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

[cherryleaf]

She very well may have but having experienced an intruder and a gun, I can say fighting back was not on my mind and I'm pretty strong, tall, and feisty. I would be surprised if NG fought.

Edit to add: nobody tried to take me so maybe I'm wrong.

I’m so sorry that happened to you and glad to know you’re still here.

 

[SaraSmile]

Since NG was surely taken in a car at the point in the driveway that the front walkway leads to, I would be surprised if any jewelry was dropped by the perp(s) or NG in the easement by the street. JMO

I think the metal detector people were just locals. That likely saw on the news about all the media, well wishers to memorial, other looking loos, in front on NG’s house.
They thought, good opportunity to find dropped jewelry, coins, other goodies from all the people who came and went for a month.
I doubt they had any official search duty! Haha.
JMO

 

[submarine7]

Likely he was covering up something that might make people see even more similarities between himself and the perpetrator. Doesn't mean he's the perp. He may have a tattoo in the same spot as the perp. He may have wanted to appear bigger and bulkier. I think he was trying to distance his physical similarity and look as different as possible from the perp. He shaved, he bulked up etc.

I do know it was in the low 90s that day and very warm so his clothing was particularly noticeable and incongroent with the somewhat hot temperatures.

JMO

Every photo I've seen of him shows facial hair and he looked clean shaven. He wanted to remove any similarities.

 

[SaraSmile]

yeah but a long sleeve t shirt or thin jumper would do that, it was an odd combo of vest with the shirt under, does anyone know if this is a common style as it seemed a strange but intentional choice to me. I think he was told to dress in a way that’s different to the lantana man video and I also wonder if he removed his facial hair as well for this reason, not that he is guilty of anything but just to help with the public perception.

Likely, shirt and a vest are considered dressed up for a man in AZ, kind of like a shirt and sport jacket in the East.
I don’t think it’s about the weather, in this case. Probably AC inside of studio.
JMO

 

[Justice101]

Anything going on with the case in the last week or so moving towards any kind of solution?

 

[submarine7]

I’m so sorry that happened to you and glad to know you’re still here.

Thank you and I was not physically harmed at all but I know I kept my eyes on the gun and it creates compliance.

I think they purposefully harmed NG. I worry she couldn't hear to comply and they became angry.

 

[Pharmasgirl]

I'm a K9 handler with a SAR bloodhound on a team that also has HRD dogs - I have ALWAYS heard from families that even if the outcome is a recovery and not a rescue, it is FAR better than the not knowing. I've been a part of some heartbreakingly beautiful moments with families and consider it an incredible privilege & honor to be part of these moments. But yes, the unknown is just so...unfinished. You don't want to give up hope but you're trying to balance the reality of odds and it has to just feel so confusing and heart shattering.

Makes one think back to the Jacob Wetterling case...all those years of excruciating heartbreak for his family. PLEASE let some resolve come very soon for the Guthries.

 

[The Missing Canoe]

Every photo I've seen of him shows facial hair and he looked clean shaven. He wanted to remove any similarities.

I am hung up on skull shape, especially the broad forehead area. I do not believe that LD is lantana man but the forehead and the eye spacing give me a feeling of familiarity, if that makes sense. JMO…

 

[annpats]

What's PG stand for?

I wish they'd just say Porch Guy.
Using the initials PG made me thing it was a Guthrie family member they were talking about, and I lost track and got confused.

 

[Skully7100]

Likely, shirt and a vest are considered dressed up for a man in AZ, kind of like a shirt and sport jacket in the East.
I don’t think it’s about the weather, in this case. Probably AC inside of studio.
JMO

I moved from the Midwest to AZ. When I arrived it was in the 90s and I was shocked to see people wearing heavy coats. I on the other hand was sweating.

 

[SMK777]

I wish they'd just say Porch Guy.
Using the initials PG made me thing it was a Guthrie family member they were talking about, and I lost track and got confused.

Same happened to me yesterday.

 

[wibbleflea]

Some people are absolutely who they present themselves to be and others are very good about living behind a mask.

LD is off my list but what you say is true, and I think the latter is exactly how the perp will end up being. A big surprise, even to most people who know him. Maybe not all, but most. I'd be very surprised if anyone who knows him has first-hand knowledge of what he has done. He'll be someone along the lines of Mangione and McKee.

