Cold Case Detective Believes Kidnappers Underestimated Nancy Guthrie's Fragile Health
More than two months after Nancy Guthrie was forcibly taken from her Tucson, Arizona home, a cold case expert has proposed a chilling theory about what may have happened to the 84-year-old mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie.
Brian Martin, an Indiana detective specializing in cold cases, told NewsNation's Brian Entin that the kidnappers likely "underestimated" just how ailing and fragile the elderly woman was. He believes her captors were forced to scrap their ransom plan and dispose of her body when the situation went "sideways."
Health Issues Made Guthrie a Liability
"What really bothers me is if they underestimated Ms. Guthrie's health and thought, 'Well, we'll take her, this will be easy. We'll hold on to her at an unknown location for a day or two. We'll get some money out of this and we'll leave her in a Walmart parking lot,'" Martin said.
"And what they had to do is ... it sounds horrible.... They had to dispose of Ms. Guthrie because she was no longer of value to them in that monetary gain that they're hoping to get."
Immediately after Guthrie vanished on February 1, authorities were notified that she suffers from multiple serious health conditions:
- High blood pressure
- Cardiac issues
- A pacemaker
- Severe back pain limiting mobility
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos announced the day after her disappearance that Guthrie "is in need of medication, medication that if she doesn't have it in 24 hours, it could be fatal."
Family's Heartbreaking Concerns
Savannah Guthrie detailed her mother's limited mobility in a Today interview with Hota Kotb, explaining that she and her siblings immediately knew their mother hadn't simply wandered off.
"My mom, she was in tremendous pain," Savannah said. "Her back was very bad. On a good day, she could walk down to the mailbox and get the mail, but most days not."
Martin expressed concern about the stress of the kidnapping potentially triggering a medical event: "It just scares me to think that somebody maybe took Ms. Guthrie, and she had some sort of medical event when it was happening, because obviously it'd be an incredibly stressful situation and very taxing on somebody."
Was the Abduction Targeted?
Last month, Sheriff Nanos addressed whether he believes the attack on Nancy may have been targeted, stating: "We believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted, but we can't — we're not 100% sure of that."
Savannah Guthrie told Kotb that her brother, Camron, immediately suspected their mother had been "kidnapped for ransom." She broke down while questioning whether her own fame played a role in the abduction.
"I don't know that it's because she's my mom and somebody thought, 'Oh that girl, that lady has money, we could make a quick buck.'"
"Too much to bear to think that I brought this to her bedside, that it's because of me," Savannah said while sobbing. "I just have to say, I'm so sorry, mommy. I'm so sorry."
Investigation Continues Without Suspects
The FBI has released photos and video footage of a masked and armed suspect at Nancy Guthrie's home. Despite the Guthrie family and FBI raising the reward for information and an increase in tips from the public, no suspects have been officially identified in the case that continues to baffle investigators.
The Guthrie family's public pleas and the substantial reward offered have generated numerous leads, but the mystery of what happened to Nancy Guthrie remains unresolved more than two months after her disappearance.
