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

[ab01]

Welcome @Old Jim .

I tend to agree with this theory, makes no sense to go to the front door unless you were expecting someone on other side to open for you. Or you had opened it from inside already.

I listened to Gray Hughes today and he had similar theory as yours.

Maybe someone was supposed to leave the front door unlocked for the perp, but NG noticed it and locked it at some point?

 

[SMK777]

I remember some time ago when SG and family came on instagram to say "we understand" and seemed to be asking for her body back. I thought that might happen....since then not much hope.

The question is, why didn't it happen?

 

[SlimPickens]

Nancy Guthrie case update: Investigators searching for new leads as unidentified DNA remains key focus

'Gumshoe work rather than dramatic developments'

Investigators say the Nancy Guthrie search has shifted to detailed detective work.

Officials are urging the public to report unusual gaps or missing persons in their communities.

Legal experts say unidentified DNA could be a linchpin in the case.

Officials with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and FBI described current efforts in the Nancy Guthrie case as "gumshoe detective work," emphasizing methodical follow-ups rather than dramatic developments.

Redirect Notice

TLDR: "Y'all can go home now. Nothing to see here. We are going to chill out a bit until the genealogy results come back".

The spin and apparent desire for media to leave is unsettling to me. They even outright stated this desire a few days ago if memory serves. To me at least, it seems like a rather obvious longing for another big media story so that this one can go away.

Which at the end of the day means - poor Nancy.

JMO.

 

[Rumination1]

Yeah, they could easily send a photo or a statement regarding something only SG knows. Because of the blood at the scene and not caring to take her meds with her, I am starting to think they unalived her at her house, put her in the trunk and dropped her somewhere then started one of those bitcoin scams. They weren't expected this thing to blow up like this. Where is Nancy?

There are many ways to have sent proof of life without it being a photo I’m sure. If you spoke to Nancy and she gave some information that could be typed and sent to the tip line and cross checked with family . These ransomers don’t have her alive any more and they seem to have stopped asking and just want to stay hidden and unaccounted for . Surely by now it’s a murder/mandlaughter investigation

 

[Kapua]

Bbm

I said there were five DIRECTIONS a person could take from the street in front of NG’s house.

View attachment 646982

North or south on N Camino Miraval

Northeast on N Camino Escalante

Northwest or southeast on E Camino el Ganado

But actually, I’m wrong.

Only FOUR directions, as northwest on E Camino el Ganado turns back northeast into a cul de sac.

Unless perp lives on the cul de sac, but it isn’t a way out to a main road.

I just wanted to clarify what I posted earlier to prevent confusion.

IMO

Edited to change northwest to northeast into a cul de sac.

Correction. FOUR DIRECTIONS and FOUR ROADS. But the point I was trying to make, and hopefully, some got it, is that with the darkness, the houses being set far back from the roads so that the cameras don't capture much of the street view, the traffic cameras not saving video, etc., that there possibly was not a lot of video evidence available for that night. MOO

 

[Trish51]

This may have been discussed pages ago and I admit I have skipped pages over the past 2+ weeks. If has been, I’m sorry. With that said, if he had a bite light, it’s possible that saliva could have dripped down while Lantana Guy was bending over to grab the lantana. Does anyone remember LE poking around that area during their investigation of the crime scene?

 

[shonyakay]

Actually, legally, moving a dead, or dying person is considered kidnapping. It would be included in any list of criminal charges. My mother was murdered and kidnapping was one of the charges, as her body was removed from her home, and technically still alive, but dying. My own experience.

So sorry for your loss - that is awful.

I was basically making the point that LE wouldn't have details at the scene that tells them that Nancy was removed from the scene "against her will" if those theorizing that she was killed somewhere else and the perp(s) then staged a kidnapping were correct.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Agree. I actually saw a mine being searched in California and it was a complicated process. I wonder if cadaver dogs can be helpful?

I always wonder if the scent tracking dogs were helpful. I never saw anything where they tracked her any place. I know a good one can track a live person for miles. MOO, of course.