 

[OldCop]

With everything that has been theorized, I can't help but go back to the actual scene of the crime. We have no idea about the inside or back of the house. They are keeping that under wraps. But I cannot get over the fact that they basically left the front "as is." They did not take the front doormat for further testing of fibers or blood stains. Perhaps they got all that they needed from just doing something there, but that just doesn't make sense to me. Also, let's not forget, as far as we know, in the beginning they did not have any video of the perp on the front porch, so they would have no idea about why there was Lantana all over the porch. There was blood, so why was not every piece of Lantana picked up and brought into evidence for testing, again for fibers or any DNA that the perp might have left behind, because again, no video means they didn't know he was wearing gloves. Everything should have been removed and brought in for testing, including the Nest bracket, which they originally took, but it was many days later. The actual doorbell is another, they don't know that it was touched.


Again, they might have the most outstanding forensics team in the world, I am just a guy observing from the outside. Perhaps all of that stuff was tested thoroughly, but wouldn't they want to present any of that for evidence later if there was a trial? My last thing that boggles my mind is that it appears that the whole driveway is not really paved, but consists of dirt and maybe rock. I have heard nothing of any testing for tire marks or anything. The whole crime scene is bizarre. BE just walked up filming the blood stains. Pizza delivery guy just walks right up. Elderly care just steps into the blood scene and leaves a card. I have kind of posted all of this before but it just doesn't seem right. I am NOT questioning or bashing LE, it just doesn't make sense to ME.

I agree with you.
If we go back to the scene of the crime on Sunday morning before we knew there was a crime, what will we see? We will see AG and possibly TC arrive at Nancy Guthrie’s home a little before noon because they were called by one of Nancy’s friends who were worried about her. Nancy had not shown up at the friend’s home to watch a church service on TV and they could not reach her by phone.
When they arrive, they drive up to the garage. Why? Because they wanted to see if Nancy’s car was in the garage. Also, because that seemed to be the way Nancy usually entered her home as evidenced by the garage door opening and closing timestamps when she was dropped off the night before.
They went through the garage and into the house and found something “disturbing” as described by Sheriff Panos. One of them called 911 right away. 12:03 pm.
The next part is mho because we have not been given much information about what was found inside the home and initial LE information like the release of the 911 call, the point of entry of the suspect, etc. We were led to believe that her phone and watch were found inside. There was presumably blood found inside as well. There did not seem to be anything missing.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/02/us/video/nancy-guthrie-missing-crime-scene-vrtc

Enter LE
Usually, a 911 call for a missing person will elicit a response from a patrol officer who takes the initial report. Was that officer met at the garage by a family member and brought inside that way? Normally an officer responding to a call to take a report would walk up to the front door and knock or ring the bell. Once inside, it may have been apparent where a suspect entered the home, but we have not been told definitively there was forced entry.
The responding officer probably called for detectives to respond after viewing the scene. He may have called a supervisor first. Did they also enter through the garage door?
Sheriff Panos, responding to criticism that the crime scene was not secured properly stated that his forensic team spent 20 hours the home.
Unfortunately, I think the forensics team was so intent on gathering evidence inside the home and the point of entry, and garage area, they never checked the exterior of the front door. I find this unbelievable because there was probably a blood trail that led to the front door. Or did Nancy Guthrie try to make a run for it, as best she could and the initial assault occurred inside the front door but, she was dragged back to the interior of the home and it was not apparent she was taken out that way? Either way, there was no excuse for the lack of a complete forensic examination on the exterior of the home.
As you stated, @Mistermagoo, even with the front door forensics examination apparently after the evidence was discovered by BE, the mat and lantana stalks should have been bagged and held for evidence.


A timeline and most information included in this post is available here:

https://www.cnn.com/us/timeline-nancy-guthrie-search

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

6 million dollars is an arbitrary amount that doesn't have any 'dream of' symbolism to us. We don't go around saying "If I had 6 million dollars, I'd ______". But it is roughly 100 million pesos, which is a rounder number and may be a more common "dream of" amount there.

Just thinking about the ransom demand. Have not been able to reconcile such a seemingly random amount of USD as yet.

JMO.

I was wondering about that too and I really like your post.

Another thought I had is that maybe the $6 million is being split evenly between two or three people so any possible accomplices involved all walk away with $2-3 million dollars each.

