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

[Napoli]

I believe the ransom notes were opportunists. If the ransom actually had any proof of life then I believe they may of paid it. Savannah said they would pay, but there wasn’t any proof or instructions. Giving a bitcoin address isn’t legit. If this was truly a kidnap for ransom then proper steps would’ve been taken right away. She’s 84, so maintaining her health isn’t something you want to risk if money is your motivator. JMO

Savannah said she would pay but that was after the video asking for proof of life. it was in the video, "we understand. we will pay. maybe she didn't mean pay MONEY. We will PAY in emotions and misery or guilt or fear or sorrow. We will PAY may not have meant money. JMO

Savannah Guthrie tells mother's possible kidnapper 'we will pay' in new video

“We received your message and we understand,” the “TODAY” co-anchor said in the video. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her."

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Bluewing3102]

By viable I mean legitimate directions, like “the money goes here and she will be released there” or showing any proof that they actually have her alive. Anyone can give random details and a bitcoin address, that’s not enough to substantiate a ransom.

I know what you are saying. To be fair though there were instructions. The initial ransom said deliver this amount to this address by this deadline. The ransom according to HL of TMZ- stated upon payment NG would be returned to a location in Tucson within x hours. And they gave specific location of her apple watch. I understand proof of life was not provided, but imo that doesn't automatically mean these weren't legitimate. Criminals often deviate from original plans when they realize things aren't going their way. Also some criminals don't plan things the best. There is no class "criminal 101 how to write a ransom".

We also don't know the exact details of this letter, but the news stations who were sent it all seemed to agree on its content.

JMO

 

[TheDinks]

I hope this is ok to post, but I just saw a video of 2 men at the Tucson Gem show where one of them allegedly took a Gold Specimen out of a case and the man in white pronates(walks on the outside of his right foot) as he walks in the 1st video and he bends like the perp w/backpack on porch in the second video. His facial shape and hair are similar to porch backpack perp. His accomplice is a little thinner carrying a large bag. Has this been brought to the Sheriff and FBI? I’m assuming so? Can someone confirm?

This has been discussed on SM for a while now so am sure LE are aware of it. Just sayin'

 

[Love Never Fails]

I hope this is ok to post, but I just saw a video of 2 men at the Tucson Gem show where one of them allegedly took a Gold Specimen out of a case and the man in white pronates(walks on the outside of his right foot) as he walks in the 1st video and he bends like the perp w/backpack on porch in the second video. His facial shape and hair are similar to porch backpack perp. His accomplice is a little thinner carrying a large bag. Has this been brought to the Sheriff and FBI? I’m assuming so? Can someone confirm?

Why don’t you do that to make sure?

 

[Katrinepa]

Yeah, seriously. We can talk about statistically likely things, but crazy and improbable stuff happens all the time. Any creep could've fixated on Nancy at any time, for any reason. We still don't know exactly how or why BK ended up fixating on his victims.

I just hope there's some concrete evidence somewhere along the way, or someone ends up talking for the reward. Savannah said people could call the tipline anonymously. There's no reason for someone to stay silent if they suspect who could've done this. Let's hope they're moved to report him.

Also, In Idaho, it wasn't a random person. Brian Kohberger stalked one of the girls in that house, and was watching them for a time before the murders. I think he is an Incel, but nothing to talk about here.

 

[stmichael]

Cars have awesome headlights

Night vision problems cause blurring with lights at night. Lights don't help. It's a thing. When I once had to wear special contacts that are thicker than normal and wonky I couldn't drive at night. If you watch the night drive video in NG neighborhood that environment would be exceptionally hard for people with this light/darkness contrast night vision problem which is more common that many think.

My MIL is in her early 70s and won't drive at night due to this night vision problem. We had Sunday dinners at freakin' 2 pm and she lives in well lit Staten Island. A lot of people have problems with night driving and it factually gets statistically worse with old age as do many things. It's silly to get over-defensive about it.

Anyhoo, money talks and would be interesting to see if the $1M reward lead to a credible lead with this upcoming conference/developments.

 

[LadyL]

By viable I mean legitimate directions, like “the money goes here and she will be released there” or showing any proof that they actually have her alive. Anyone can give random details and a bitcoin address, that’s not enough to substantiate a ransom.

I agree there's been no proof of life but we don't exactly know what was in all the ransom demands. Harvey Levin stated some things on camera and said that he was not revealing other things at the request of the FBI.

