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

[rebel123]

My opinion, fight. If she complied right away, walked to car, no harm to her( right then…). Since she fought, she got injured, bled. Maybe had to be carried out. JMO

I don't think anyone here knows NG's traits, how she deals with situations. SG would have a fairly good idea how NG would deal with this situation. We know her physical condition, health, mobility etc. For example had she been in the army, police etc. we could make some reasoned comments as to what she might do in a particular situation.

 

[OldCop]

Most landscapers and people who work outside in the desert or other hot areas wear long sleeve shirts to protect from the sun. I wear a light cotton jacket in the summer when outside for the same reason. It is actually hotter when your bare skin is being exposed to the sun for prolonged periods of time. Also, in Tucson in February the mornings would be on the cooler side because of the dry air, which heats fast when the sun is out and cools fast when the sun goes down.

Good points.

 

[Lebowski]

the one trait i feel very certain about from looking at the video is the relative positioning of the eyes and mouth.

draw a triangle connecting the centers of the eyes to the center of the upper lip. measure the degrees of the three angles. i feel like those numbers are going to be well-defined, are not going to change with facial expression, and will have enough variation from person to person, to be fairly specific to lantana man. i also think that geometry is unlikely to be thrown off by any second mask underneath, if anyone's worried about that. if nothing else, i think we are seeing his actual eye and mouth positions.

little worried about distortion from the camera's wall-eye effect, but that can be corrected for by modeling the distortion, plus looking at multiple still frames, etc. edit: also have to correct for whether his face is pointed straight at the camera.

i've had it in the back of my mind for a while to do this myself, but i've been busy and lazy.

AI tells me this is a subset of facial recognition techniques and is probably included and/or implicit in software that investigators are likely already using to compare lantana man to specific suspects. as one would guess, it can rule people out, but the geometries aren't unique enough to positively identify a match.

so i can spare myself the trouble of never getting around to it

 

[SaraSmile]

Good points.

Yes, I live in S CA in a desert area, though not as extreme as Tucson. The gardeners always completely cover up, with long sleeves, long pants, big hat with attached neck cover.

In desert areas like Tucson, IMO, it is not only extremely hot, with full sun, few clouds, but also, most shade trees do not grow there. As we saw in videos of Tucson, the desert landscape is wide open, and does not provide a shady place to sit under a tree with an ice tea!

I lived in Saudi Arabia at one time( extremely hot desert area), and the same applied there. All the local Arab men wore the long, white, loose dress looking apparel. Plus the head scarf( red white checkers), with a rope to secure, shields head and neck. The women wore black long dresses, head dress( in public), as they were mostly indoors.

JMO

 

[buffalogal]

I think the searches yielded some good information for them. We won’t know exactly what it is though.
Here’s a local article on what the sherrif had to say about them. It’s edited poorly with a lot of misspelled words imo.

EXCLUSIVE: Tucson felon confirmed as man detained, questioned and released in connection to Guthrie kidnapping case

Luke Daley's attorney says he has nothing to do with Nancy Guthrie's disappearance and hopes for her safe return.

www.12news.com

"The person of interest gave us a statement, gave us his whatever the warrant was for, maybe petition for physical characteristics of buccal swabs or photos or finger we got everything we needed, and he is set free now.

I agree, this was poorly edited. Does this mean he voluntarily gave a DNA sample, or the warrant was specifically to detain and force him to give a cheek swab?

 

[vereb]

Mystery DNA found on one of the gloves discovered near Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona home matches with an employee who works at a restaurant across the street, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos shared.

Mystery behind glove found in Nancy Guthrie case solved — as DNA finally matched

 

[SaraSmile]

AI tells me this is a subset of facial recognition techniques and is probably included and/or implicit in software that investigators are likely already using to compare lantana man to specific suspects. as one would guess, it can rule people out, but the geometries aren't unique enough to positively identify a match.

so i can spare myself the trouble of never getting around to it

Aww, we were so looking forward to our geometry lesson for the day!
Thanks for the idea, for someone to tackle.

 

[Former Reporter]

I think the searches yielded some good information for them. We won’t know exactly what it is though.
Here’s a local article on what the sherrif had to say about them. It’s edited poorly with a lot of misspelled words imo.

