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Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in Pima County, Arizona on the evening/early morning of January 31/February 1 2026.
This case has made headlines especially because Nancy’s daughter is Today show host Savannah Guthrie.
As some background into the family, Nancy married Charles Guthrie. Charles worked for Phelps Dodge, a major mining company based in Phoenix, Arizona, according to a report on Cram. He was involved in a project in Melbourne, Australia, during the early 1970s, where the family lived briefly.
Savannah was born in December 1971 in Melbourne. Savannah has two siblings – Camron and Annie. The family relocated to Tucson, Arizona around two years after Savannah was born. Nancy remained in the area until her disappearance.
Charles passed away from a heart attack in 1988, when Savannah was 16.
Savannah has spoken publicly about the loss.
Savannah told her TODAY co-anchor, Hoda Kotb, about the moment she first knew “something was badly wrong” after returning home from a night out and noticing all the lights in the house were on.
She walked in the door and saw her mom and sister sitting on the couch and “their heads were bowed.”
“I knew something was badly wrong. The way you can feel it,” Savannah recalled on the Season Five premiere episode of Hoda’s “Making Space” podcast Feb. 21.
“And there’s like an electricity in the air,” she continued. “And I can remember my mom coming toward me to try to hug me and tell me really fast, ‘Dad died.’”
Savannah shared memories of her dad, describing him as a “force,” and “an amazing magnetic, joyous, charismatic, incredibly loving, warm, kind, forbearing personality.”
“Sometimes it feels good if I can have a tear or cry for my father. I’m glad because it’s an act of love,” she said. “It’s me saying, I still love you, Daddy.”
Savannah spoke about how her father had suffered a heart attack when she was 13.
“I don’t think we understood how serious that was,” she said. “And then three years later he had another heart attack, and that one was fatal. It was so unexpected.”
“I think it changes everything. I always think of it as on our calendars we have B.C. and A.D. There’s a before and after. It’s just this stark dividing line,” she said. “There’s before my dad died and there’s after, and it’s profound. Grief is a lifelong process. I really believe that. There’s acute grief.”
Savannah has paid tribute to her dad on occasions like Father’s Day and her 50th birthday. She told Shields that after she became a parent herself, the death of a parent brings with it wisdom that alters who you are.
“When you lose a parent like that, so suddenly, it’s so shocking at 16, you just have some knowledge,” she said. “You just know something about the world that hopefully others don’t have to know.”
After her husband’s death, Nancy worked in public relations at the University of Arizona. She did this in order to secure tuition-free education for her children.
Nancy was living alone in January 2026, in the Catalina Foothills, just outside of Tucson.
Nancy was said to have been active in her community and regularly attended church. She had some physical ailments and limited mobility – she was unable to walk 50 yards/45 metres unassisted.
Nancy was said to be taking daily medication “that, if she doesn’t have in 24 hours, it could be fatal.”
“Nancy Guthrie is of great sound mind. This is not a dementia-related” case, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said. “She is as sharp as a tack.”
Many older and retired couples live in Guthrie’s neighborhood, a resident told reporter L.M. Boyd of member station Arizona Public Media, who visited the area. People are friendly and also tend to keep to themselves, the woman said.
“There’s desert landscape between the homes, thick with cholla cactus,” Boyd told NPR’s Up First. “I saw some folks walking their dogs. But the layout of this neighborhood creates a lot of privacy.”
At around 9.30pm on Saturday January 31, 2026, Nancy was dropped off at her home by family members. They had been on an outing.
When Nancy did not show up for church as expected the following day, February 1, her family was contacted. Relatives went to Nancy’s home at around 11am to check on her.
The family searched the home to no avail and at noon, they called 911 to report Nancy missing.
“We get these calls quite often, and we do a good job of searching the area,” Sheriff Nanos said. “But, this one stood out because of what was described to us at the scene and what we found and located just in looking at the scene.”
Deputies responded and found that Nancy’s personal belongings, including her phone, were still at the home.
The Pima County Sheriff started their search for Nancy who they classed as a ‘vulnerable adult.’ In the press conference that day, Sheriff Nanos said that Nancy is considered “not in good physical health.”
