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

[emigrate]

I heard about this case as soon as it hit the news on February 1. That day, I was diligently correcting my posts from “was” to “is”. 50% of my thoughts were, “I hope they took her meds”, and 50%, “it is probably too late”. I didn’t think she was killed, I just felt that she would have a slim chance to survive the episode. Sadly, one can be “sharp” and “frail”. I still feel so; I mostly try to respect the hopes of the people who still have them, so I change “was” to “is”. But if on February 1st some reporter, being there in Tucson, used “was”, and not “is”, I’d just assume that to him, it felt hopeless, and never think twice of it.

Exactly, now if it was a neighbor or someone she knew I would be doing the side eye for sure but some reporters nowadays are awful, not even using proper grammar. Not like the old days where they took pride in their job, some do, but many are meh.

 

[shonyakay]

I haven't seen anything from LE about whether the front door was locked or the back door or any other doors at her home. MOO is she used that garage door most often because of the steps on the front walk and that front door with the metal screen looks harder to open.

"Forced Entry" came from AB's source. As well as the back door being open. The source was right about there being nest cameras and that the door nest camera wasn't the only one.

 

[LAhiker]

That’s how i would react also. I would have called my daughter also. But Nancy had lived there for fifty years. Probably felt very safe. If someone had actually banged on her door, she may have thought they were really in need of help. I feel like LE are holding back crucial video or evidence for some good reason.

We don't even know if she answered the door. The sheriff initially said there was forced entry but then retreated to not saying whether or not there was forced entry. My guess is that she would not have answered the door, but we don't really know.

JMO

 

[SMK777]

Why is it necessarily a slip? A reporter’s choice of verb tense may be absolutely appropriate or merely poor grammar. The same for a family member or friend of a crime victim. I would hope that police would already be suspicious about someone before considering verb tense as a sign of potential guilt. This level of parsing people’s grammar might be one reason some people don’t make public statements. Of course, only my opinion.

You may be right.
I've always taken it as legitimate on these crime documentaries, but maybe it's not.

 

[shonyakay]

If there was forced entry and the back door was open was there forced entry at the back door?

 

[SMK777]

I feel it’s more likely NG will not be found, nor will her abductors.

This case makes no sense at all.

That's a legitimate fear.

 

[K9Enzo]

Thinking about why this shirt might be significant and what it could possibly tell us. Why was it left there? I'm beginning to think Nanos correctly stated NG was taken from her bed. Here's why. If she was in her p.j.'s when she was taken, she would have wanted to grab extra clothes. I know I would. She leans over to the chair (or whatever object she would leave her clothes on) and grabs her shirt and pants. She continues to hold onto them, until one of them is dropped accidentally while she is being man-handled out the front door and doorway. OR

This is the source of the DNA from the perp(s) They reached over into her hamper or pulled the clothes off the chair or object they were on and lost them on the way out the driveway.

Of course, all just my opinion.

If the shirt was used as a scent article for a USBP K9 the handler likely took NG’s shirt from her dirty clothes hamper. That’s all.

The shirt served its purpose. The handler was done with it, needed to return it, It was not critical evidence. In hasty searches the focus is on getting the dog moving. NG was unfortunately not found. The handler was leaving the scene and probably could not walk back into the house with the activity that was probably escalating so they left it outside the home. The optics to the public don’t look great (I don’t care for it either) but the shirt had already done its job. IMO

https://twitter.com/x/status/2023911617868476741

 

[slowpoke]

Thinking about why this shirt might be significant and what it could possibly tell us. Why was it left there? I'm beginning to think Nanos correctly stated NG was taken from her bed. Here's why. If she was in her p.j.'s when she was taken, she would have wanted to grab extra clothes. I know I would. She leans over to the chair (or whatever object she would leave her clothes on) and grabs her shirt and pants. She continues to hold onto them, until one of them is dropped accidentally while she is being man-handled out the front door and doorway. OR

This is the source of the DNA from the perp(s) They reached over into her hamper or pulled the clothes off the chair or object they were on and lost them on the way out the driveway.

Of course, all just my opinion.

Sounds more like it was an oops by the US Border Patrol K9 to have left it there, jmo.

They used it as a scent article. A scent article for this use, from what I’ve read, is best when it’s recently worn.

I wonder if NG wore this blue shirt to her daughter’s house on Jan 31? Answering myself, that at this point, we don’t know, since it has not been disclosed. But, just wondering.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2023804239315955955

 

[factseeking]

Great movie. I think the last of the Russell Crowe type of interrogations were US intelligence/special forces against terrorists during the Global War on Terror.

I get why it’s passe in LE interrogations today, I really do but I think it’s effective if your sure beyond a reasonable doubt if you have the bad guy.

MOO

I've seen way too many Datelines (or Dateline type shows) where the investigator was sure the person was guilty and used interrogation techniques that are not allowed these days to get a confession out of someone who was innocent. It makes me very glad times have changed.

 

[SMK777]

If there was forced entry and the back door was open was there forced entry at the back door?

Sheriff refused to confirm or deny forced entry. So it's possible.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Public lands include:

All BLM land is public land. It can be leased for agriculture, ranching, and logging, but it remains public land and must be accessible by the public. Lease holders, however, can block access at some points via locked gates with permission by BLM officials. So... being accessible by the public may not always mean conveniently accessible. Likewise, government officials can close it.

Other public lands include National Forests and State Forests, National Monuments etc. These too can be leased, but must remain accessible to the public so long as logging, ranching etc. is not interfered with.