EXCLUSIVE: Tucson felon confirmed as man detained, questioned and released in connection to Guthrie kidnapping case

Luke Daley's attorney says he has nothing to do with Nancy Guthrie's disappearance and hopes for her safe return.

www.12news.com

Excerpt
“In an interview with 12News Tuesday, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos explained how they narrowed on Daley has a target. His full quote is below:
"We develop a lead and we follow it, and we get it going. And pretty soon it's, oh, wait, we've got this. Oh, wait, we learned this about this person. Maybe that person is a person of interest. Maybe he's a suspect. We develop it. We come back in here and we talk in our own command room right here, somebody from the county attorney, get some legal advice and other FBI agents or other detectives from other agencies. We share this. We go the US attorney at the FBI command post, same thing, and they come up with a strategy. They say, okay, let's get a search warrant. So we go to a judge who either agrees with us or doesn't he signs that warrant. We now have a court order that process goes through the day based on the leave we're following. So in this case, that gentleman, whether it was the one in Rio Rico or the one up here on the north side, at 1st & Orange Grove, we developed a person of interest. We surveyed him. He left. Both of them left their residences. We made a traffic stop on both of them, held them. Per our court order, we had to search the homes. Those homes, people are inside them, family, friends, whatever. We can't have them there. While we search, are they being detained? Of course not. They're free to leave, but they can't be in the home. We knew we were looking for one person at that home, and the other person we're looking for is Nancy. Nancy wasn't there. The person of interest gave us a statement, gave us his whatever the warrant was for, maybe petition for physical characteristics of buccal swabs or photos or finger we got everything we needed, and he is set free now. Does that mean he's not a suspect any longer? No, we'll do our work. We've got evidence to process from the home. What if we find Nancy's DNA in that home? Right?"

And this is where I would have STRONGLY advised the sheriff to say something like this (and I would have sent him out with talking points for every possible press question):

May I have your attention please? Our agency's standard operating procedure for all serious felonies - particularly if they involve alleged kidnappings or alleged death - is to look at everyone who even has a tangential connection to the person who is missing. We also conduct a variety of tests on the site where the incident happened, looking for DNA evidence or anything else the perp might have left behind. Depending on the case, we may work with other agencies, including county attorneys, other law enforcement personnel and FBI agents, as we are with Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.

Once we move past any family members, our next step to develop a list of additional people who could possibly be people of interest based on solid leads and detective work. In this case, we are also using the most cutting-edge technologies available, including search and rescue dogs, investigative genetic genealogy and pacemaker sniffers, in our search for Nancy. Those efforts continue, as any one of those techniques could be the one that solves the case.

When we feel that we have enough evidence to justify a search warrant, we approach the judiciary branch for a subpoena. These warrants are not given easily, so we make sure we have solid reasoning and evidence before we do so. We met that standard for two individuals thought to be possibly related to this case. As we have made no arrests, I am unable to offer additional details related to these people, but Nancy herself or reasonable evidence that Nancy had been there was not present at either location.

What I can say is that we are looking for Nancy Guthrie and we are following up on every credible path of investigation. Our hope is to find Nancy alive and well and return her to the family members who love her so much. That's all that I have to say at this time.

I would not advise the sheriff to give details on the two search warrants, including the individuals' names, unless an arrest has been made.

JMO

 

[Lebowski]

Mystery behind glove found in Nancy Guthrie case solved — as DNA finally matched

oh well

still worth going through them all if nothing else has panned out yet

 

[Lebowski]

Aww, we were so looking forward to our geometry lesson for the day!
Thanks for the idea, for someone to tackle.

i'm still tempted. if i decide to, i'll post what i come up with!

 

[SMK777]

We knew we were looking for one person at that home, and the other person we're looking for is Nancy. Nancy wasn't there. The person of interest gave us a statement, gave us his whatever the warrant was for, maybe petition for physical characteristics of buccal swabs or photos or finger we got everything we needed, and he is set free now. Does that mean he's not a suspect any longer? No, we'll do our work. We've got evidence to process from the home. What if we find Nancy's DNA in that home? Right?"

