Everything You Need To Know About the Nancy Guthrie Disappearance

It began the way most evenings do — dinner with family, a ride home, a garage door rolling up, then down. Nothing dramatic. Nothing ominous. Just the quiet rhythm of an 84-year-old woman ending her night.

And then she was gone.

Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on the evening of Saturday, January 31st, 2026. What followed was not a slow-building missing person case, but a rapidly escalating investigation that now involves the FBI, possible ransom demands, forensic evidence, and a desperate family plea that has gripped national attention.

President Donald Trump even weighed in, calling the situation “very unusual,” a rare acknowledgment of a case that has quickly moved beyond local news in Tucson, Arizona.

But how did a routine Saturday night become something far darker?

1. The Last Confirmed Sighting

The timeline is precise, and that precision matters.

At 5:32 p.m., Nancy took an Uber to her daughter Annie’s house for dinner. By all accounts, the evening was normal — family time, conversation, no signs of distress.

At 9:48 p.m., Annie’s husband, Tomaso Chion, drove Nancy back to her home.

At 9:50 p.m., the garage door closed behind her.

That moment is now the final confirmed sighting of Nancy Guthrie.

What makes this so chilling is how quickly the ordinary details hardened into what investigators now call a “narrow investigative corridor.” There was no long window of uncertainty — just a quiet night, then a blank space that begins before dawn.

2. Sunday Morning: The First Red Flag

If there’s one detail that shifts this from “concern” to “crisis,” it’s this — Nancy didn’t show up for church.

She was supposed to be there on Sunday, February 1st. She wasn’t. That break in routine was immediate cause for alarm. Family reported her missing that day.

In true crime storytelling, it’s easy to gloss over that as just another sad detail. But in real investigations, routine is everything. When a person who is consistent suddenly isn’t, that’s often the first reliable data point investigators have.

At the same church where Nancy should have been, prayers were said for her safe return. Meanwhile, a search was already beginning.

3. What Was Left Behind

As investigators entered Nancy’s home, the situation became more concerning.

Her iPhone was still inside — a major red flag, especially for someone her age.

Even more troubling, there were issues with home surveillance. A Ring doorbell camera appeared to have been forcibly removed. It had been disconnected at 1:47 a.m., but still detected movement at 2:12 a.m. Unfortunately, Nancy didn’t have an active cloud subscription, so no footage was saved.

Then came another crucial piece of data — her pacemaker stopped transmitting around 2:30 a.m.

That timing is critical. It places the most important window of the case in the deep overnight hours, when streets are empty, neighbors are asleep, and movement can go unnoticed.

Investigators now had three intersecting problems:

• A disconnected camera
• A missing phone
• A pacemaker that stopped communicating

Individually, each could have an explanation. Together, they painted a much more alarming picture.

4. The Desert Complication

Nancy’s neighborhood is deliberately dark at night to accommodate nearby observatories. That means fewer lights, fewer cameras, fewer chances of capturing anything on video.

Police have acknowledged they don’t have much hope that home security footage will solve this case. That reality makes every piece of digital evidence — device logs, transmission gaps, camera movement — even more important.

5. FBI Involvement and an Expanding Search

This case escalated quickly.

The FBI joined the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, and a $50,000 reward was announced for information leading to Nancy’s recovery or an arrest.

Investigators didn’t just search the house — they combed infrastructure points like a manhole, examined a septic tank, and repeatedly returned to the property. Crime scene tape went back up. This was no longer a missing senior case — it was being treated as a potential abduction.

Law enforcement also searched the home of Nancy’s daughter Annie and her husband, which is standard procedure in cases like this — mapping timelines, access points, and possible evidence paths.

As one official put it bluntly: “We are operating as if this was done to her, not simply something that happened to her.”

6. The Blood Evidence

Then came the detail that changed everything.

Blood found on Nancy’s porch was confirmed to be hers.

That confirmation did two things at once.

First, it tied a physical event to the home itself — something happened there. This was no longer just a disappearance.

Second, it raised the urgency of every lead. If there was blood, there may have been a struggle, or at least a situation that couldn’t be explained away as confusion or miscommunication.

Investigators rushed that sample to a lab, prioritizing it over other evidence. They knew how important it was.

At the same time, officials confirmed that Nancy requires daily medication. With each passing day, the risk to her life increases dramatically.

7. The Ransom Messages

This is where the case gets even stranger.

Multiple alleged ransom messages were sent — not just to the family, but to media outlets.

The first appeared on February 2nd, sent to an Arizona news station. More followed, including to TMZ, AP, and People. Some included deadlines — February 5th, then February 9th.

One message stood out: a demand for $6 million in Bitcoin.

Unlike the others, this message reportedly included specific details about what Nancy was wearing — information that had not been made public. That made investigators take it very seriously.

But the waters were quickly muddied.

On February 5th, federal authorities arrested a California man, Derek Kala, for sending fake ransom texts demanding Bitcoin. Investigators made it clear — his messages were not directly linked to the other notes sent to news outlets.

The result? A chaotic mix of possible leads, hoaxes, and noise that investigators must sift through carefully.

8. The Family’s Public Plea

As days passed without answers, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings released a video message directed at whoever took their mother.

“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us… We will pay.”

It was raw, emotional, and heartbreaking — a family willing to do anything to get their mother back.

But it also placed them in a painful paradox. Going public can generate tips and pressure, but it can also attract opportunists and scammers.

Law enforcement has been cautious, noting that none of the ransom messages have included proof of life.

Where the Case Stands Now

As of now:

• There is no official suspect
• No confirmed proof of life
• No verified ransom message
• Confirmed blood evidence at the home
• FBI actively involved
• Ongoing searches and forensic analysis

This is not a case that feels like it will quietly fade away. Every layer — the missing phone, the disconnected camera, the pacemaker timing, the blood evidence, the ransom messages — pushes this deeper into the realm of foul play.

For now, Nancy Guthrie remains missing.

And somewhere between a dark desert neighborhood, digital breadcrumbs, and conflicting ransom demands, investigators are racing against time.