 

[Covert Operative]

Does anyone know if the two gem show thieves were ruled out as suspects?

I have seen that and it was talked about at some point as maybe being connected somehow to her missing. I feel like LE would be aware and would have looked into this, but you never know. You could report it anyway to be sure. It was a pretty big story there when it happened, I think. I even thought I remember someone saying it was one of Nancy's neighbors that was having that gem show or connected to it somehow, but I could be wrong on that. I can find information on it and a pic of who you are speaking about but it's an Instagram link I found, and I am not sure that is allowed.

 

[iluvmyelement]

You'd definitely know if it was a hearse, they're pretty unmistakable

I will say they don't really use traditional hearses around Tucson any longer. I used to work next to the medical examiner's office and most of the time the vehicles bringing and taking away the souls were white minivans from the funeral homes.

 

[Sessiebo]

Link?

This is the insta of the business owner that got his gems stolen.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[ab01]

I just hope that if DA office was infact on scene they have enough evidence to secure a conviction. Public and likely even political pressure is extremely high in this case to make an arrest. imo

Although them being there wouldn’t necessarily mean that charges are incoming. We have seen in multiple cases where the DA would make multiple trips to the crime scene just to see where the investigation stood. The Stauch case and the Watts case come to mind.

 

[Serononin]

We need to get back to basics thinking here. List 5 reasons someone would take a body with them?
1. I'll start embarrassment over sexual fantasy, evidence being found.

6. (Or possibly 7, I lost count a few pages back) Something unintended happened which left Nancy alive but gravely injured. Perp(s) couldn't bring themselves to 'finish her off', but also didn't want to leave her in case she survived and identified them, or stay in the house and risk being caught. So they bundle her into their vehicle and figure they'll come up with a proper plan once they're further away from the scene of the crime

 

[Trino]

HMMM. What could they discover that hasn't been discovered in the numerous times they have been there? jmo

Teacher in band with Nancy Guthrie's son-in-law says his HOME was mobbed by ghouls who accused him of abducting her, leaving his son, 6, petrified

[…]

Dominic Evans, 48, an elementary school teacher and drummer in a band with Tommaso Cioni, said his life was turned upside down when he was incorrectly named online as a person of interest.

He told the New York Times that his family were left fearing for their lives when a mob showed up at his home and demanded he be arrested, despite police sharing no public evidence linking him to the 84-year-old's disappearance.

The only tenuous link appeared to be a picture of an unidentified suspect wearing a mask outside Nancy's home on the night she vanished in the early hours of February 1, which some online claimed matched Evans' eyes.

Evans' arrest in 1999 for stealing a calculator and a watch from a bar was enough to cement him as a suspect on social media, with some claiming he abducted Nancy with Cioni - who has also faced a wave of false allegations that he was involved.

The teacher said his son was with his grandmother when the abuse began on February 10, and the mob outside their home forced the six-year-old to spend his first ever night away from his parents because they were too afraid to leave their home.

'It was all night looking through the window, trying to not let any light out of our home,' Evans' wife added, describing herself as 'scared numb' by the situation.

Evans said he was briefly interviewed by investigators about the disappearance, and the Times said he was often 'near tears' as he recounted the experience of being hounded by social media sleuths.

'I feel like someone’s taken my name,' he said. Asked for what reason he was targeted, he responded: 'I don’t know - monetary, clickbait, to be relevant, entertainment - but there are innocent people that get hurt.'
[…]

More at link:
Bandmate of Nancy Guthrie's son-in-law speaks out after he was accused

Sounds like the crowd would have lynched him if they could or attempted to destroy his property. People are crazy. They really thought because he stole a calculator/watch 25 years ago, he abducted an 84 yr old woman?

 

[SRWCF]

This is the insta of the business owner that got his gems stolen.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

OK, OK . . . I see exactly what you mean!

 

[iamshadow21]

Does anyone know if the two gem show thieves were ruled out as suspects?

Shoplifting and home invasion/abduction are such vastly different crimes. I don't see it.

MOO

 

[Bluewing3102]

I wonder if google nest recovered more security footage and handed it to the FBI (since they were the ones dealing with recovery efforts not PSCD). That could explain why we saw them walk from the front porch and then around the left side of the house to the backyard. Maybe they already know which way the perp walked or came from.

JMO

 

[Aqua]

Agree. My dad has similar roles.

My brother does ,too!

