As authorities continue searching for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, a former FBI special agent and CIA member is offering new insight into what may have motivated her alleged abduction — suggesting the situation could be more complex than a simple financial crime.
Speaking with Page Six, Tracy Walder, who previously worked as both an FBI agent and a CIA officer, is not convinced the alleged ransom demand is solely about money, despite reports that the note demanded millions of dollars in bitcoin.
The Expert Doesn’t Believe It’s Solely About Money
“I am not convinced it’s fully about money,” Walder explained. “Her salary is for the most part public, but there are other people who make more money than she does.”
Instead, Walder theorized that the incident may be connected more directly to Savannah Guthrie’s high-profile public life.
According to the expert, the possibilities range from unhealthy fixation to anger stemming from Savannah’s work as a journalist.
“I, in my gut, feel like this is someone that either had some kind of obsession with Savannah because of how high profile she is, and this was a way to potentially get to her,” Walder said. “Or this is a person that has some kind of beef with Savannah because of whatever story she covered or whoever she interviewed.”
Walden added that either scenario highlights the risks that can come with visibility in the public eye. “Savannah is such a public person,” Walder noted. “I don’t think she would have ever thought something like this could happen, but I think it’s a reminder to us that we need to make sure [personal information] stays private.”
What We Know So Far
As law enforcement continue to search for Nancy, a conference was given by Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos on Thursday, Feb. 6.
During it, a timeline of Nancy’s last whereabouts was released to the public.
She was last seen Saturday evening at her home in Catalina Foothills, an affluent neighborhood roughly six miles northeast of Tucson, after family members dropped her off around 9:30 p.m. local time.
At that point, there were no immediate signs anything was wrong.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, several concerning developments occurred.
At approximately 1:47 a.m., a doorbell camera at the home was disconnected and removed.
Officials later confirmed that there was no active subscription associated with the device, meaning no video footage could be recovered.
About 25 minutes later, at 2:12 a.m., software data detected movement near the home.
However, no video exists, and authorities acknowledged the motion could have been caused by an animal.
At 2:28 a.m., the app connected to her pacemaker — an implanted cardiac device — disconnected from her phone, raising additional alarm for investigators.
Since Nancy’s disappearance, her family has released two heartbreaking videos wishing and pleading for her safe return.