CBP deploying tracking dogs in search for Nancy Guthrie

 

[SRWCF]

That is the huge problem, they don't know where to search anymore. Such a large vast area, sadly, she could be anywhere. The entire population of AZ could be out day and night and not find her. Why do things have to happen to good people. I am not faulting any LE for not finding her. Just seeing the videos people posted earlier today of the landscape and how endless it goes. I hope they find her, please let the criminal(s) have a change of heart. I guess first they would have to get a heart to change it. Poor Nancy, please be with us still by some miracle

I had a dream early on in the case that Nancy was found alive in a mine shaft / tunnel.

Also, why is it that in cases like this it's always some random person out walking their dog months later that come across a body? I mean, I think she's alive, but I've always been curious when this happens. Makes one wonder . . .

 

[Katrinepa]

This is the first explanation for using the plant to shield the camera that seems completely plausible. He doesn't appear rattled or surprised by the camera so why does he bother to grab a plant and cover it up? To shield the getaway. Brilliant, excellent post!

Very well thought out scenario!

 

[DizzyB]

This may have been discussed pages ago and I admit I have skipped pages over the past 2+ weeks. If has been, I’m sorry. With that said, if he had a bite light, it’s possible that saliva could have dripped down while Lantana Guy was bending over to grab the lantana. Does anyone remember LE poking around that area during their investigation of the crime scene?

I remember lantana lying on the porch days after when Brian Entin walked up to the door. There was a tent that went up a long time after that, supposedly to replicate the conditions when the Nest recorded Lantana Man. Also to determine height, it was thought.

 

[cherryleaf]

Correction. FOUR DIRECTIONS and FOUR ROADS. But the point I was trying to make, and hopefully, some got it, is that with the darkness, the houses being set far back from the roads so that the cameras don't capture much of the street view, the traffic cameras not saving video, etc., that there possibly was not a lot of video evidence available for that night. MOO

The county is changing the flow of traffic to one way on NG street starting tm I think. Has to do with all the media

Transportation

Transportation uses advanced technologies, data, and the hard work of employees to manage nearly 2,200 miles of roadways, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities, transit services, and infrastructure.

www.pima.gov

Scroll down to transportation news and the link is there.

 

[K.jill]

The odd behavior of the front porch intruder can be explained by assuming that a change had to be made to the kidnapper’s original plan to exit the house by the same path used to enter the house; namely, by the back door. The following paragraphs explain this further.

The first figure shows the first frame of video from the front door camera that shows the intruder approaching the front porch. Notice that the intruder is stepping onto the front walk from a position to the left, and not from the right or from straight ahead. Therefore, it is unlikely that he came up the front walk steps where the hand rail is located. So, where could he be coming from?
View attachment 647008
The answer can be found by looking at the second figure, which shows an aerial view of the front of the house.
View attachment 647010
This view shows the intruder’s position with a red rectangle. It is immediately in front of a white circular stepping stone that can be seen in both the door camera video and the aerial view of the house. Now, this position is approached most easily by a clear path to the corner of the house as shown by the red dots in the aerial view. It is unlikely that the intruder entered this bath from any point short of the corner of the house because he would have had to climb over a two-foot high pile of rocks to reach the path as shown in the third figure – something not impossible, but a hassle that one would have preferred to avoid especially at night.
View attachment 647011
Therefore, it appears that the intruder came to the front door from a point beyond the corner of the house. This point was most likely the point of entry into the house, which we are told by authorities was the door to the back porch. If this is the case, then most likely the intruder came from inside the house before he approached the front door.

Now, let’s assume that that the original plan was to for the kidnapper(s) to exit the house by walking out the back door with their victim walking beside them to their vehicle located somewhere down the street. This would have been their safest option to avoid other cameras. And parking the vehicle on the street would have made it easier for a fast getaway than parking in the driveway, where they could have been blocked in. Unfortunately, while they were inside the house it became apparent to them that it was impossible for Nancy to walk to the vehicle where it was, either because Nancy told them she couldn’t walk that far or because they could see for themselves that she couldn’t walk that far (they could have spotted the walker she used inside the house). Therefore, they were forced to make a change in their exit plan and to bring the vehicle closer to the house so Nancy wouldn’t have to walk as far. The front door was decided to be the best option for doing this.