He noted that she has “no cognitive issues,” but she does have “some physical ailments that limit her ability to move around.
Police held a press conference on February 2 and we learned some more information about the scene.
Sheriff Nanos said “We believe now, after we’ve processed that crime scene, that we do, in fact have a crime scene, that we do in fact have a crime and we’re asking the community’s help,” he said.
The sheriff noted that they have reason to believe Nancy was “of great sound mind” and “did not leave on her own.”
Later that day, Savannah made a post on her social media asking for prayers.
“we believe in prayer. we believe in voices raised in unison, in love, in hope. we believe in goodness. we believe in humanity. above all, we believe in Him,” she captioned a photo that read “PLEASE PRAY.”
“thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant,” Savannah continued. “raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment.”
Also on February 2, ‘biological DNA’ that had been found at Nancy’s home was submitted for testing. Sheriff Nanos told the media that they ‘ have taken what we believe is biological DNA-type evidence and we are submitting it to our labs.”
On February 3, 2026, the sheriff’s office announced a reward of up to $2,500 in the case.
“It is a race against time, and I hope that window hasn’t closed,” Sheriff Chris Nanos told NBC’s Liz Kreutz in an interview on that day.
By this time, the search for Nancy included resources such as K9 units, aerial resources and drones. The FBI also joined the search.
Investigators started to trawl through CCTV and neighborhood camera systems for clues.
On February 3, TMZ announced that they had received an alleged ransom note relating to Nancy’s disappearance.
“ Another scary twist in the disappearance of “TODAY” host Savannah Guthrie’s kidnapped mother … TMZ has received an alleged ransom note demanding payment for the release of Nancy Guthrie.
The note, which was sent to us Tuesday morning, demands a specific substantial amount of Bitcoin … the amount is in the millions, and the note demands the cryptocurrency be sent to a specific Bitcoin address.
TMZ has verified the Bitcoin address is real.
There is a deadline connected to the alleged ransom … and an element of “or else.”
Harvey and Charles said in a livestream that she was wearing an item mentioned in the note. In fact, the note says she was not wearing it.
The alleged ransom note also describes another item the sender says was damaged at her Tucson-area home.”
The Pima County Sheriff responded and said they were aware of reports about a note that were circulating.
Despite the case being new at this point, police said they were done with Nancy’s home/crime scene, and released it.
Reporters visited the scene and in videos, you can see there is blood on the porch and her ring camera is missing.
We also learned on this date that Nancy’s Apple watch stopped syncing with her pacemaker at around 2am on Sunday. Nancy’s watch was left behind at the home, which may be an indication of when Nancy was abducted. “Nancy has high blood pressure, pacemaker, and cardiac issues,” the dispatcher was heard saying when giving her physical description out previously.
On February 4, police went to the home of Annie Guthrie and her husband Tommaso Cioni. They were the last people to see Nancy when they dined together on Saturday January 31, before taking Nancy back to her home.
Info from TMZ:
Photos show a deputy wearing an ICAC shirt arriving Wednesday afternoon at Annie and Tommaso’s home … and what’s even more interesting is what he appears to have in the bag over his shoulder.
Now, the ICAC badge appears to be from the Internet Crimes Against Children task force … and the box with a strap over his shoulder is believed to be a forensic extraction device used to access data from smartphones, SIM cards and more.
The Cellebrite Universal Forensic Extraction Device can even retrieve encrypted data and deleted content.
Sheriff Nanos spoke to the media on this day and said that authorities were going with the assumption that Nancy is/was still alive.
“We have nothing else to go on but the belief that she is here, she’s present, she’s alive, and we want to save her.”
Savannah and her two siblings made a public plea for information and for their mother’s safe return on February 4.
“Our mom is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light,” Savannah said. “She’s funny, spunky. She has grandchildren that adore her and crowd around her and cover her with kisses. She loves fun and adventure. She is a devoted friend. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her and you’ll see.”
“Our mom is our heart and our home. Her health, her heart is fragile,” she continued. “She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive. She needs not to suffer. We, too, have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. As a family, we are doing everything that we can.
“We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” she added. “We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.”
