The search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “TODAY” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, is entering the six-week mark. Jennifer Coffindaffer, a retired FBI agent, has suggested that investigators in the disappearance should look closely at a recent home invasion that is reported to have been tied to a plot to steal millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Two teenage suspects from California, aged 16 and 17, have been reported to have posed as delivery drivers to gain entry to a home in Scottsdale, Arizona, on the morning of January 31 before duct-taping and assaulting the homeowners, according to Fox 10.
Coffindaffer Has Suggested the Two Cases Could Be Related
Getty“This is the captivating part!” Coffindaffer wrote on X on March 8, outlining the reported details of the crime, asking followers, “Could this scheme somehow be related?”
“If I were the case agent and if I had no suspects, I would be all over this lead!” Coffindaffer concluded at the end of her post.
Scottsdale Police said the suspects were arrested after a brief police pursuit. They have both pleaded not guilty to multiple felony charges, including second-degree burglary, kidnapping and aggravated assault, according to the local newspaper, “The Tribune.”
The pair were taken into custody hours before Nancy Guthrie disappeared. Guthrie was last seen at her home just outside Tucson, Arizona around 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 31 after she was dropped at her home following dinner with her family. A friend alerted her family on Feb. 1 when she did not show up at the friend’s house for a planned visit to watch a livestream of a church service.
According to police, the motive in the Scottsdale home invasion was the robbery of $66 million in cryptocurrency the pair believed the homeowners possessed.
One defendant “got the information from someone known as ‘Red’ and someone known as ‘8,’ and all communications with those people were through the Signal application,” police reported in the documents obtained by “The Tribune.”
Latest Developments in Guthrie’s Disappearance
GettyOn February 10, the FBI released video from a doorbell camera showing a masked man on Guthrie’s porch on the night she disappeared. The FBI later called the person a suspect and described him as being about 5 feet, 9 or 10 inches tall with an average build. The FBI said he was carrying a 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.
Multiple news outlets reported receiving purported ransom notes last month, including at least one demanding payment in cryptocurrency for Guthrie’s release, but authorities have not said whether the notes were authentic, according to Newsweek.
During a report on the NBC morning talk show on March 6, NBC News correspondent Liz Kreutz shared that authorities canvassing Guthrie’s Tucson, Arizona, neighborhood on Thursday asked residents whether they noticed any issues with their internet service the night of Guthrie’s disappearance.
“They [said] the investigators told them that several people in the area have mentioned glitches with their internet that night,” Kreutz, who spoke to three homeowners, said.
As reported by USA Today, gloves that authorities thought might belong to Nancy Guthrie’s alleged abductor became the subject of the latest news release update. DNA results showed the gloves belonged to a restaurant worker not connected to the case, according to a March 4 statement from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
The gloves were found about two miles from Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills, the department said in a post on X. Lab analysis on other DNA evidence remained ongoing, the department said.
Nanos commented on a Ring camera video shared by Fox News Digital, showing a car driving in Guthrie’s neighborhood, less than three miles from her house, at 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1, hours before she was reported missing. The authorities have not been able to identify the vehicle, but are investigating it.
“Look, what I would tell you is this: We’re aware of it, and we’re looking into it, just like any other piece of evidence,” Nanos told NBC News on March 2. “We’re looking at that vehicle as well as hundreds of thousands of other vehicles that were out driving that time of day.”
Police have not yet arrested a suspect.
Timeline of Guthrie’s Disappearance
In a press conference on Feb. 5, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told reporters that doorbell camera video had helped authorities piece together a timeline of events for Guthrie’s kidnapping.
- Jan. 31 at 5:32 p.m. Guthrie traveled to her family’s house for a game night.
- Jan. 31 at 9:48 p.m. Her family dropped her back at home, and the garage door opened.
- Jan. 31 at 9:50 p.m. The garage door closed.
- Feb. 1 at 1:47 a.m. Doorbell camera in front of Guthrie’s home disconnected.
- Feb. 1 at 2:12 a.m. Software for the smart home detected a person on the camera.
- Feb. 1 at 2:28 a.m. Guthrie’s pacemaker app shows it was disconnected from her phone.
- Feb. 1 at 11:56 a.m. The family checks on her.
- Feb. 1 at 12:03 p.m. Family calls 911 to report her missing.
- Feb. 1 at 12:15 p.m. Patrol cars arrive.
