Nancy Guthrie, 84, the mother of NBC host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home on February 1, 2026. She was reported missing after not showing up to her regular Sunday church service.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced that her disappearance is being treated as a crime. The announcement came after “concerning evidence” was found at her home.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said at a press conference, “We believe now, after we 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.”
“This community has always stepped up to help us solve some pretty tough crimes. I am looking for that again,” said Nanos. It was also revealed that the woman had “no cognitive issues” despite her age.
However, she was “limited in her mobility,” which further pushes the theory that Nancy might have been abducted from her home.
Savannah Guthrie’s brother, Camron Guthrie, was photographed for the first time since his mom, Nancy, went missing arriving at their sister Annie’s house. 📸: BACKGRID pic.twitter.com/6VbmBqe20C
— Page Six (@PageSix) February 4, 2026
As the probe continues, authorities revealed why they failed to recover security camera footage from Savannah Guthrie‘s mom’s home, which could have served as solid evidence for her disappearance.
On Thursday, Nanos said, “At 2:12 a.m. [local time], software detects a person on a camera, but there’s no video available; they had no subscription and therefore it would rewrite itself.”
According to OK Magazine, the sheriff, the elderly woman’s doorbell camera was disconnected at around 1:47 a.m. on February 1. As she did not subscribe to the camera’s service, the footage from the time of her disappearance could not be recovered.
At the press conference, the Pima County Sheriff said, “It just kind of loops and covers up. That’s what our analysis teams have told us. Could [the movement] be an animal? I imagine that’s possible. We don’t know that. We just have no video.”
Someone disconnected the doorbell camera at 1:47am. Software detected a person on camera at 2:12am. Whoever went in and grabbed Nancy Guthrie waited 25 minutes to make an entrance after the Ring camera was turned off. pic.twitter.com/iHhUHyLLTn
— Rose (@901Lulu) February 5, 2026
According to The Sunday Guardian, authorities are not ruling out a potential tragic end to the case, but the search continues, as some remain hopeful. The Pima County Sheriff has revealed that no persons of interest or suspects have been identified so far.
Authorities also discovered blood on Savannah Guthrie’s porch, which solidified the belief that a crime had certainly taken place at her Tucson home. The blood was confirmed to be hers.
The investigation into her disappearance intensified after several media organizations began receiving ransom notes. Some of these seemed to be credible as they demanded money and even set deadlines.
According to TMZ, one such ransom note demanded millions of dollars in bitcoin. It also described damage that might have occurred during the abduction. However, authorities remain unsure of whether these notes are all real.
