The Nancy Guthrie crime scene clue that’s most chilling of all… and the horrifying question her family must now ask themselves: FBI Special Agent JASON PACK
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen between 9.30 and 9.45 on the evening of Saturday, January 31, at her home in the Catalina Foothills area north of Tucson, Arizona. She was reported missing at noon on Sunday by family members.
As a former FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Crisis Negotiator I spent 25 years looking for people – fugitives, kidnapping victims, missing children, endangered adults. In the search for an 84-year-old woman with serious health issues who needs daily medication, every hour matters.
But here’s what makes the case immediately concerning to me.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said plainly on Monday: ‘We do in fact have a crime scene; we do in fact have a crime.’
When a sheriff says, ‘We have a crime scene,’ he’s telling you forensic evidence supports criminal activity. This isn’t speculation.
He used phrases like ‘grave concern’ and noted that calling out homicide detectives for a missing person case is ‘not standard protocol.’
And it’s not. The homicide squad typically show up when there’s a homicide, period. Indeed, it appears investigators now believe that Nancy was taken from her own bed. This tells us everything about what they found inside the house when they processed the scene Sunday through Monday.
We know that Nancy’s personal items were left behind: purse, phone, keys, glasses and medication… things she would never have been without had she left voluntarily.
We know that Nancy’s personal items were left behind: purse, phone, keys, glasses and medication… things she would never have been without had she left voluntarily
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen between 9.30 and 9.45 on the evening of Saturday, January 31, at her home in the Catalina Foothills area north of Tucson, Arizona
Detectives will also have looked for signs of a struggle, overturned furniture, broken items, anything indicating resistance or force. They will have tested the scene forensically for blood evidence – even small amounts – suggesting injury or violence.
And indeed, reports Tuesday were that blood had been found inside the property.
Police will also have looked for signs of forced entry – broken windows, damaged locks, pry marks on door jams – and, even though the front door was reportedly unlocked, they found some.
Right now, they will be combing digital evidence – any searches on Nancy’s computer, any messages or communications.
Sheriff Nanos has thrown everything at the search. Air assets: drones with infrared/heat sensors, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Ground resources: search and rescue teams, K-9 units (borrowed from Customs and Border Protection) and volunteers from the community.
And he has multiple agencies involved: those homicide detectives processing the crime scene, the FBI and US Customs and Border Protection.
Having spent years working missing persons and child abduction cases, here’s what Pima County investigators are doing right now.
They are canvassing witnesses: detectives are knocking on every door in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood. They are asking: Did you see Nancy Saturday night? Did you see any unfamiliar vehicles? Did you hear anything unusual – arguments, doors slamming, vehicles leaving?
Crucially they are asking: Do you have any home security cameras or doorbell cameras? Most houses in upscale neighborhoods have Ring doorbells, Nest cameras, or security systems. Somewhere, somebody’s camera caught something.
In addition to neighbors’ videos, officers will be culling footage from traffic cameras on nearby roads, business security cameras, ATMs and gas station cameras.
They’re building a timeline: Who came and went from the house? What vehicles were in the area? If someone took Nancy, how did they leave?
The fact that Sheriff Nanos is publicly pleading for video tells me they don’t have the smoking gun footage yet.
And while all this is going on, investigators are interviewing family and building a complete picture of Nancy’s life and the people in it.
Who had access to the house? Were there any disputes with neighbors, contractors, caregivers? Were there ongoing financial issues – inheritance disputes, money problems? Any recent arguments or conflicts? Who knew she lived alone? Who knew her routines?
The hardest question families face: Was there anyone who might want to harm her?
While all this is going on, investigators are interviewing family and building a complete picture of Nancy’s life and the people in it
Nancy couldn’t have gone far on foot. Investigators have already searched the immediate property and surroundings, they will be increasing that area in ever expanding circles – from adjacent properties and desert areas, to nearby washes, ravines, or difficult terrain and any bodies or sources of water.
Their infrared drones can detect body heat even in thick brush. If she’s out there in the desert, they’ll find her.
Savannah Guthrie issued a statement through the Today show: ‘On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support. Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom.’
A family in crisis trying to hold together. She’s not anchoring the show – she’s in Arizona where she should be, with her family, waiting for information.
In missing persons cases, the family goes through psychological hell. Every phone call could be the one. Every knock on the door. Every news update. The not knowing is torture.
And when homicide detectives are involved before you even have a body? The family knows what the involvement means. They’re not naive. They’re terrified.
But families hold on to hope. And investigators will go where the facts lead them – no assumptions, just evidence and hard work.
Sheriff Nanos knows the clock is ticking. It’s why he’s publicly pleading to the community: ‘Step up and start giving us calls.’
He knows, like I know, that the smallest detail can make all the difference. A tip comes in, a video surfaces, someone remembers a car driving slowly through the neighborhood, and suddenly the case breaks wide open.