Official USGS topographic maps are a good way to determine what lands are public, and which are private. As for deserts..... vast areas of deserts are public property. For example, most of Nevada is public property in one form or another. Military bases, however, are restricted. Other vast desert areas, however, are privately owned.

Not to nitpick, but not all BLM land is accessible to the public. There is BLM land which has oil fields, grazing rights, other mineral rights granted by the US govt to leasees. While technically public, access can be denied. An interesting fact: there is BLM land and NM state lands (public) in the middle of the Epstein ranch and they were once leased by Epstein. These are technically public lands, but you can google stories of people who tried to visit, hike, or explore these public lands and were challenged by Epstein employees with guns.

 

[VeronicaVaughn]

Why is it necessarily a slip? A reporter’s choice of verb tense may be absolutely appropriate or merely poor grammar. The same for a family member or friend of a crime victim. I would hope that police would already be suspicious about someone before considering verb tense as a sign of potential guilt. This level of parsing people’s grammar might be one reason some people don’t make public statements. Of course, only my opinion.

I didn't mean to imply a slip. I just thought the choice of words was interesting given how early into the investigation it was. Definitely could have been nothing, but I was surprised because it seems to me that a bulk of reporters and journalists tend to choose their words wisely, but I agree that not everyone thinks of words in the same way.

Edited to add that I didn't intend to offend anyone with my original post. This was just an observation and opinion on my end.

 

[LRinCA]

I feel it’s more likely NG will not be found, nor will her abductors.

This case makes no sense at all.

If it was a case of pure revenge, I'm afraid this might be the case. I've thought about it more than once.

JMO/MOO

 

[EncyclopediaBrownJr]

I've seen way too many Datelines (or Dateline type shows) where the investigator was sure the person was guilty and used interrogation techniques that are not allowed these days to get a confession out of someone who was innocent. It makes me very glad times have changed.

Agreed. They probably were going off a hunch.

I remember my dad working Military Police when he was stationed in the Phillipenes in the 80s and he was assigned to patrol with the local police off base. He said if they knew they got their guy and they didn’t talk, the local cops would rough them up and make them talk and get the info they needed.

But we’re not a 3rd world country so I get it. Still there are suspects (like Israel keys) where I wouldn’t mind seeing them get thrown around an interrogation room to make them talk.

 

[agnesgrey]

Question for all WSers...

Which do you think is more likely - finding NG will lead to finding the perp(s) or finding the perp(s) will lead to finding NG?

I don’t think this will be solved, period.

 

[submarine7]

I heard about this case as soon as it hit the news on February 1. That day, I was diligently correcting my posts from “was” to “is”. 50% of my thoughts were, “I hope they took her meds”, and 50%, “it is probably too late”. I didn’t think she was killed, I just felt that she would have a slim chance to survive the episode. Sadly, one can be “sharp” and “frail”. I still feel so; I mostly try to respect the hopes of the people who still have them, so I change “was” to “is”. But if on February 1st some reporter, being there in Tucson, used “was”, and not “is”, I’d just assume that to him, it felt hopeless, and never think twice of it.

It's a little odd but it would depend on the reporter and who was being interviewed. I agree a professional chooses words and I think that most of us are aware of what that shift implies.

 

[factseeking]

If there was forced entry and the back door was open was there forced entry at the back door?

My opinion from the beginning has been if there was forced entry it makes more sense it was at the back of the house. I don't think I've seen pics of the back door but my logic is the front door not only has that metal screen door but it's more likely that someone would see you breaking in. I know it was pitch black dark and the neighbors cameras couldn't see that far but if I were a perp I'd feel more exposed breaking in there.

With that said, I don't know why the perp brought her out the front door which I'm assuming based on the blood.

We just don't have enough evidence to do more than theorize.

All of the above is MOO of course!

 

[shonyakay]

If the shirt was used as a scent article for a USBP K9 the handler likely took NG’s shirt from her dirty clothes hamper. That’s all.

The shirt served its purpose. The handler was done with it, needed to return it, It was not critical evidence. In hasty searches the focus is on getting the dog moving. NG was unfortunately not found. The handler was leaving the scene and probably could not walk back into the house with the activity that was probably escalating so they left it outside the home. The optics to the public don’t look great (I don’t care for it either) but the shirt had already done its job. IMO

https://twitter.com/x/status/2023911617868476741

The dog following a scent of Nancy's that stopped say at the road would be a good reason for Nanos to believe she was taken "against her will".

LE knew early on that dogs tracked Jacob Wetterling's scent and then lost his scent at a certain point on a long driveway. Decades later we learn that the perp led Jacob to that spot where the perp's car was parked, put Jacob in it, and drove away. Rest in Peace, Jacob.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Does this case feel slow because we're following it in real time? I usually follow cases long after the fact, when they're cold or the investigation is public information.

 

[Sticksandspades]

Sounds more like it was an oops by the US Border Patrol K9 to have left it there, jmo.

They used it as a scent article. A scent article for this use, from what I’ve read, is best when it’s recently worn.

I wonder if NG wore this blue shirt to her daughter’s house on Jan 31? Answering myself, that at this point, we don’t know, since it has not been disclosed. But, just wondering.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2023804239315955955

This seems to confirm that K-9 units were used initially. Perhaps the handlers didn’t get a hit so the running assumption is that she was taken from the property in a vehicle. LE has focused on cars/suvs and less so on large volunteer searches near the property.