Therefore, while one of the kidnappers remained with Nancy to ensure that she didn’t call the police, the other kidnapper exited out the back door to get the vehicle. While on his way to get the vehicle, he remembered that there was a front door camera that could see the vehicle approach the front of the house, watch them enter the vehicle, and make their getaway. He knew this camera existed because of his reconnaissance of the house a few weeks earlier, when he was spotted unknowingly by the front door camera. Therefore, he had to either cover up the camera or remove it entirely before bringing the vehicle to the house. So, he went directly from the back porch to the front porch to disable the camera.

One can see on the camera video that he knew the camera existed because he held his head down while approaching the camera from the side. When he was unable to remove camera easily, he decided to temporarily cover it up with something so that it could not see the vehicle, assuming he could find a tool later in the vehicle or in the house that would help him remove the camera while they were exiting through the front door. So, he decided to use some nearby vegetation to disable the camera. While covering it with vegetation appears to most people to be a sign of gross incompetence, it actually served his purpose quite well because the camera was unable to see him later bring the vehicle to the front steps, get out, and approach the camera once more to remove it, either by approaching it from outside the house or from the inside. Then, after the camera was removed, no one could see them take Nancy down the front walk, put her in the vehicle, and then leave in the vehicle. And we know that they exited this way because of the blood on the front porch that wasn’t there when the intruder approached the camera the first time.

So this change of exit plan explains the following:

1) The front door video occurs while leaving the house and not while entering the house.
a. The intruder at the front door was inside the house prior to going to the front door and was likely the driver of the vehicle.
b. This explains the full backpack used by the intruder at the front door. It contains objects taken from inside or outside the house like possibly cameras, and other objects of value, and not just tools for entering the house.
c. It explains why covering the camera with vegetation was an effective action and not a sign of gross incompetence.

2) The intruder on the video at the front door likely had an accomplice.
a. Someone had to guarantee that Nancy would not call the police while the intruder was at the front door.
b. Someone had to guarantee that Nancy would not call the police while someone else disabled cameras and flood lights before exiting the house, which could have caused sounds that Nancy might have heard. (Nancy was hard of hearing and used hearing aids, but the kidnappers likely did not know this ahead of time).
c. The intruder appears to not have full use of his right hand, right elbow, and right leg, making it difficult for him to climb to the roof to remove cameras.
d. If the intruder did not have an accomplice, then he had to ensure that Nancy could not call the police while he was absent by tying her up with tape or cord. But it still would have been risky to leave her alone.

3) Change of exit plan does not depend upon how Nancy entered her house prior to her kidnapping.

4) Change of exit plan does not depend upon how the kidnappers entered the house.
a. Either Nancy left the back door unlocked, or
b. Someone else had left the back door unlocked, or
c. The kidnappers picked the lock on the back door. (There was no forced entry).
d. The kidnappers could have entered the house via a sliding door to the bedroom. In this case they would have still planned to exit via the back door because exiting via the sliding door would have required the victim to climb over a low brick wall. The rear porch did not have a sliding door.

5) The camera removed by the FBI from the roof of the guest house would have seen all entry and exit movements by any intruders via the back door. This camera was overlooked by the kidnappers because it was not on the roof of the main house. At this time only the FBI knows how much of this video data was stored within this camera, stored onsite in the house, or transmitted to the cloud. Perhaps some data was stored. Perhaps none was stored.

I’ve been thinking that maybe he tripped and while walking around the yard in the dark and landed on his right side and sprained his hand.

 

[Napoli]

The question is, why didn't it happen?