Snipped by me for emphasis:

Thanks. Yes, this is helpful to read!

 

[shonyakay]

I feel the same way, it’s embarrassing to have SWAT and then there’s nothing to see there!
JMO

What we see and know compared to what LE sees and knows is oceans apart. Nanos has been very careful not to reveal specifics about anything.

I have no doubt that Federal prosecutors are working hard to seek Justice for Nancy behind the scenes.

 

[Miss Poovy]

May be purchased at my local gas station for $8.99 & I live in a hot climate.

 

[cherryleaf]

Dbm

 

[shonyakay]

I think the searches yielded some good information for them. We won’t know exactly what it is though.
Here’s a local article on what the sherrif had to say about them. It’s edited poorly with a lot of misspelled words imo.

EXCLUSIVE: Tucson felon confirmed as man detained, questioned and released in connection to Guthrie kidnapping case

Luke Daley's attorney says he has nothing to do with Nancy Guthrie's disappearance and hopes for her safe return.

www.12news.com

Excerpt
“In an interview with 12News Tuesday, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos explained how they narrowed on Daley has a target. His full quote is below:
"We develop a lead and we follow it, and we get it going. And pretty soon it's, oh, wait, we've got this. Oh, wait, we learned this about this person. Maybe that person is a person of interest. Maybe he's a suspect. We develop it. We come back in here and we talk in our own command room right here, somebody from the county attorney, get some legal advice and other FBI agents or other detectives from other agencies. We share this. We go the US attorney at the FBI command post, same thing, and they come up with a strategy. They say, okay, let's get a search warrant. So we go to a judge who either agrees with us or doesn't he signs that warrant. We now have a court order that process goes through the day based on the leave we're following. So in this case, that gentleman, whether it was the one in Rio Rico or the one up here on the north side, at 1st & Orange Grove, we developed a person of interest. We surveyed him. He left. Both of them left their residences. We made a traffic stop on both of them, held them. Per our court order, we had to search the homes. Those homes, people are inside them, family, friends, whatever. We can't have them there. While we search, are they being detained? Of course not. They're free to leave, but they can't be in the home. We knew we were looking for one person at that home, and the other person we're looking for is Nancy. Nancy wasn't there. The person of interest gave us a statement, gave us his whatever the warrant was for, maybe petition for physical characteristics of buccal swabs or photos or finger we got everything we needed, and he is set free now. Does that mean he's not a suspect any longer? No, we'll do our work. We've got evidence to process from the home. What if we find Nancy's DNA in that home? Right?"

In regards to the last sentence - he said the exact same thing in regards to CP.

 

[Tutter]

Maybe purchased at my local gas station for $8.99 & I live in a hot climate.
View attachment 650142

Great, is that next the the duct tape, tarps and shovels?

 

[VeronicaVaughn]

Sorry if this has been covered, but has there been any discussion of a system such as Life Alert at NG's house? One might think that with her age and mobility challenges, having a system installed in case she fell might be a good idea.

If there was a system like that, would the perp have to know that it existed?

Also, I can't take any credit for this idea - a friend outside of WS mentioned it and I thought it was interesting.

MOO.

 

[Miss Poovy]

Great, is that next the the duct tape, tarps and shovels?

It is an interesting collection of items that’s located over the ice cream box. Tiny view of the toe nail clippers, but I cropped out the item next to it.

 

[shonyakay]

I would not advise the sheriff to give details on the two search warrants, including the individuals' names, unless an arrest has been made.

JMO

Nanos explained in a February 13, 2026 interview that they do not name an individual due to an investigative lead.
He said this when a reporter was asking him about the man from the Rio Rico search.
He also didn't give details as to what led them to him.
He just gave basics of the process and explained that they have to wait on what the evidence from the search reveals.

 

[The Missing Canoe]

AI tells me this is a subset of facial recognition techniques and is probably included and/or implicit in software that investigators are likely already using to compare lantana man to specific suspects. as one would guess, it can rule people out, but the geometries aren't unique enough to positively identify a match.

so i can spare myself the trouble of never getting around to it

No worries @Lebowski , I brought up pupil distance hundreds of pages back and was schooled as well! I love WS for all the knowledge packed into one internet discourse.