Annie Guthrie then spoke through tears, appealing directly to her mother and laying bare the family’s desperation as the search continues, saying, “We are always going to be merely human, just normal human people who need our mom. No, no. If you’re listening, we need you to come home. We miss you.”
Savannah later addressed her mother directly, offering words of faith and reassurance as the family waits for answers.
“Mommy? If you are hearing this, you are a strong woman,” she said. “You are God’s precious daughter Nancy. We believe and know that even in this valley, he is with you. Everyone is looking for you, Mommy, everywhere. We will not rest, your children will not rest until we are together again. We speak to you every moment, and we pray without ceasing, and we rejoice in advance for the day that we hold you in our arms again. We love you.”
Despite authorities saying days earlier that they had processed Nancy’s home and released it back to the family, law enforcement went back to the home on February 4.
“Right now — investigators are putting crime scene tape back up at Nancy Guthrie’s house,” News Nation reporter Brian Entin wrote via X on Wednesday, February 4. “Major police presence here — K9s and search teams.”
Brian also shared that there was a “grid search happening in the wooded area around Nancy Guthrie’s house right now.”
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department told the media that authorities “received a report of a possible trespassing” near Nancy’s home, which is currently being reviewed as are “all other cases within a close radius.” Law enforcement is also “working in conjunction with the FBI.”
This information about that incident is from TMZ:
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department tells TMZ … in early January, an elderly man spotted the trespasser at his Tucson home, less than 10 minutes away from 84-year-old Nancy’s house. The sheriff’s department said the case was forwarded to the unit investigating Nancy’s case for possible leads.
Community members held a vigil for Nancy on February 4.
There was a flurry of activity in the case on Thursday, February 5.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office held another press conference.
We learned that there were multiple ransom notes sent and that police were treating at least one of them as legitimate.
Heith Janke, FBI Phoenix’s special agent, shared during the press conference that one of the ransom notes set a deadline for 5 p.m. on Thursday.
“And if a transfer wasn’t made, the second demand was for next Monday,” he said, adding, “I’m not going to go beyond that.”
He also said “This is an 84-year-old grandma that needs vital medication for her wellbeing. You still have time to do the right thing before this becomes a worse, much worse scenario for you. Please return Nancy home.”
One of the letters referenced a flood light at her home and also her Apple watch, but authorities have said they aren’t sure if that information hit the media before the note was written.
Blood at the scene was tested and confirmed as belonging to Nancy.
Police said they had not identified as asuspect or person of interest at that time.
Investigators confirmed that Nancy traveled to her family’s home at 5:32 p.m. local time in an Uber. At 9:48 p.m., the garage door opened when she was dropped off from dinner by her relatives.
The garage door closed at 9:50 p.m. At 1:47 a.m., her doorbell camera was disconnected, and at 2:12 a.m., the software detected movement, but no video was available.
“Could that be an animal? I imagine that’s possible. We don’t know that. We just have no video, but we’re not giving up on that,” Sheriff Nanos said.
Nancy’s pacemaker disconnected from the app on her phone and watch at 2.28am.
On Sunday at 11:56 a.m., her family checked on her and discovered she was missing. Police were called at 12:03 p.m., and patrol arrived at 12:15 p.m.
“We believe Nancy is still alive,” Sheriff Nanos stated.
“We’re at that phase now where sometimes we’re waiting, we’re waiting for analysis, we’re waiting for lab reports,” he added.
The sheriff also made a statement about the search of Annie’s property and car.
“The car that was at the home, it’s just standard investigative practices. It’s part of the search warrant scene. The court orders, we pull it out of there and do our scene processing with the vehicle,” Sheriff Nanos said.
A Californian man named Derrick Callella was arrested on February 5 in relation to fake ransom demands.
Court paperwork showed that on Wednesday February 4, Annie and her husband each got a text from a VOIP (internet) phone line.
The text read: “Did you get the bitcoin we’re waiting on our end for the transaction.”
According to investigators, the messages were sent moments after the family released a video message asking for proof of life.
Law enforcement traced the phone line and found it was registered to Derrick’s Gmail account and determined the call was made from his California home.
When federal agents arrived at his home, Derrick is said to have admitted sending the texts.
On February 5, right at around 5pm which was the deadline allegedly given in the ransom note, Camron Guthrie released a public statement via Savannah’s social media.
