due to a line of work they are in.

I remember watching those bbq competitions on tv, and a lot of those competitors had gloves that reminded me of the masked porch man.
Seems they’re nitrile with cotton liners, for the bbq cooks.

Like this:

(Link)

I don’t have black ones, but we always have a big box of disposable latex or nitrile gloves at my house. We use them for all kinds of uses (handling meats, while cleaning, etc). It may be common to have in many homes. jmo

 

[Sillybilly]

It goes live at 11am eastern time on Sundays but perhaps NG and friends watch on youtube a different time when they gather Sunday mornings.

My understanding is that Nancy was associated with St. Andrew's Presbyterian in the Tucson area.

What does this church in New York have to do with Nancy?

 

[avalonisland]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

If NG had other incident of someone at her door scarying her, I wonder why her security system was so minor. Like why the lack of front doorbell video subscription or maybe it ended shortly before latest crime. And, why the only around 2 minute drop off by family at 9:48pm or so 1/31/26. Surely, family members would drop her off and check entire house and doors to make sure NG would be safe, comfortable, and secure for the night if there were other scary encounters.