Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing from her home in Tucson, Arizona on February 1, 2026. Authorities believe she was abducted in the early morning hours after being last seen by a family member the previous evening around 10:00 PM.
5:32 PM: Nancy took an Uber to Annie and Tommaso's home for dinner.
9:48 PM: Nancy was dropped off at her home by Tommaso after dining at his and Annie's home approximately 4 miles away.
9:50 PM: Tommaso waited until Nancy was inside before driving off. The garage door closed at 9:50 PM, indicating she was home and, authorities assume, preparing for bed.
1:47 AM: Nancy's Nest doorbell camera went offline at 1:47 AM. This marks the first technical anomaly in the hours after she was last seen.
2:12 AM: Home security software detected a person on camera at 2:12 AM, approximately 25 minutes after the doorbell camera went offline. However, no video was available from this detection, indicating the camera had already been disabled. Footage captured before the disconnection showed a masked suspect at Nancy's front door.
The exact date / time this image was captured remains under investigation.
2:28 AM: Roughly 40 minutes after the doorbell camera went offline, Nancy’s pacemaker lost its remote monitoring connection. Officials have not confirmed the exact mechanism.
The pacemaker has no GPS capability and cannot be tracked remotely. It will continue functioning on its own indefinitely, and is not designed to keep her heart beating and "not to function like a live health tracker or GPS device," per cardiologist Dr. Antony Chu.
If the device is ever recovered, investigators can directly interrogate it to retrieve time-stamped cardiac data. If she does not survive, the exact moment her heart stopped will be on record.
11:56 AM: Friends contact Nancy's family after she failed to arrive at a neighbor's house to watch Savannah's Albany, New York church service via Victory Church's livestream. When Annie and Tommaso drove over to check on Nancy, they found the backdoor open and the house empty.
12:03 PM: The family called 911 at approximately 12:03 PM to report Nancy missing. According to dispatch audio, Nancy was described as "a white female, 84 years of age, 5 feet 2 inches, medium build, brown over blue," and dispatchers noted she suffers from high blood pressure, has a pacemaker, and cardiac issues.
12:15 PM: Patrol arrived at the residence at 12:15 PM and immediately determined she was missing under "concerning circumstances." Given her limited mobility and dependence on daily medication, authorities immediately launched an urgent search.
6:00 PM: The Pima County Sheriff's Department released the first missing persons flyer for Nancy Guthrie, distributing it to the public and media outlets as their search efforts continued.
8:30 PM: The Pima County Sheriff's Department held its first news conference regarding Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, providing minimal updates to the media and public on the early stages of the investigation.
KOLD Ransom Letter: A note was emailed to the Tucson newsroom and included information that only the abductor would know, anchor Mary Coleman told CNN.
- "Hello Savannah"
- Demand for money with a deadline set for Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM.
- A second deadline for Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 at 2:00 PM if the first deadline wasn’t met.
- Details about a floodlight at Guthrie’s home and an Apple watch.
Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed the disappearance was being treated as a crime. "We believe we do in fact have a crime scene," Nanos told reporters, urging neighbors to review home video footage.
Nanos stated he believed Guthrie was "abducted" in the middle of the night and "didn't walk from there. She didn't go willingly."
2:50 PM: The Pima County Sheriff's Department posted on X stating they are "aware of reports circulating about possible ransom note(s) regarding the investigation into Nancy Guthrie."
The department stated they are taking all tips and leads very seriously and anything that comes in "goes directly to our detectives who are coordinating with the FBI."
KGUN Ransom Letter: KGUN, the Scripps station in Tucson, received a ransom note referencing Nancy Guthrie about 11 hours after KOLD received their ransom letter.
- Specific demands for several million in Bitcoin by Thursday "or else."
- Threatens to kill Nancy if the ransom isn't paid by the following Monday.
- Specific reference to two pieces of evidence at the crime scene.
TMZ Ransom Letter: TMZ received an alleged ransom note demanding payment for the release of Nancy Guthrie approx 12 hours after KOLD received their ransom letter.
- Specific demands for $4 million in Bitcoin sent to a specific Bitcoin address by 5:00 PM on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
- Threatened to increase the demand to $6 million if the payment wasn’t received by Monday, Feb. 9 at 2:00 PM.
- Mentions Nancy was not wearing a specific item.
- Describes another item the sender says was damaged at her home.
- Addressed to Savannah Guthrie.
- The letter began by saying Nancy is safe and scared, but okay.
- The senders go on to say she knows exactly what the demand is.
