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

[oc1234]

I notice a trend that police seem reluctant to announce anyone is “cleared” in any case. Maybe it’s because their job is to seek evidence on who committed a crime, not to find people innocent of it? Therefore legally they don’t have the right to clear anyone? That would be much like proving a negative, proving someone didn’t commit a crime.

The detectives involved in the Delphi case said other people are only considered ‘cleared’ once a suspect is arrested, charged and convicted. Makes sense to me.
JMO

This. Until they solve it, they don't know where the evidence will lead them. imo.

 

[SaraSmile]

She wouldn't necessarily have to say anything. Just maybe be caught looking.
Just a thought; it's not my own theory.

Agreed.

You are right! She may not have even registered that drugs were showing! But the moonlighting drug dealer/ daytime contractor might think it’s too much of a risk, in case NG did see drugs.

Drug dealers make mistakes, leaving drugs in car temporarily, instead of going straight home, or to Safe house. Maybe not many bricks, but drug dealer didn’t want to risk it might have been noticed.

Remember, it doesn’t take much for a drug boss to shoot a lower level drug dealer, if they exposed any drugs in the pipeline. Or the drug dealer thought he might end up in prison if caught.

Low level crime. Since I heard Tucson has a lot of drug crime. Just an idea.

Ransom people were all opportunists. JMO

 

[Cryptic]

Could Nancy have been at an event and followed home after someone heard she had a famous daughter.

I think its possible, but it would have to be an extremely spontaneous crime: Hear about the famous daughter, then immediately decide to follow her home, and commit a violent crime.

I could see someone at a social event hearing about the relationship, then going through a build up phase such as loitering in the residential area at first. Then, thinking of a pretense to approach the house etc. Then psyching themselves up to commit the crime for what ever motive.

I could see such an occurrence of acting immediately if a desperation robbery was the motive ala "Mothers of the famous must favor copious quantities of bling 'n crey, crey amounts of "bands o' cash"- I need that score now!

But.... this does not seem to be a robbery. This might diminish the chances of a perpetrator hearing a casual remark, or seeing a resemblance, googling and then near immediately acting.

 

[Cindizzi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2023081268498645110

 

[Van Helsing]

Her thoughts confirm what many Websleuthers have been thinking. NG's abduction was possibly related to somebody obsessed with SG who used the abduction of her mother as a way of getting to SG.

I still think that the ransom and abduction are two totally separate situations. If the perps wanted a ransom, it seems they would have left a note at the scene or gotten it the LE or the news much faster, IMO.

JMO

I agree that the ransom was probably either an afterthought or someone else.

 

[maskedwoman]

Why on earth would a homeless person with no connection to Nancy risk moving her body ?

I have had the same thought but the way you said it got me thinking. I did some googling this morning and learned that body removal from scene of death occurs in around 87% of homicides but it's typically done to hide the killer's relationship to the victim. In my own non-professional opinion, or to support a cover story. She went on a weekend trip and never came back, etc. It's apparently very rare when the attacker is a stranger to the victim. I also learned that it's most typical that the body is moved 100 meters or less, sometimes even hidden in the residence.

This suggests that someone who might try to rob NG or kidnap her for some obscure/unfathomable reason and either accidentally ends up killing her, or she even has a heart attack and dies, would be far more likely to leave her body in the home and unconcealed.

Google Search

 

[SaraSmile]

Lots of outside-the-box theories. May as well think about this one. I do question how many people in the community knew NG was related to SG. I also wonder if NG knew persons that neither AG nor SG knew about. My husband and I are older, and our sons don't know all our friends/acquaintances, despite living very close. They are wrapped up in their lives and raising our grandkids.

You are right! Even church friends may have unsavory grandkids. Since she lived there so long, undoubtedly some (young, bad actor) people might think up a plan.

 

[OldCop]

Desert = 90 days to a skeleton. Clothes are scattered near body. Again. Ask residents. Nobody is going to search the entire Sonoran. It's 100,000 sq miles. Someone from the area wanting to leave a body isn't going to go far into the desert. SEARCH nearby Tucson. And, ask yourself. What does SG want? Her mother. Then SG can get on with her life. LE can do the rest.