“This is Camron Guthrie. I’m speaking for the Guthrie family. Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you,” he started. “We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward.”
“But first we have to know that you have our mom. We want to talk to you, and we are waiting for contact.”
On February 6, a new message was sent to news agency KOLD regarding Nancy’s abduction.
This info is from CNN:
KOLD said it received the message earlier today through its tip email.
The news station said it forwarded the message, along with the IP address from which the note originated, to law enforcement. While the IP address of the new message was different from the one used in an earlier note to KOLD, the sender appeared to use the same type of secure server to hide their address, according to the news outlet.
“The new note contains information the senders seem to think will prove to investigators they’re the same people who sent the first note,” reported KOLD, adding that it was not releasing details out of respect to the Guthrie family.
KOLD Reporter Renee Romo said on air that the station received the message at about 11:45 a.m. local time.
The Sheriff’s office responded to the new development.
“Investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity,” officials wrote.
We have since learned that the note did not include any proof of life for Nancy, it did not have any new ransom demands. The note also did not include any way for the family to contact the abductor/s.
Officials went back to Nancy’s home on February 6 and they towed a blue SUV from her garage. They were also seen removing some type of device from the roof of her home.
A neighbor of Nancy’s said she asked investigators to look into the roof of the missing woman’s home, as it appeared to have been recently recoated.
Laura Gargano told CNN on Friday: “You see in that image, you see how white her roof is…The previous three weeks we had a lot of rain, so it would be normal for a roof to be a little dirty after it rains.”
“I had just mentioned to a detective just check out whoever was there… if she had recoated her roof recently,” she added.
On Saturday February 7, the Pima County Sheriff said there would be no updates or press conferences held.
“Right now, I have no plans to schedule any further press conferences unless we have some real evidence or something to bring up to you. It’s pretty pointless to just keep hounding the same things over and over,” Sheriff Nanos said.
This marked day 7 of the investigation.
A digital billboard featuring Nancy Guthrie and an FBI phone number has been put up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The use of an FBI digital billboard program comes as the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Saturday they have not identified any suspects, people of interest or vehicles connected to the case.
The billboard program has been successful in previous cases, the sheriff said. Billboards are in the process of being posted in the Texas cities of El Paso, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, as well as in San Diego and Los Angeles, said FBI Phoenix Public Affairs Officer Brooke A. Brennan.
On Saturday, Savannah and her siblings posted a new video on her social media.
“We received your message, and we understand,” Savannah said. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
A new video posted on social media by “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie and her siblings, in which they offer to pay for the return of their mother, suggests the family does not have direct contact with her possible abductor, according to CNN senior correspondent Josh Campbell, a former FBI agent who worked kidnapping cases.
The decision to release the plea publicly on Instagram indicates there is no established line of communication with anyone potentially holding Nancy Guthrie, Campbell said.
“If there is an actual line of communication that is set up, that is treated sensitively and protected,” Campbell told CNN Newsroom anchor Jessica Dean. “That is not something that either the family or FBI crisis negotiators, for that matter, would actually be publicizing.”
Authorities returned to Annie’s home later on Saturday. Authorities were seen searching the home and flashing lights were seen coming from the building – cameras/luminol? Authorities were seen leaving the home after around 3 hours of searching. Some of them were wearing blue gloves and carrying brown paper bags – evidence?
KGUN have reported that the family must pay $6m to the kidnappers by Monday at 5pm.
February 8 marked day 8 of the investigation. Authorities have been seen searching septic tank/water storage ports on Nancy’s property.
The Pima County Sheriff issued a bit of a non statement.
February 9 was the day that the alleged abductor’s stated in the ransom note as the deadline.
The purported kidnapper or kidnappers have demanded $6 million and threatened Guthrie’s life if a 5 p.m. Monday deadline isn’t met, reported CNN affiliate KGUN, citing a ransom note sent to the station.
The deadline came and went with no activity reported.
We have learned some more information in regards to Nancy’s church plans on February 1 and how it was discovered that she was missing:
On the morning of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, NBC’s “Today” reported she was supposed to join friends at a neighbor’s house to watch an online church service of Good Shepherd New York.