- Declared the terms non-negotiable.
- Phrase in the email suggests Nancy is within a radius of the Tucson area.
- Gave specific details about her home, bedroom and surroundings (specific reference to floodlights and a white band was on the floor of her bedroom and that her back porch light was broken).
After investigators release the crime scene, media discovers blood outside the front door of Nancy's home, later confirmed to be hers. The doorbell camera that had been mounted near the entrance was also found to be missing.
Savannah Guthrie said their family has heard media reports about a ransom letter for Nancy Guthrie, who authorities believe was taken from her home in Arizona against her will.
5:00 PM: Law enforcement officials returned to Nancy Guthrie’s home Wednesday, Feb. 4. About a dozen investigators were seen carrying items from the home.
Cameron Guthrie pleads: "Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven't heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward. But first we have to know that you have our mom."
5:00 PM: The deadline set in the first alleged ransom note passed without the family receiving proof of life or direct contact from the alleged kidnappers.
FBI Statement: Heith Janke, special agent in charge of the FBI's Phoenix office, made an official statement confirming the existence of an alleged ransom note. Janke said decisions about ransom would be made by the Guthrie family, who have been in touch with investigators. "As with every lead, we are taking it seriously," Janke said.
Reward Offered: The FBI announced a $50,000 reward for information regarding Nancy Guthrie's whereabouts or that led to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Second Ransom Note Version 1: KOLD News 13 and received a second alleged ransom message through its anonymous online news tip system and immediately forwarded it to the FBI and Pima County Sheriff's Department.
- No new demands.
- No proof of life.
- Different IP address but "similar cloaking software".
- Something the senders seem to think will prove to investigators they’re the same people who sent the first note.
- "Basically, it wasn’t intended to work this way but in the course of the kidnapping some things happened and Nancy Guthrie is dead.'
Second Ransom Note Version 2: TMZ received a second alleged ransom message and immediately forwarded it to the FBI and Pima County Sheriff's Department.
- Did not include an apology or any new demands.
- While they were not from the same IP address, the sender used the same type of secure server to hide their address.
Post Second Note Emails: TMZ got about a dozen emails over the next 5 months from someone claiming to know the alleged kidnappers and Guthrie’s whereabouts, seeking some $100,000 in exchange for information. He was afraid that he might be implicated. He had a burglary on his record from 11 years before and apparently he knew these kidnappers well enough that he was afraid he might be implicated.
- He purportedly said he wanted the money so he could go “underground” and avoid retribution.
- Early on, the person who sent TMZ multiple emails saying that he knows or knew where Nancy Guthrie was and where the kidnappers were, and he wanted money in return for information said, “time is of the essence.”
- And then a few days after the kidnapping, he said, “time is no longer of the essence.”
- Claimed Nancy was dead in Mexico and would disclose who was responsible in exchange for one Bitcoin.
Afternoon: FBI agents canvassed homes near Nancy's residence. At least five Pima County Sheriff's vehicles arrived outside the property, with one parked directly in front. Deputies placed orange cones to block traffic in and out of the road.
9:00 PM: The FBI removes a blue SUV from Nancy's home during the ongoing investigation.
Nancy's family released a video message in response to the second message sent to KOLD 13 News on Friday. Savannah appeared alongside her sister Annie and brother Cameron.
Savannah stated: "We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so we can celebrate with her. It is the only way we have peace."
Investigation Activity: KOLD 13 News confirmed that investigators went to a Circle K on Oracle Road in connection with the case, suggesting law enforcement was pursuing leads in the surrounding area.
Sheriff’s deputies were back at Nancy's house after that video release, and a new law enforcement presence was also spotted at the home of Annie Guthrie several miles away, with unmarked cars there for several hours.
Overhead video showed investigators focused on the septic tank in Nancy's backyard. The Pima County Sheriff's Department stated it will continue to maintain a presence at her home for security reasons at the family's request.
~1:45 PM: Savannah posted a message to social media as the search continued into its second week: "Thank you so much for all of the prayers. We believe our mother is still out there. We need your help. We are at an hour of desperation."
2:00 PM: The second deadline set in the initial ransom note passed without any contact from the alleged kidnappers.
Law Enforcement Update: The FBI stated that investigators are not aware of any continued communication between the Guthrie family and the suspect kidnappers. "For more than a week, FBI agents, analysts, and professional staff have worked around the clock to reunite Nancy Guthrie with her family," the FBI told KOLD 13 News.
Both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Department confirmed again that there are no suspects or persons of interest in the case.