Just speculating

 

[slowpoke]

I'm a K9 handler with a SAR bloodhound on a team that also has HRD dogs - I have ALWAYS heard from families that even if the outcome is a recovery and not a rescue, it is FAR better than the not knowing. I've been a part of some heartbreakingly beautiful moments with families and consider it an incredible privilege & honor to be part of these moments. But yes, the unknown is just so...unfinished. You don't want to give up hope but you're trying to balance the reality of odds and it has to just feel so confusing and heart shattering.

There was an article that mentions NG, but speaks of a woman from Scottsdale, AZ who mysteriously went missing 60 (!) years ago, and has never been found. There’s a WS thread for her. (Link) The woman’s daughter said her family never received closure or a solution, and so feels deeply for SG.

From 1965 to 2026: Two families bound by missing mothers, missing answers

As the search for Nancy Guthrie hits its fourth week, her alleged abduction draws parallels to the 1965 disappearance of Maria Theresa Ruthling. While investigators now use DNA and surveillance, Ruthling’s family has sought closure for 60 years.

www.fox10phoenix.com

 

[SaraSmile]

The backpack looked new to me, but PG could've stolen it. People walk out of Walmart with pilfered goods all the time. Or it could've been purchased in a state outside the radius of where they're checking.

With regards to the rest of the interview, Nanos doesn't make any sense. Not being able to identify the 2.5 mile car and saying you're looking at "hundreds of thousands of vehicles" doesn't jive with the case being close to cracking. If anything it sounds like it's even more dead in the water. MOO.

Nanos seemed very tired in this interview, not excusing him, just saying.

I think the question about the car, “ was the car identified”? I think Brianna meant what make/model, so the public can be on the lockout.
Instead, the Sheriff thought she was asking if they identified the exact car So he said no, and looked out of touch.

Then, whenever, he thinks he has been made to look bad, or just to distract, he says a big sweeping statement like we will have to look at 100s of thousands of cars. Very dismissive.
JMO

BTW, on STS last night, 4 guests were former AZ LE knowledge of Sheriff Nanos, his tough Sargent, and his dept. They mentioned periods of bad moral, chaos. Other times dept was ok.
JMO

 

[Lebowski]

I'm not sure if K9s were brought in IMMEDIATELY but there was at least one (TMZ - Border Patrol K9) brought in by border patrol after ransom note #1 was received. Their dogs are often cross trained in multiple different "fields" of scent detection.

My girl specifically is trained for live tracking, so the sooner she can get on a scent the better. K9s trained for search and rescue not only work on the trail, they also can find objects with the scent on it which often helps confirm you are getting somewhere. My girl doesn't focus heavily/too long on "dropped" items so you've got a real quick window with her to note it and flag someone to get to it. The science of scent is incredibly fascinating (to me at least) but based on wind patterns and where a scent can "pool" (settling into crevices/dips/brushy areas/etc) you can get an idea of the direction often. If the wind is insane it complicates things. Other weather can enhance/lessen the scent. Thanks to where we live, my girl has trained in crawfish ponds and a foot or two of water, so it can really depend on the surfaces the dog has trained on, as well as the age of the track. Sooner a dog hits the ground running, the better obviously.

My 2nd K9 is training for HRD (Human Remains Detection). He's an idiot mutt and is insanely high energy which is what you want in a dog to cut loose to make a body recovery. These dogs often work a specifically outlined area and they usually run the perimeter and slowly circle in to "clear" an area. These k9s aren't looking for anything but the scent of HUMAN decomposition. Not dead animals, not rotting food, human decomposition only. I have seen dogs in boats locate bodies under water from the gases that come up out of the water, I've watched a Malinois damn near climb a tree to get to training remains located 12-15 feet up off the ground in the tree branches.

