NBC’s Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother, Nancy, vanished from her million-dollar Tucson, Arizona, home in late January and has not been located despite the FBI’s involvement in the case.
The missing-person investigation has spiraled into a drama dissected by news panels, internet sleuths, and true-crime podcasters, spawning theories that range from a robbery attempt gone wrong to a Savannah fanatic trying to get her attention and more.
Two former FBI agents recently analyzed these theories for a prominent news outlet.
The analysis from the federal veterans came amid the FBI’s pursuit of a new line of investigation in the case.
Former FBI officials examined six theories about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance
Image credits: Nancy Guthrie/Facebook
Jen Coffindaffer and Jason Pack are former officials who recently shared their views on theories surrounding Nancy’s disappearance with the Daily Mail. The FBI, notably, is investigating the case as an abduction.
On January 31, Nancy had dinner with her daughter, Annie, whose husband, Tommaso Cioni, drove her home at around 9:50 p.m.
Image credits: annieguthrie/Instagram
At 1:47 a.m., a masked and gloved figure appeared outside her home and disabled the doorbell camera that captured him.
At 2:28 a.m., Nancy’s pacemaker monitoring app disconnected from her phone, leading investigators to believe she may have been removed from the house at around the same time.
One of the earliest theories in the case was kidnapping for money.
Savannah Guthrie is a prominent TV journalist, and Parade, a celebrity and lifestyle news website, estimates her net worth to be around $40 million.
Image credits: Annie Guthrie/Facebook
Targeting a wealthy family for ransom is not unheard of, but Pack said the case does not follow the common pattern seen in ransom kidnappings, where criminals demand payment quickly and provide proof that the victim is alive.
Although ransom notes were sent to media outlets, Pack believes they may have been intended to mislead investigators rather than to get paid. He suggested the perpetrator or perpetrators in the case may have had “other intentions entirely.”
Image credits: Savannah Guthrie/Facebook
Coffindaffer, for her part, believes the suspects may have initially intended to take Nancy for ransom, but that something went wrong during the crime that led to her demise.
At that point, the kidnappers may have abandoned their plan, she said.
Celebrity stalker theory, burglary gone wrong, and other possibilities
Image credits: Savannah Guthrie/Facebook
The risks associated with fame fueled the second theory, with investigators examining whether an obsessed fan of the anchor may have targeted her mother.
Coffindaffer noted that in her 2024 book Mostly What God Does, Savannah mentioned a kidnapping game she and her cousins used to play as children.
“Did some attention-craving stalker read her book and stage this as a way to get Savannah’s attention?” she asked.
Detectives reportedly reviewed correspondence sent to Savannah and investigated whether anyone had previously made threats. So far, however, no suspect fitting that profile has emerged.
A burglary gone wrong is another theory, suggesting that someone entered the property expecting it to be vacant but encountered the homeowner, which caused the situation to escalate.
Image credits: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Pack expressed skepticism about this scenario, pointing to the firearm the masked figure appeared to carry in the doorbell footage.
“Burglars want to get in, get the stuff, and get out. This maybe suggests that they were prepared to encounter someone,” he said.
Another line of inquiry focuses on people who had legitimate access to Nancy’s property
Image credits: FBI Director Kash Patel
The former agents turned their attention to contractors, service workers, and acquaintances who might’ve had access to Nancy’s home.
“My number one theory is that people with some tangential connection to the household exposed insider knowledge to criminals,” Coffindaffer said.
Police are believed to have interviewed several people who had contact with Nancy in the weeks leading up to her disappearance to determine whether any of them exploited familiarity with the victim and her residence.
No major developments in this regard have been reported yet.
Image credits: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The final two theories involve speculation that the perpetrator may have been a professional hired to carry out the crime, or that there could be a cross-border cartel connection.
Regarding the first theory, suspicion briefly fell on family members, but authorities have cleared them.
Coffindaffer, however, said examining those closest to the victim is a necessary step in any investigation.
As for the cartel connection, fueled by southern Arizona’s proximity to the US-Mexico border, Coffindaffer noted that cartel kidnappings usually involve retaliation, debts, or disputes within criminal networks.
None of those indicators has surfaced in this case.
The analysis came on the heels of the FBI re-canvassing Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood
Image credits: TODAY
Authorities arrived at the property on Friday, March 6, with a fresh lead — a reported internet outage.
Multiple homeowners confirmed to the Daily Mail that the outage was the subject of investigators’ questions, sparking a theory that someone intentionally disrupted local wireless connectivity before taking Guthrie.
The suspected goal of causing an internet failure would be to disable the Ring cameras and smart doorbells that line residential streets in the neighborhood.
According to Pack, however, “while it is a compelling idea, it runs into significant practical problems.”
Image credits: FBI Director Kash Patel
“A radio frequency jammer capable of knocking out wireless networks across a neighborhood footprint is not a consumer product. It is military or law-enforcement equipment,” he explained, before adding, “It is not something you order online and drop in a backpack.”
There are smaller jammers that circulate on “gray-market and overseas sites,” but they are low-powered, he said.
The probe into the reported internet outage unfolded alongside the discovery of a woman’s body in Phoenix
Image credits: Savannah Guthrie/Facebook
Phoenix officials said they were called to the Grand Canal Trail near 27th Place at around 7:40 a.m. on Friday after someone spotted a lifeless woman there.
The discovery quickly sparked speculation that the woman could be Nancy Guthrie, as the canal is just over 100 miles north of Tucson.
That speculation was quashed after the woman was identified as 42-year-old Alex Fleming.
According to The Sunday Guardian, trauma marks were found on Fleming’s body, prompting a homicide investigation.
Image credits: Arizona’s Family (3TV / CBS 5)
In Nancy’s case, meanwhile, police have received more than 40,000 tips, but none have led to a breakthrough.
Savannah Guthrie has offered a $1 million reward for information that helps solve the case.
When combined with existing offers from the FBI ($100,000), the Pima County Sheriff’s Department ($2,500), and an anonymous donor ($100,000), the total reward available for information now stands at about $1.2 million.
“This whole case is so disturbing and upsetting,” a netizen voiced