The FBI and Pima County Sheriff's Department released Nest doorbell camera surveillance images of the masked suspect at Nancy's front door.
The suspect, described as male, approximately 5'9" to 5'10" with average build, was wearing:
- Black face mask
- Black gloves
- Black Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack (25-liter capacity, sold exclusively at Walmart)
Images show the suspect appearing to tamper with Nancy's front-door camera, covering the lens with vegetation.
5:12 PM MST — FBI Bitcoin Deposit: While suspect images were being released publicly, the FBI sent a 0.00220000 BTC test deposit (~$152) to the Bitcoin address specified in the ransom notes. The transaction embedded an OP_RETURN message: "We are ready to pay. Contact us. https://pastes.io/private-ne" — a covert communication channel offered to the kidnapper(s) via a private paste link.
- Ransom wallet:
bc1qud56tc0gpc6c50v3t0pc980z2e75jvr48plyrt - Transaction ID:
5004328866affcf4078446ab62877ededbd560208dde71d26b7cc8c18c9d2913 - Block mined by MARA Pool (Marathon Digital); confirmed ~10 minutes after broadcast.
- The kidnapper(s) never withdrew the funds or responded — blockchain records confirm $132.94 still held in the ransom wallet as of Jun 27, 2026, more than 4 months after the deposit.
Man Detained: Within hours of the FBI releasing the suspect video, a man identified only as "Carlos" was detained during a traffic stop south of Tucson in Rio Rico. FBI and Santa Cruz County agents took him in for questioning regarding Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.
Gloves Found: Black gloves were recovered approximately 2 miles from Nancy's home and contained DNA evidence. The gloves appeared to match those worn by the suspect in the doorbell camera footage.
8:00 AM: TMZ received a second email from a person claiming to know the kidnapper's identity, expressing frustration that he is "not being taken seriously" and indicating the situation "has changed from Wednesday to Thursday."
Call for footage: Pima County Sheriff's Dept. asks the public for footage near and around East Skyline Drive and North Campbell Avenue that includes vehicles, vehicle traffic, people/pedestrians, and anything they deem out of the ordinary from Jan. 1 and Feb. 2, 2026.
Reward Increased: FBI increased the reward to $100,000 and released a more detailed description of the suspect.
- 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-10 with an average build
- Wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack
- Backpack sold by Walmart for less than $11
Backpack Lead: Sheriff Nanos said the backback became "one of the most promising leads" in the case. "This backpack is exclusive to Walmart and we are working with Walmart management to develop further leads," Nanos said. Investigators reviewed surveillance video from Walmart locations and obtained company records of all backpack purchases from the past several months to identify potential suspects.
The suspect's other clothing "may have been purchased from Walmart but is not exclusively available at Walmart," according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
9:00 PM: The second deadling from the senders of the ransom letters passes.
New DNA Evidence: The Pima County Sheriff's Department announced that new DNA samples from the crime scene have been sent for testing. The DNA is not from Nancy or anyone in close contact with her. The PCSD confirmed that several gloves have been found during the investigation, with the closest approximately two miles from the crime scene.
~9:00 PM: A large police presence was reported near First and Orange Grove, less than two miles from the crime scene. The Pima County SWAT team and FBI executed a federal search warrant at a Tucson-area home.
DNA Results Pending: The FBI announced it is waiting for confirmation of DNA testing on gloves found near the Guthrie home. The bureau received preliminary DNA results on February 14 and is awaiting quality control and official confirmation.
Family Cleared: In a statement, Sheriff Nanos said that all the Guthrie family members, including siblings and spouses, had been cleared of suspicion. “The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case,” he said.
Message From Savannah: Savannah posts another video on directly addressing the individuals believed to have kidnapped her 84-year-old mother, urging them to safely return her.
The FBI continued its broad investigation by visiting local gun stores and showing agents' images to store owners. Investigators were attempting to identify suspects by cross-referencing the doorbell camera footage with gun purchase records in the Tucson area.
At Armor Bearer Arms, FBI agents asked the owner, Phillip Martin, to review a packet of roughly 18-24 images and names to check if any had purchased a gun from the store in the past year. Martin searched his point-of-sale system for all the names but found no matches.
Martin noted that the pictures didn't look like any of his customers, but they reminded him of the surveillance video from outside Nancy Guthrie's front door. He observed that most of the images appeared to be mugshots, with similar physical characteristics like facial hair. "Not every single person looked exactly the same, but I would say that 80% of them were Hispanic," Martin said.