Yes, but she wants her mother alive if there’s even a slightest chance that’s possible. I mentioned the terrain around Tucson because you used a 26 mile long road to Mt Lemon in your original post. 26 miles is a huge area to search. And you are not just searching the breakdown lane. You have to go deeper in to be effective. The body could be concealed with brush. Are there trails, logging roads, pull offs in this 26 mile stretch? Are there steep drop offs? Nancy Guthrie was likely taken away in the wee dark hours before dawn. There is little road traffic at that time. I would rather hide a body off a dark lonely stretch of road or desert than in Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood.
I don’t think there is anyone following this case who doesn’t want to go find her. Use any and all methods available.

 

[Sakura2Sophia4Lucia]

I’m sure they’re still being heavily surveilled after being detained if police believe they’re involved. Sometimes this actually plays into the favor of LE, because releasing them allows them to monitor them and see if they make a mistake or indirectly lead them to her.

Agree. Fairly sure the people who were detained are under surveillance. Watching who they interact with, what they do, where they go, if they leave town, etc. Those previously detained could make a mistake with whom they are with, who they call and what they are doing. Plus, if LE gets more evidence that leads them to the people they have previously detained, they will want to know where those people are. JMO

 

[loves2readhistory]

Does anyone have information about whether dogs were used in the traffic stop, Range Rover situation? Wondering if something was scented that led LE to impound vs release.

I looked at some videos and photos posted about that traffic stop and I did not see any dogs sitting by LE or sniffing around outside of car. But that doesn’t mean they were not there.
Personally I think they sprayed Luminol inside car and maybe found hits in spots not usually cleaned during a car’s detailing…like maybe ceiling

 

[SaraSmile]

I have had the same thought but the way you said it got me thinking. I did some googling this morning and learned that body removal from scene of death occurs in around 87% of homicides but it's typically done to hide the killer's relationship to the victim. In my own non-professional opinion, or to support a cover story. She went on a weekend trip and never came back, etc. It's apparently very rare when the attacker is a stranger to the victim. I also learned that it's most typical that the body is moved 100 meters or less, sometimes even hidden in the residence.

This suggests that someone who might try to rob NG or kidnap her for some obscure/unfathomable reason and either accidentally ends up killing her, or she even has a heart attack and dies, would be far more likely to leave her body in the home and unconcealed.

Google Search

Interesting, Re moving the body

Dead or alive, it makes sense to remove evidence (body, sorry), less chance of getting caught.

JMO

 

[cherryleaf]

Would think it is was for financial reasons with SG then the ransom letters would be sent to her team. Seems random to go to TMZ

The first note was received by local news station KOLD in Az on Monday, roughly one day after her disappearance. TMZ supposedly received that same note 12 hrs later.

What we know about the ransom notes in the Nancy Guthrie case

Both TMZ and KOLD representatives said wording in the messages suggests the sender has familiarity with the Tucson area.

www.newsnationnow.com

 

[birdbox]

Normally, I would get angry at this post for being off-topic for about 0.7 seconds, then delete it and move on. However, this is a great post for our community thread called "Give Us This Day Our Daily Thread."
Five more pages to go, then the thread opens again.

Got it!!

 

[flp]

If it were some bizarre attempt at revenge against SG I think the person would have left a note or message to that effect, that would be the whole point of revenge is to take credit and hurt the person.

I'm sticking with my new theory, it's a random home invasion gone wrong, he took the time to extract the body and dump it somwhere remote. the guy in the doorbell video just looks like a random bad guy to me.

