Online scepticism is mounting around thekidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC Today Show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, as the investigation approaches its 80th day without an arrest.
Jonathan Lee Riches, atrue crime YouTuber behind the JLR Investigateschannel who has tracked the case closely, asked on X, 'Was Nancy Guthrie even kidnapped at all? Serious question.' His post drew a wave of replies from users openly doubting the official account.
Was Nancy Guthrie even kidnapped at all? Serious question.
'There's really no evidence proving she was. We are only told she was,' one user wrote.
There’s really no evidence proving she was. We are only told she was.
Another claimed 'the whole thing is way off,' suggesting theories ranging from a staged abduction to possible family involvement used 'as a cover up.'
The whole thing is way off. My theories - Either it didn’t happen at all or someone in the family killed her and used the kidnapping as a cover up (or combo of those two).
Some pointed to a passage in Savannah's 2024 memoir,Mostly What God Does, in which she described a childhood tradition where her older cousin Teri would stage summertime 'kidnappings' of Savannah and her sister Annie. Nancy reportedly played along, feigning shock before promising to retrieve the girls days later.
Fox News first highlighted the book excerpt on 19 February 2026, and investigators have publicly stated it bears no connection to the active case.
Law enforcement has maintained since February that Nancy was taken from her Catalina Foothills home in Tucson, Arizona, against her will on 1 February 2026. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told reporters she 'couldn't walk 50 yards by herself,' citing her limited mobility and daily medication needs as reasons she could not have left on her own.
Source: International Business Times UK