Michael Rudzena, the church pastor, said he met with Guthrie when she visited New York. The visits took place after her daughter Savannah Guthrie began attending the church 10 years ago, he said. After the pandemic hit and the church began to stream its services, prayers and sermons, Guthrie started to watch.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department initially had said her absence was noted because she had failed to show up for church, not for a virtual service viewed from a friend’s house.
On February 10, authorities released CCTV footage and stills of Nancy’s alleged abductor. We mentioned in the last episode how authorities believed they were unable to pull the footage as Nancy did not have a doorbell camera subscription. Google worked with authorities – as Nancy’s camera was the Nest brand – and managed to pull the footage from the cloud.
“Over the last eight days, the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been working closely with our private sector partners to continue to recover any images or video footage from Nancy Guthrie’s home that may have been lost, corrupted, or inaccessible due to a variety of factors – including the removal of recording devices. The video was recovered from residual data located in backend systems,” FBI Director Kash Patel said.
“Working with our partners – as of this morning, law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance.”
The suspect does appear to have a gun in a holster on their front waistband.
Josh Schirard, a former SWAT commander and police captain, spoke to CNN and said that the type of holster is not one that someone who is familiar with firearms would use.
“This seems more like a very cheap, off-the-shelf holster that somebody just stores their gun in. And it just happens to have a belt loop on the back of it that they thought that they could throw on,” Schirard said.
He also questioned why the gun was being carried where it was.
“Was it out of convenience? Obviously, the intent wasn’t to conceal it. So was the intent to make sure it was displayed in order to be threatening when he went into that house? Or to be quickly accessed when he went into that house? Or in case anyone came across him?”
Andrew McCabe, a former FBI director, pointed out what he believes is a mustache in the CCTV stills.
“If you look just under his nose … you can see what appears to be a mustache underneath that mask,” he said. “So I think it’s highly probable that this person also has facial hair, at least to include a mustache, maybe more than that.”
“It’s those kinds of details that, individually, don’t mean anything, but when you put them all together, if you know this person, that might jog your ability to identify him and provide that information to the authorities,” Andrew said.
The Guthrie family said they did not recognize the suspect in the video.
In a bit of a ‘duh’ update, Greg McCray, a former FBI profiler told the media that the person’s everyday routine will have likely been disrupted since the abduction.
“His normal routine, going to work, going to the coffee shop, doing whatever — highly unlikely that has remained the same,” Greg said. “He’s got a victim to take care of.”
Jeff Lamie, Nancy’s neighbor, spoke to the media about the neighborhood and its seclusion. His comments back up what we said in our first episode.
“The lots are approximately an acre, but not only are they large, but as you noted, the foliage, the cactus, et cetera, the scrub, it’s very dense,” he said. “Our camera, for example, captures the front of our yard but not the roadway, just because of the distance. So it captures a courtyard and nothing beyond that. And that’s not atypical.”
Our listener Dani also sent in some information via Spotify comments:
“It’s called a dark sky neighborhood. The people voted for no street lights to lessen light pollution. This is for a better view of the stars and also for wildlife reasons. ‘
On day 10, authorities kept searching the area around Annie’s home.
That afternoon and evening, things really started to ramp up in the case. Or so we thought.
TMZ reported on Tuesday February 10, that there had been activity on the Bitcoin account from the ransom letters.
“I can only tell you that we have seen activity in the account,”Harvey told CNN.
KGUN 9 reported the activity and said that the transaction had been for less than $300.
Also on day 10, the Pima County Sheriff announced that they had detained an individual for questioning. This person was detained during a traffic stop. This info is from CNN:
A subject was detained and “is currently being questioned in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in an X post.
The subject was stopped “during a traffic stop south of Tucson,” the department said. The individual was detained near the border, in Rio Rico, a law enforcement official added.
Rio Rico is around 60 miles south of Tucson, near the US border with Mexico.
Around this same time, Kash Patel made a statement. “We are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest,” he said.
After the individual was detained, things became very chaotic in the case. It was determined that the individual was named Carlos. His mother-in-law gave interviews to the media where she spoke about the situation.
After Carlos was taken in for questioning, authorities revealed that there was still no sign of Nancy.
