The Disappearance of Nancy Guthrie Is the Kind of Story That Invites a Few Theories

The mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie has been missing since Jan. 31, 2026. Nancy Guthrie was last seen at approximately 9:45 p.m. when her other daughter dropped the 84-year-old off at her home just outside of Tucson, Ariz. When police were able to search Nancy's house, they found drops of blood on her front porch, a missing security camera usually affixed to the front door, and no sign of forced entry into her home.

Three ransom notes have been sent to two separate media outlets following Nancy's disappearance. One sent to TMZ was debunked. The person behind it was subsequently arrested. The remaining two were sent to Tucson television station KOLD News 13 via their tip system. Police have yet to verify the validity of those notes. Because there are few answers to a cascade of questions, theories are popping up. Let's take a look at a few.

Retired FBI special agent Rich Frankel is a former hostage negotiator for the bureau. He spoke with ABC News about aspects of Nancy's situation that seem off, especially regarding the ransom notes. "You may have an abductor communicating, but we're not even sure of that yet because there was no proof of life on either emails or text, whatever they got," he said. "There hasn't been a lot of evidence."

Another former federal agent told Fox News he is skeptical that Nancy was actually abducted. Like Frankel, former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker is concerned about the lack of proof of life. He also theorized that there might be opportunists who are toying with the Guthrie family, in an attempt to "exploit the situation."

Dan Bongino, who went from hosting a podcast to serving as Deputy Director of the FBI, then back to podcast host, also has a few thoughts about Nancy's abduction. "The second possibility would be this was just a crime that went awry," said Bongino to Fox News's Sean Hannity. "Something went bad, and that you've got some bad actors committing another crime, unrelated in other words, requesting a ransom for something you didn't do just to take advantage of a situation like this."

The right-wing podcast host also tossed out the possibility of a medical emergency. Authorities have confirmed that Nancy has a pacemaker and takes daily medication for chronic heart issues. "When you can't find someone at a crime scene like this right away, within the first couple of days," said Bongino, "you either have really good surgical type operators, or the story you've been told, or you may have believed may not be the story."

Former Denver FBI agent Jonny Grusing told Hannity he worked multiple home invasion cases where "people going into the house were seeking money or jewelry or drugs or whatever ... and somebody's in there, and then they have to deal with that somebody." He continued, "Lots of bad things can happen if you enter a house and someone's there, and you don't suspect they're going to be there."