Sheriff Chris Nanos announced that DNA recovered from a glove found two miles from Nancy Guthrie's home does not match DNA found inside her home. Neither DNA sample produced a hit in the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
With no matches in law enforcement databases, the PCSD is now turning to commercial genealogical databases like Ancestry.com to search for familial matches to the glove DNA. This method, made famous by the 2018 arrest of Golden State Killer Joseph James DeAngelo, involves building family trees from relative DNA uploads to identify suspects.
Investigation Activity: The PCSD said investigators returned to Nancy Guthrie's home on Tuesday, though details were not being shared at that time.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department announced that investigators are currently analyzing biological evidence found at Nancy Guthrie's home. DNA profiles remain under lab analysis, with the number of profiles and other details remaining part of the active investigation.
Reward Increased Again: An additional donor stepped forward, offering $100,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case. Combined with the 88-CRIME reward of $102,500 and the FBI's $100,000 reward, the total reward now exceeds $300,000.
Volunteer Search Efforts: Madres Buscadoras de Sonora (Searching Mothers of Sonora) joined the search for Nancy Guthrie on Thursday, with volunteers from the community participating in organized search efforts.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department announced the road near Nancy's home was being temporarily converted to one-way traffic due to heavy visitor and media presence in the area.
There were no major developments in the Nancy Guthrie investigation on Friday. The DNA recovered from inside Nancy Guthrie's home remains under analysis and does not belong to Nancy or anyone close to her.
North Camino Escalante was converted to a one-way street on February 21 to relieve traffic congestion in the neighborhood. However, the measure has not helped as hoped, with neighbors continuing to complain about "clogged roads, trespassing, noise, and accumulating trash along the road."
In response, Pima County created a large temporary no-parking zone to be enforced by the Pima County Sheriff's Department. Tickets for violations can be as high as $250.
Pima Wash: Volunteers distributed maps and a list of items for volunteers to look for, including clothing, jewelry, masks, and gloves. Searchers recovered several articles of clothing and a backpack, which they reported to the PCSD. However, the sheriff's department determined the bag appears to have been outside for longer than three weeks and does not appear to be a viable lead for the investigation.
A law enforcement source told 13 News that a photo of the suspect in the Nancy Guthrie case appears to have been taken on a different day than the other images released by the FBI. The photo in question shows the suspect without the backpack or visible firearm seen in other video and photographic evidence.
The PCSD released a statement: "There is no date or time stamp associated with these images. Therefore, any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative."
DNA Complexity: Nanos acknowledged that some of the biological samples recovered feature DNA from multiple people, possibly including the suspect. He revealed that it could take months to separate the DNA samples so they can be entered into law enforcement databases.
Savannah Guthrie released a new video announcing the family is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie's recovery. She stated, "Someone out there knows something that can bring her home. Somebody knows." She also thanked supporters: "We feel those prayers. Please keep praying without ceasing."
New signs appeared at Nancy's home&madah;a "No Trespassing" sign as well as one addressed to the alleged kidnapper: "To Nancy's Kidnapper - Unintentional things happen, and we get that. Life is made up of choices. Please make the right one now."
Several unmarked vehicles arrived at Nancy Guthrie's home early Wednesday morning. Jon Edward, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Tucson, was present. Approximately 10 agents were observed walking around the home and taking photographs.
KOLD 13 News confirmed that some of the people at the home were from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona. Federal prosecutors were present to assist the FBI with a "routine legal process."
A law enforcement source told 13 News that Nancy Guthrie's home will be returned by the end of the week or the following week. The home has been treated as a crime scene since her disappearance nearly four weeks prior.
Activity at the home diminished on Thursday, with reduced law enforcement presence compared to the previous day's FBI and federal prosecutor activity.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department announced on Friday that it is "refocusing resources" in the Nancy Guthrie investigation. While the investigation will continue until Guthrie is found or all leads are exhausted, resources will be directed toward "detectives specifically assigned to this case."
The PCSD stated it will continue to maintain a patrol presence in Guthrie's neighborhood and is continuing to examine surveillance video of different vehicles in the area, including locations further away from the crime scene.
Special agents from the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team (CAST) will be sifting through cell tower data from a wide area around Nancy Guthrie’s home, building up a picture of historically normal activity and looking for anything abnormal.
Most media outlets have departed the neighborhood, with only Fox News and NewsNation remaining present in the area as the investigation entered its final week of February.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department announced that the pair of black gloves with DNA evidence found near Nancy Guthrie's home are not connected to her disappearance.