After a few hours of rollercoaster-like news, Carlos ended up being released without charge. He then gave his own interviews to the media.
Carlos told reporters that he had been held from 4 p.m. to after midnight, and was asked questions “like where I was, what hours,” before being told, “I’m free to go.”
The FBI increased the reward for information in Nancy’s case to $50,000. The reward announced by the Pima County Sheriff previously was $2,500.
As each day of the investigation has progressed, this case has become more and more circus-like. The Pima County Sheriff issued a statement and asked people to not call authorities unless they had actionable tips.
“The Pima County Sheriff’s Department recognizes that members of the community may have thoughts, opinions, feelings or questions regarding the Nancy Guthrie case,” the department said in a post on X.
“We respectfully ask that only actionable tips be submitted through one of the following channels: 1-800-CALL-FBI, 88-CRIME, 520-351-4900, or tips.fbi.gov,” it said.
TMZ and other media agencies got another ‘bizarre letter’ on February 11. The letter was said to be from someone who knows who the kidnapper is. The writer of the letter demanded a single Bitcoin in exchange for the info.
“The letter essentially says, ‘I’ve tried to get in touch with Savannah’s brother and sister, to no avail,’” TMZ founder Harvey Levin told CNN. “They said if they want to get the name of the individual who is involved in this kidnaping, send the bitcoin.”
The letter finished with “time is more than relevant.’”
TMZ reported the Bitcoin address in the letter was real and that it was different to the address from previous ransom letters.
The Pima County Sheriff also revealed that they had received more than 18,000 calls to the tip line. Over 4,000 of the calls had come in since the CCTV/stills of the suspect were released.
A black glove was recovered on February 11, near Nancy’s home.
This info is from the NY Post:
Detectives found the clothing item, which resembles the pair worn by the armed perpetrator caught on video, about one and a half miles from Nancy’s home.
NY Post reporter Georgia Worrell was at the scene when the glove was found.
“We were just in the right place at the right time,” Georgia Worrell said.
Georgia said she and the photographer working with her saw a black object on the side of the road, and as they got closer, they thought it might be a glove.
“It had just been discarded on the side of the road,” she said.
It wasn’t until after they were able to see the photographer’s high-resolution photos that they confirmed it was a glove.
The item was bagged as evidence.
This article mentions a single glove, however many other articles mention that a pair of gloves were found.
Media agencies and investigators started to focus on trying to identify the backpack carried by the alleged abductor.
The backpack appears to be an Ozark Trail Hiker Pack, according to a CNN analysis. Ozark Trail is Walmart’s private-label outdoor brand.
On February 11 (local time), Olivia from True Crime Society spoke with Radio New Zealand about the case. You can listen here:
On day 12, authorities asked residents of Nancy’s neighborhood to check their doorbell camera footage for two specific days in January.
Investigators are looking for footage from January 11, between 9 p.m. and midnight, and from January 31 between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., the outlets report, noting there was reportedly a suspicious vehicle seen around 10 a.m. on January 31.
At around 8am local time, authorities erected a white tent out the front of Nancy’s home.
This tent covered the front porch where the blood drops were seen.
Savannah made another post on this day.
TMZ received ANOTHER note on February 12. The note was sent via email.
The first note “essentially says, ‘I’ve tried to get in touch with Savannah’s brother and sister, to no avail,’” Harvey from TMZ said. . “They said if they want to get the name of the individual who is involved in this kidnapping, send the bitcoin.”
On February 12, the FBI increased the reward in the case to $100,000 and released some more info about the stature of the abductor.
The clip, obtained by TMZ, showed a man wearing one backpack and hoisting a second one over a brick wall around 1:53 a.m, before a masked, armed man arrived at the home of the 84-year-old mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie.
The surveillance footage of the man with the backpacks was captured roughly five miles from Nancy’s home, according to the outlet.
The FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office are reviewing the video because the man appears to be dressed similarly to the alleged kidnapper captured in separate doorbell camera footage at Nancy’s home, a source close to the investigation told Fox News Digital.
Authorities have not yet determined if the man is in any way related to the Nancy Guthrie case.
