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

[Turkeytrot]

I agree, but most here are emphasizing identifying the DNA, which in my opinion is secondary to preserving human life.

Law enforcement can't exactly prioritize preserving human life if they don't know where to look in the first place.

Jmo

 

[armchairagatha]

Slim, I follow you and appreciate your thought. I, too, believe this crime has been premeditated by a very thoughtful and intelligent criminal mind. My question is not a challenge to your position but one of genuine interest about your thought. I believe the Lantana Man video was likely a staged as a distraction: the person in the video is not who kidnapped NG; Lantana Man was possibly hired and given his disguise to distract everyone's attention. Lantana Man probably doesn't even know the person in charge and was hired by him knowing very little. Lantana Man could be an ex-con looking for a buck, hired simply to scare and distract at the residence (that's all he was hired to do, in my scenario). He doesn't want to go back to prison and has thought for years about things he could have done to never get caught again.

How do you reconcile the inconsistent behaviors in the video if Lantana Man is the intelligent, pre-planning psychopath? He's keeping his face away from the camera until he goes to knock on the door, and then he looks repeatedly into the camera. If he's a pre-planner, why wouldn't he have come up with a better idea in advance to take out the camera?

The changes in Lantana's gait and the apparent layers of disguise make me think he's an experienced perp who knows how not to be identified and caught. The melodramatic holster placement and shenanigans with the lantana, along with the inconsistencies described above, scream "staged" to me. I also go back to him never trying the doorknob but apparently about to knock on the door. I think it possible he was there to try to provoke a response by either getting law enforcement to come out or to trigger a Nest notification to the family that a bad guy was at NG's house. I think the video was absolutely expected to be viewed; they didn't anticipate it not being recorded. I think it was staged after NG was already taken from the home. Knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell (which I also think looks possible in the video), he couldn't have expected anyone to answer with him looking like that. He's a distraction to keep us looking in the wrong direction.

As for the real perp's identity, I think you're absolutely right with the psych profile. I also think he's probably obsessed with SG, and, his interest in her unreciprocated, he goes after the thing dear to her, as evidenced in her late 2025 "My Hometown" production.

I once thought he was probably tech sophisticated and that ransom was the long-term plan. I no longer do. This is simply about influencing the object of his obsession.
I would genuinely like to hear your ideas. Mine are only theories, and you may have explanations I haven't considered. Thanks.

An obsessive perp would be a loner and not hire someone else to do this crime. Which obsessive person with no personal connection to the object of their obsession has ever hired anyone else to influence or hurt said object? I can't think of any. Follow the money trail. I am almost sure this crime is related to money. JMO.

 

[Officer Dibble]

View attachment 645895
The eyes never line up on these things. I’ve seen a bunch trick or treating. I hope FBI would have figured out if it was a mask under a ski mask by now.

creepy

 

[Gunther Toody]

What about unconscious?

That's a possibility...but he would still be carrying dead weight (no pun intended).
To what end? If kidnapping was the objective, wouldn't there be far easier less conspicuous ways to do it...like forcing her into a car at gunpoint, grabbing her while she is out for a walk or errand...etc.

If this were truly a kidnapping, he went about it in the dumbest way possible.

 

[BrittMontero]

I’ve said a few times a burglary gone wrong seems incredibly unlikely in this case as if it had then I’d expect her to have been found in the home injured or deceased. The only way I could maybe understand her being taken is if she was able to identify the perp(s) but even then I think it’d have been much easier for them to kill her rather than take her. If burglary gone wrong is the situation and she’s currently alive, she’s either going to be found alive because LE know the identities of the kidnappers and find the location she’s at or she’s going to be found dead once they start closing in and the perp panics. Both of which mean they went to the trouble of taking her for what? It just doesn’t make much sense to me as a theory.

This is why (aside from compassion for the Guthrie family) this case has fascinated me. Nothing makes sense, just as in the JonBenet scenario.

If she was kidnpapped for ransom, why are the ransom demands so disorganized and haphazard? Why TMZ? Why no proof of life? No money-motivated kidnapper wants to hold onto a hostage for 2.5 weeks. Or even 2.5 days.

If this was a burglary, bungled kidnapping or other crime, and NG died of fright, mistreatment or medical issues, why take her body? Yes, there might be clues on the body, but surely the perp would rather the POSSIBILITY of the body being incriminating than the CERTAINTY of being incriminated by being caught with a body, or caught hiding a body, or traced to an eventual burial site? Odds for the perpetrator are FAR better by leaving her behind rather than taking her along ill or deceased.

Even if she could "identify" a former tradesperson, delivery person, worker or other stranger who was in her home previously, again, that is a far lower risk than becoming a kidnapper/moving deceased remains. A good lawyer could make absolute mincemeat out of any "identification" made by a medicated person at 2am in the dark while startled/fearful/confused/injured.

So again, why risk taking a human being out of her home? There is zero to be gained and a lot to be risked.

It's the inverse of JonBenet, where we had a body AND a ransom note, makes no sense. Here we have NO body and NO (credible, I think the TMZ correspondence is BS) ransom demand. Makes no sense.

 

[VicBlazey]

Forgive me if I am not up to speed but how on earth do they find 'unknown' DNA in a large house like that?

I guess if there were bodily fluids left in the bathroom, it would be spotted and tested. But elsewhere - a hair? A used tissue? A used glass or cup? Surely they aren't just swabbing random surfaces? That would be like finding a needle in a haystack. It's hard to imagine that a fully-dressed, possibly masked intruder would leave much of anything behind, let alone leave behind something that could be noticed, tested and identified.