 

[loves2readhistory]

Agree. Fairly sure the people who were detained are under surveillance. Watching who they interact with, what they do, where they go, if they leave town, etc. Those previously detained could make a mistake with whom they are with, who they call and what they are doing. Plus, if LE gets more evidence that leads them to the people they have previously detained, they will want to know where those people are. JMO

I would think the people tied to the Range Rover are definitely still in the picture because the car is still impounded awaiting forensic results.
They didn’t keep the Rio Rico car so those people I think are likely not as suspicious to investigators—maybe they were going by the CAR and not the people. Car was cleared pretty quickly as well as the driver.

 

[connie9030]

Interesting, Re moving the body

Dead or alive, it makes sense to remove evidence (body, sorry), less chance of getting caught.

JMO

She could have been drugged at the dinner. Didn't want a quick autopsy.

 

[HoffaUnderground]

But then again, how does the Latana guy and camera disconnection fit in? It could, but they would have the person on camera, possibly?

Maybe? the time stamp information seems to be either not available or just not released to the public yet on the camera. That information would tell us how spaced apart the entrance to the home verses the abduction took place. Hell could be a totally different day at this point. Also I would think a burglar would go to the side or back of the home or somewhere that's not so clear to public view. I keep thinking they have a lot more video that they haven't released yet. I still cant keep thinking about why they would take her out the front door and not the side of the home. Some are saying the blood drops appear that she was being carried over the shoulder so would seem to me that on the side of the home they could have had more time to get her placed in a get away vehicle. Any talk of tire marks? And lastly in the video when they go to grab the plant out of the ground they hesitate and look up and way for a second. Could they be looking at a second perp or a car or what got their attention? is there audio on the video? There's my brain dump!

 

[justwannahelp]

I think you can use this thread as an example of what you are implying

So far it has 1512 pages multiply that by 20 posts per page and even if one has read every post and one had felt 500 posts were intriguing and 1000 posts were saying similar. How many posts can you recall with accuracy especially ones that are not recent

Whereas AI can do all that categorisation in seconds therefore churning out the most valid posts / tips but you would still need a human to see if those posts were phrased as " imo " 'hypothetically phrased " or leads

Just my musings

 

[Sakura2Sophia4Lucia]

Yes, but she wants her mother alive if there’s even a slightest chance that’s possible. I mentioned the terrain around Tucson because you used a 26 mile long road to Mt Lemon in your original post. 26 miles is a huge area to search. And you are not just searching the breakdown lane. You have to go deeper in to be effective. The body could be concealed with brush. Are there trails, logging roads, pull offs in this 26 mile stretch? Are there steep drop offs? Nancy Guthrie was likely taken away in the wee dark hours before dawn. There is little road traffic at that time. I would rather hide a body off a dark lonely stretch of road or desert than in Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood.
I don’t think there is anyone following this case who doesn’t want to go find her. Use any and all methods available.

There are parking lots, picnic areas, camping areas and hiking trails along the highway going up to Mt Lemon. Very few people driving on it at night and with the exception of the camping areas, I'd be surprised if anybody was in the parking lots that lead to the hiking trails. There are also steep drop-offs on the highway leading up to Mt Lemon where a person could just pull off on the shoulder and push NG down the steep drop off. A suspect could have looked at it ahead of time and planned where he would do this. Also, a huge benefit to a steep drop-off along the side of the road (vs a neighborhood) is that there aren't any cameras. JMO

 

[SaraSmile]

Yes, but she wants her mother alive if there’s even a slightest chance that’s possible. I mentioned the terrain around Tucson because you used a 26 mile long road to Mt Lemon in your original post. 26 miles is a huge area to search. And you are not just searching the breakdown lane. You have to go deeper in to be effective. The body could be concealed with brush. Are there trails, logging roads, pull offs in this 26 mile stretch? Are there steep drop offs? Nancy Guthrie was likely taken away in the wee dark hours before dawn. There is little road traffic at that time. I would rather hide a body off a dark lonely stretch of road or desert than in Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood.
I don’t think there is anyone following this case who doesn’t want to go find her. Use any and all methods available.

Agreed, body is in the desert, a ravine, off a country road, not in a neighborhood. Hidden in brush, not buried. Sorry, I hope I’m wrong… JMO

JMO