The DNA from the gloves, recovered approximately two miles from the crime scene, was traced back to a restaurant worker in the area. The PCSD stated the worker "is not considered part of this investigation."
Nearly all of the 16 pairs of gloves found during the investigation were traced back to searchers who discarded them in the area. The PCSD reported that labs continue working on other DNA evidence in the case.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos gave a one-on-one interview to KOLD 13 News. Nanos expressed cautious optimism about the case: "I have no way of knowing when we will solve this, but I believe we will solve it."
He acknowledged that more than a month into the investigation, law enforcement is in a waiting phase. "The evidence they have right now simply isn't enough to find the suspect or suspects," according to Nanos, who indicated investigators are playing a waiting game as they await further test results and potential leads.
KOLD 13 News confirmed that investigators have been asking neighbors about internet and power outages on the night Nancy Guthrie went missing. Investigators are also requesting permission from homeowners to view security camera video from January 11, 24, and 31, and continuing to search for any video from Sunday, February 1.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department announced on March 3 that it is in the process of returning Anne Guthrie's vehicle, which has been held by investigators for several weeks as part of the investigation.
This split image shows two views of the same utility box around the corner from Nancy Guthrie's home in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson on Saturday, March 7, 2026. The Pima County Sheriff's Department said it is aware of the open box and was looking into it as part of the investigation into the 84-year-old's suspected abduction.
TMZ received two new notes on Monday morning from the individual who has been offering information on the kidnappers for nearly two months. The person reiterated their demand for 1 Bitcoin to "deliver them on a silver platter."
Shortly after the first note, a second message arrived claiming: "I Saw her alive with them in the state of Sonora Mexico." Sonora is a large Mexican state bordering Arizona, approximately 70 miles from Tucson.
However, the sender's messages contained contradictory information—the first note states "she is dead," while the second claims to have seen her alive. The sender expressed frustration with law enforcement skepticism and adjusted their demand to half a Bitcoin upfront with the other half transferred after a public arrest.
The FBI received DNA evidence recovered from Nancy Guthrie's home, including test results from a hair sample, according to sources familiar with the investigation who spoke with Fox News Digital. Investigators had collected DNA, including hair samples, from the home and shared it with the FBI for more advanced testing.
Ramona Guadalupe Ayala Ortiz, leader of the Buscando Corazones collective, announced that an anonymous report was received regarding the whereabouts of Nancy, and a search was carried out today.
According to the leader of the Nogales collective, they received an anonymous call informing them that the 84-year-old woman had been buried in one of the streams in the area known as Mariposa, which is located west of Nogales and near the border strip with Arizona.
TMZ has received yet another email from the person claiming to know the identities of Nancy Guthrie's kidnappers, and this time he says he has video of the "main guy" and Nancy the day she died.
- He claims there are 2 kidnappers — he has said previously there was more than one.
- He says, "I have a phone stashed in a secure location guaranteeing both the information it stores and the safety of the phone."
- He goes on to say, "What it contains is my definition of delivering them on a silver platter, a short video of the main guy with Nancy the day that was probably her last, pictures of both involved, names and addresses and age."
- He claims the phone is in a "location easy to access if you know where it is."
- He says he will ante up the password for one Bitcoin, and gives a new Bitcoin address.
- TMZ posted their reaction to his demand, which is to say he should send them one screengrab of Nancy to authenticate his claim.
- TMZ forwarded the email to the FBI.
The disclosure that the FBI has discounted the veracity of the three notes - two of which were widely reported to have been communications from kidnappers - seemed to raise doubts about investigators' fundamental premise that Nancy Guthrie was abducted for ransom to begin with.
In a bid to test the authenticity of the first note and possibly trace the ransom demands back to the perpetrators, the FBI early on deposited a small amount of cryptocurrency in an account as instructed in the message, but the money was left untouched in the account and never taken, the official said.
It was on that basis and by other unspecified means that the FBI reached the conclusion that the two ransom notes that it determined to be of a common origin were nevertheless sent by a person or persons not actually connected with Guthrie's disappearance, according to the official.
As of summer 2026, Nancy Guthrie has not been found. The FBI and Pima County Sheriff's Department continue active investigation at full speed.
Rewards Offered:
- FBI: $200,000 for information leading to Nancy's location or arrest of those involved
- Guthrie Family: Additional $1 million reward
Savannah Guthrie, in her first interview about her mother's disappearance (March 25), stated: "Someone needs to do the right thing. She needs to come home now."