Because the ransom wasn't paid. jmo

 

[warp3dwing]

There is a limit to what you can search in many mines. I have gone through many and some platforms and vertical shafts are very old and dangerous. There are toxic gases, water tables, collapsing sides,, etc.. What it would take to search those randomly is not something that would be done without some kind of tip leading to a specific one. JMO based on my own experience setting up crazy people on safety descenders.

Send a sniffer and camera down on a rope.

 

[Chimera]

Sheriff Nanos locks down Nancy Guthrie kidnap probe

A bitter turf war has erupted in the Nancy Guthrie case, with insiders claiming Sheriff Chris Nanos has locked down the probe and sidelined the FBI.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has 'locked down' the Nancy Guthrie investigation amid escalating tensions between his team and the FBI that have reached the boiling point, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Several sources say that Nanos is now insisting that only he and two of his highest-ranking inner circle will make decisions regarding the case of the missing 84-year-old.
Rbm.
Oh that's so helpful ... not !

They need all hands on deck for Nancy.
Sadly I'm doubting she is alive, but will hope along with others here at WS.
Smh at what looks like someone's hubris destroying any chance of finding Nancy alive.

So sorry for her family members !
Jmo.

 

[Kapua]

As a few people said earlier today I'm at the point where reading posts and thinking about what could have happened is exhausting. So many days and so much media that is not reliable theorizing based on info that isn't factual or is misleading and labeling their theory as fact. Add to that the facts being reported by reliable sources and I feel like I'm in a tornado unable to keep straight what is true what is theory and what is just bs.

I don't feel alone at least as I've seen others here doing the same thing I'm doing in my head "I know someone said X but I can't remember if it was the neighbor or was it the sheriff and what day was that" and then going off to hunt for it and not being able to find it. So frustrating right? I took a break this morning and I'm going to step away this afternoon as well.

There is one thing I know for sure and I keep seeing it come up in here and just need to say my opinion. Whatever SG chooses to do from here with her career is something we don't know and I don't think we should even speculate about it. It's not relevant to solving this case. She will do the best thing for her and her family. I remember when KC's (past cohost of the Today show) husband died of colon cancer at age 42. She came back to Today after just a few days because she said it helped her think about something else for several hours a day. And then she launched a public campaign about getting colonoscopies and talked about that on the Today show. She even had a colonoscopy live on the show. She turned her grief into positive actions.

People process grief in different ways. That was KC's way and SG will have her own way but please, let the DM speculate if they want but can we just not?

And as always, this is Just My Opinion.

One thing that would be very helpful is if everyone who posts a media report would add it to the MEDIA, MAPS, TIMELINE thread.

 

[Jade]

IMO He's a controversial person here and it's showing even to people who don't live here. Everyone in this thread and those who follow the case want NG found-which means the sheriff succeeds in some way should this happen. IMO if it does not happen, unfortunately it would not surprise many who live here IMO.

I haven't met a Sheriff that isn't controversial or that had'nt had a faction against him.

It's political, imo. It's more overt when it used to be covert. Even in the middle of a active investigation they can't accept its his job and he is working it as elected.

Further It's condemning the deputies and the whole team working hard at their jobs when they need support the most. They have lives that need attention too as this draws on.

Even sort of conceding the SO succeeds in some way sounds so reluctant!


Imo

 

[Katrinepa]

So sorry for your loss - that is awful.

I was basically making the point that LE wouldn't have details at the scene that tells them that Nancy was removed from the scene "against her will" if those theorizing that she was killed somewhere else and the perp(s) then staged a kidnapping were correct.

So many Ifs I feel so sorry for the family. The stress is horrific. Sadly, I think she is probably no longer alive, but the family will not be able to rest, or find any peace until she is found, dead or alive. The unknown is the worst part. Also, without knowing a motive, the family and neighbors will be constantly worried and afraid.

 

[shonyakay]

Trying to tread as lightly as possible here but under Arizona law if the person was already deceased when moved, the act cannot be kidnapping. If the person was restrained while alive, moved, and then died, it is kidnapping resulting in death.