 

[Hans Olo]

Sounds like the crowd would have lynched him if they could or attempted to destroy his property. People are crazy. They really thought because he stole a calculator/watch 25 years ago, he abducted an 84 yr old woman?

Plenty of posters here would have cheered them on, too. There was incessant sleuthing and accusations of guilt regarding that person here on websleuths, until mods, thankfully, shut it down.

 

[Trino]

This is the insta of the business owner that got his gems stolen.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Shoplifting and home invasion/abduction are such vastly different crimes. I don't see it.

MOO

How is gem show talk allowed? I posted much about this, and my posts were deleted because gem show talk here was not allowed.

 

[tbgo]

IMHO

This case was a highly planned out and most definitely targeted kidnapping for ransom in order to specifically extort big money from Savannah Guthrie who had the means to pay six million dollars for the return of her mother.

It was/ is a very sophisticated kidnapping for ransom in several ways.
It was without a doubt NOT a burglary or sexual crime.
It was not a vendetta against Savannah per se, she was simply targeted for her wealth
and for the fact that it was public knowledge that she was close to her mother who lived in Tucson.

Both NBC and Savannah realize (after the fact) that they contributed to the fact that Nancy was targeted. In Savannah’s case she will need to forgive herself for the sake of her own health and for those who love her and need her.

I think that ransom notes sent to TMZ and such were possible duplicates of the same note sent earlier to local law enforcement and/or to NBC for Savannah’s attention- just not disclosed as such.
After no acknowledgment of the earliest note(s), the kidnappers cast a wider net to be sure their important note wasn’t ignored - hence TMZ and local news stations.
The earliest note was legitimately attached to this kidnapping and these kidnappers meant business. No further contact, no negotiations for less than six million dollars.
This was definitely NOT a one man operation.

I will reiterate that it is my belief that this kidnapping was masterminded by people who may be local but definitely have connections south of the border - which is 90 minutes by car from Nancy’s home.
I think Nancy was well into Mexico many hours before the alarm was raised by her friends when she missed their get-together for virtual church worship.

Statistically Mexico has tens of thousands of kidnappings for extortion/ ransom yearly.
One could even say it has a kidnapping culture.

The original note was not written by AI but was analyzed as composed by a non native English speaker.
Thereby the original sharp focus on Savannah’s brother in law who was subsequently and rightfully fully cleared.

The biggest clue by far in this case is the porch videos.
Law enforcement should be commended for extracting those videos.
I don’t think there was any extra masking to hide features.
The facial hair in the video matches copious numbers of locals, copious numbers of gentlemen from south of the border and almost half of the US men’s hockey team that just won gold in the Olympics.
In other words, these aren’t unique features.

I don’t think Nancy had a working burglar alarm. Perps would have checked for that before breaking in the night of the abduction.

How is this kidnapping sophisticated?
1) legitimate ransom note is untraceable- very very advanced computer skills on behalf of perps
2) crypto account for ransom also untraceable - would have been abandoned after authorities deposited their “dusting” money into the account
3) no traceable vehicle that Nancy was abducted in to date
4) no mistakes like “knife sheath” left on scene
5) meticulous planning to assure perps are not identified

I don’t believe these sophisticated perps tossed their black gloves out their truck/van window. Nothing will come of any of the gloves.

I think the kidnappers have covered their tracks/ disposed of/ burned the kidnapping vehicle, disposed of/ burned all clothing and accessories seen in the porch video/ disposed of/ burned Nancy’s body. They have abandoned anything that could tie them via DNA to Nancy- possibly even burned down the remote ranch house where they were holding Nancy.

I think that in time, the FBI will determine which group planned this sophisticated, targeted kidnapping but there will be no evidence to prosecute anyone involved.

I think that the group involved in taking Nancy has carried out numerous successful extortions/ kidnappings for ransom in the past and that this one was the culmination of their past experiences and their brazenness in raising the bar to a much higher bounty.

I don’t think that this will be their last kidnapping or that they will necessarily lay low for any amount of time.

I think these kidnappers truly thought that they had a good chance of obtaining six million dollars from Savannah and that they are disappointed/ angry/frustrated that their well thought out plan didn’t bear fruit this time.

I think their wheels are already spinning towards other possible targets that may bear fruit.

Nonetheless, I’m still joining Savannah in praying for a miracle and my heart truly aches for all of Nancy’s loved ones.

Well, joke’s on them, they didn’t get a dime out of this kidnapping.