Agree a needle in a haystack, however we aren't privy to the state of the inside of the house. It may have been obvious for LE to test certain places if there were signs of a struggle, blood, displaced items etc.

 

[factseeking]

He's definitely one of the very best; been following him for years. Very high ethical standards.

Thank you for the info!! I had never heard of him prior to joining this site recently and my instinct has always been to question any source I'm not familiar with regarding their reliability. I appreciate all of you who have been here for years teaching me that he is a trusted source!

 

[connie9030]

I hear you. My guess only, they intentionally put it out there hoping it would create phycological pressure? That maybe the suspect will increase movement, stress about LE getting closer maybe even generate anonymous tips if someone knows something. I'm not sure but I always assume first, when LE gives info, it's intentional and they want it out there. IMO

My worry is this person(s) is very sick. What if this pressure causes him to decide to destroy the device?

 

[BrittMontero]

That's a possibility...but he would still be carrying dead weight (no pun intended).
To what end? If kidnapping was the objective, wouldn't there be far easier less conspicuous ways to do it...like forcing her into a car at gunpoint, grabbing her while she is out for a walk or errand...etc.

If this were truly a kidnapping, he went about it in the dumbest way possible.

Agree.

Studying her schedule and then forcing her into a car at the garage door, on an ordinary day, would attract far less attention. If it were done in the morning, the ransom could be collected within hours and she could be home by the next day.

There was no need to harm her, in self-defense or otherwise. Even if she hollered, given the layout of the neighborhood it's unlikely she would be heard. Especially in daytime with traffic, air traffic, landscaper noise etc. going on in the area.

EDITED to add: Not to mention the construction of that house, which seems pretty sturdy. I doubt if someone in the guesthouse would hear a scream from NG's main house, let alone anyone in neighboring properties or passing by on the road.

What on earth were they thinking. It's so perplexing.

 

[K9Enzo]

Preservation of human life is always the first objective.

Hello @OldCop It's nice to see you in this thread. I agree with you, however, I would like to offer another opinion to the question.

Day 17/18 and no known verified sign of life, with what we know medically about the victim, and her being harmed in her home before being abducted (blood on porch) , the probability of survival being taken to a second location is super low. Again, we're over two weeks in. Objective today - identify the offender to locate the victim. IMO

 

[BrittMontero]

Main thing I'm thinking of is that "bite light" in his mouth. Assuming he took that out at some point and there would be saliva from that on the gloves, then on whatever he touched possibly.

Jmo

Yes, putting the light in mouth seems like an error. But we have no idea if this person ever was inside the house.

 

[SMK777]

Hello @OldCop It's nice to see you in this thread. I agree with you, however, I would like to offer another opinion to the question.

Day 17/18 and no known verified sign of life, with what we know medically about the victim, and her being harmed in her home before being abducted (blood on porch) , the probability of survival being taken to a second location is super low. Again, we're over two weeks in. Objective today - identify the offender to locate the victim. IMO

It's disheartening.
Until they arrest a viable suspect and find out NG's location, this case is just in a quagmire.

 

[maskedwoman]

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[OldCop]

I agree, but most here are emphasizing identifying the DNA, which in my opinion is secondary to preserving human life.

All missing persons cases have two parallel investigations going on at the same time. One is the search for the MP. The second is to determine the reason why the person is missing and to use that information to locate her.
In this case it was determined early on that Nancy likely did not leave voluntarily or wander off due to a medical condition. The evidence suggested she was taken from her home by an unknown person. If you find the person or persons who took her, you are a step closer to finding her.

 

[SaraSmile]

From the attached AI summary, the Othram lab received the sample from the knife sheath on November 24, 2022. A DNA profile was generated in 48 hrs.
However the actual genealogy process took until December 19, 2022 for the FBI to identify Brian Kohlberger as a person of interest.

Wow, I forgot how long, a little less than a month.
Ok, whatever it takes, getting closer, I’m so grateful for this technology!

JMO

 

[Turkeytrot]

Yes, putting the light in mouth seems like an error. But we have no idea if this person ever was inside the house.

It's hard to know where unknown DNA would come from in the house without knowing what the crime scene looked like. Let's say this doorbell guy wasn't the one who actually entered the home. We'd have no idea what the other perp who did enter the home was wearing, if they got scratched or otherwise injured during a struggle, etc

Jmo

 

[No_Stone_Unturned]

If this has been discussed earlier, I'm really trying to keep up.

QUESTION - How can LE detect DNA on the gloves IF you and I already tried them on in the store? It will be a mixed result.

 

[OldCop]

Hello @OldCop It's nice to see you in this thread. I agree with you, however, I would like to offer another opinion to the question.

Day 17/18 and no known verified sign of life, with what we know medically about the victim, and her being harmed in her home before being abducted (blood on porch) , the probability of survival being taken to a second location is super low. Again, we're over two weeks in. Objective today - identify the offender to locate the victim. IMO

I agree. I was actually posting about parallel investigations down the thread when you responded. The longer a person is missing due to foul play, hope fades for a positive outcome.

 

[submarine7]

Check out pima county arrests.

 

[Auburnlucky7]

It says the shirt was "used" by USBP K9. I imagine it may be a shirt of NG that was used for scenting. I doubt a person left their own shirt discarded. Still odd to be left, but likely not a LE officer discarding their own shirt.

I believe, imo, someone with USBP K9 unit handler took the shirt off and unintentionally left it there.