Like I mentioned above, before I started rambling about k9s (SORRRRRYYYY Y'ALL) a lot of military and LE handled dogs are cross trained. Our organization chooses not to cross train because we've found that our bloodhounds actually get pretty depressed for several days after making a body recovery. German shepherds, Malinois, Dutch Shepards don't get bothered as much because they are motivated by a different reward, which is why you see more of these dogs in military & LE. Less dogs to house/feed/train. But a bloodhound will always be the superior tracker

To go back to the point of NG's case, not only could/would tracking dogs have tracked for NG, they also could pick up a scent off anything a perp dropped/touched/walked through. As long as they've got a starting scent, dogs will go. It's on the handler to decipher their signals. My girl gets really upset when she loses the scent (ex: scent took off in a car) and it's obvious she's lost it. She also does a "proximity alert" when she is right on top of an abundance of scent and she can't quite pinpoint where she wants to go because the scent is so strong and overwhelming. I've watched her look at her "find" straight on but she waits on her nose to confirm the person she is staring at is the one she's looking for. Just because my k9 isn't trained for HRD doesn't mean she doesn't sometimes make a recovery and not a "rescue". You just never know.

At this point with NG if we see dogs again I would expect to see them in a very specific location that is NOT NGs home. Whether they would be looking for suspects, a body (eek), or evidence, at this point they wouldn't be combing through anywhere other than a place they had good reason to believe one of those things would be & it would look pretty different than what an initial k9 search/track would look like.

it's neat reading about how talented and variable dogs are. they're not just our best friends, they're our oldest friends. everything else we domesticated in the last 5-10k years, after we started building permanent houses and producing our food. dogs have been hunting with us since way back in the paleolithic, 20-30k years ago, when we were literal cave men, and had to catch our food.

it's been a good partnership. we're both smart, and we both use group tactics. and we're both "persistence hunters". we have exceptional endurance and just keep chasing our prey until it collapses from exhaustion. it's unusual in the animal kingdom, and most prey have no way to counter it. it's like a cheat code. infinite free food. ... but we also complement each other well. humans with more brains, dogs with sharper senses. and they're more alert to their surroundings. not going to be caught daydreaming when a saber-toother tiger creeps up on you.

I am so so sorry this got so long. I've either had too much coffee, not enough sleep, not enough adderall or not enough coffee. Only time will tell.

when i ramble, it's usually the combination of too much coffee and too much adderall.

 

[submarine7]

Nanos seemed very tired in this interview, not excusing him, just saying.

I think the question about the car, “ was the car identified”? I think Brianna meant what make/model, so the public can be on the lockout.
Instead, the Sheriff thought she was asking if they identified the exact car So he said no, and looked out of touch.

Then, whenever, he thinks he has been made to look bad, or just to distract, he says a big sweeping statement like we will have to look at 100s of thousands of cars. Very dismissive.
JMO

BTW, on STS last night, 4 guests were former AZ LE knowledge of Sheriff Nanos, his tough Sargent, and his dept. They mentioned periods of bad moral, chaos. Other times dept was ok.
JMO

They also mentioned an atmosphere of punishment and apathy due to the rule with an iron fist approach, attributes to Nanos' Sargent. It sounds messy.

 

[Sticksandspades]

I was wondering about that too and I really like your post.

Another thought I had is that maybe the $6 million is being split evenly between two or three people so any possible accomplices involved all walk away with $2-3 million dollars each.

Just speculating

I thought the initial ransom amount was 4m and if the deadline passed it went to 6m.

Ransom Demand Breakdown

• $4 Million (Initial Demand): The first ransom note, received around February 2, 2024, demanded $4 million in Bitcoin. The deadline for this payment was set for 5:00 p.m. local time on Thursday, February 5, 2026.
• $6 Million (Escalated Demand): The same note specified that if the initial $4 million was not paid by the first deadline, the demand would increase to $6 million in Bitcoin. This final deadline was set for 5:00 p.m. local time on Monday, February 9, 2026.

 

[Pharmasgirl]

When older women were young, we were told that once you get into a car with a man abducting you, it is high probability you will be SA and killed. So fight like hell, you have nothing to lose.

Also the women in the group I was talking to were saying they did not get to this stage of their lives to let some punk a** kid males push them around. Hell no.

So I wondered if NG felt the same way.

While I'm not quite Nancy's age, I identify with your statement. When I was quite young I was jumped from the back seat while in my car. The only thing that saved me was keeping my left leg hanging out the door so the perp could't close it. With a knife in one hand, trying to hold onto me, he was unable to reach across me to try to close the door. I had always heard "Don't EVER let the door close...nothing good will come of it." Fortunately with my screaming and people walking by, he took off.
The next day was Thanksgiving...and I've NEVER been so thankful to have been able to celebrate with my family. Every Thanksgiving has new meaning...with a warning to be remembered.