Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in Pima County, Arizona on January 31, 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, earlier 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 noone, 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.
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://people.com/savannah-guthrie-mom-disappearance-timeline-11898500
https://madison.com/news/nation-world/article_e6d7ad75-79a9-5245-8c09-2570c67e674b.html
https://www.today.com/parents/savannah-guthrie-father-death-rcna98604
https://people.com/all-about-savannah-guthrie-family-dad-siblings-11898271
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Nancy_Guthrie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah_Guthrie
https://www.wunc.org/2026-02-03/what-we-know-about-savannah-guthries-missing-mother
https://people.com/reward-offered-savannah-guthrie-missing-mom-nancy-appeal-to-public-11898227
https://www.tmz.com/2026/02/03/nancy-guthrie-alleged-ransom-note-bitcoin-millions
https://www.aol.com/articles/savannah-guthries-mom-nancys-blood-231252236.html
https://www.tmz.com/2026/02/04/nancy-guthrie-kidnapping-neighborhood-trespassing-case