On February 13, we learned that DNA had been found at the scene that did not belong to Nancy or her close contacts. Sheriff Nanos wouldn’t specify where exactly the DNA was found, he said, adding they are continuing to work with the lab.
The sheriff’s department’s lab already has DNA from Guthrie, her family, her landscaper and housekeeper, he said.
“Trust me, if we knew who it was, we’d be on it,” Sheriff Nanos said. “But we do have some DNA, and we’ll continue to work … with the lab on that DNA analysis.”
TMZ reportedly received a third letter on February 13.
In the letter, the person told TMZ that they don’t trust the FBI and that is why they are using the outlet as an intermediary, Levin told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
The person said he wants a fraction of a bitcoin worth $50,000 up front and that they would provide “the name of the main individual” and tracking information, Levin said.
“He also says he will not touch the $50,000 until an arrest is made and once that happens, they can then deposit the other $50 (thousand) and he’ll take the money,” Levin said.
The letter also included some “ominous references to Nancy,” Levin said.
CNN also released an interesting article about ‘true crime influencers’ swarming Tucson.
As the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has captivated the country, a flock of “true crime influencers” has landed in Tucson, and they’re definitely influencing perceptions of the case — for better or worse.
Podcasters, TikTokers and YouTubers are churning out a parallel universe of content about Guthrie, right alongside more traditional news and talk coverage from the likes of CNN.
This was especially interesting given what was about to happen in the case.
As the day turned into evening, we learned that there was SWAT activity.
Brian Entin from News Nation found out where the operation was going down and was on the scene.
Brian was reporting that at least two people had been detained as part of the operation.
News agencies were all reporting varying stories – one person detained, multiple people detailed. Fox reported that a medical examiner was on the scene and then said maybe it was just a white van. Other ‘reporters’ were saying that cadaver dogs had been requested.
Major news agencies were also reporting that someone had shot themselves during a traffic stop. The general consensus amongst the media was that three people had been detained (two males and one female – said to be the mother of one of the males) and one person was deceased.
Online sleuths were trying to determine which house was being searched and people were being doxxed all over the place. Many ‘true crime reporters’ made public statements about a particular person and the Pima County Sheriff actually issued a statement about that:
A Range Rover appeared to have been searched and authorities were seen holding up a shield type material so that the public could not see what was in the vehicle.
After all of the commotion, that went into the early morning hours of February 14, the Pima County Sheriff issued this statement:
This is an excerpt from CNN about how promising things seemed:
Overnight police activity at a home less than two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home suggests investigators are pursuing “a pretty good lead,” according to retired FBI special agent and CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore.
The operation, Moore told CNN’s Elex Michaelson, appeared to be “investigation-driven rather than reactive,” a possible indication law enforcement had obtained information that they believe is important, Moore added.
“When you get a line of 20 federal cars, plus all the equipment trucks, this was a preplanned operation,” Moore said.
We quickly learned that no arrests were made following the operation on February 13.
An unnamed source spoke to the media and said that LE questioned one man but released him, believing him not to be the kidnapper. The man was cooperative.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that a federal court-ordered search warrant was carried out at a residence Friday night in connection with the ongoing investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.
No arrests were made during the search, which was “based on a lead” received by investigators, the sheriff’s department said in a news release Saturday.
Law enforcement also conducted a traffic stop related to the investigation, questioning one individual, but no arrests were made. Officials have not released any additional details at this time.
We also learned that the reporting regarding the possible suicide was incorrect.
“Ultimately this lead washed out. That individual was released. It’s another dead end,” Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller told CNN’s Michael Smerconish on Saturday. “I want to point out we may see a couple more of these as this goes on.”
One thing of actual note in the investigation is that the gun holster used by the abductor was possibly identified.
Nancy Guthrie is described as being 5 feet five inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office. Anybody with any information is asked to call the sheriff’s office on 520-351-4900.
This is a developing story and this blog will be updated as information emerges.
SOURCE LIST
https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/nancy-guthrie-news-updates-02-15-26?t=1771197661363
https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/nancy-guthrie-savannah-missing-mom-02-13-26
https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/nancy-guthrie-savannah-missing-mom-02-10-26
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https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/nancy-guthrie-news-updates-02-14-26