TUCSON, ARIZONA — Seven months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Arizona home, the investigation remains active — but new reporting has raised serious questions about what happened during the crucial first hours after authorities were called.

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her Tucson-area home on February 1, 2026. Investigators believe she was abducted, and a masked individual was captured on surveillance footage near her residence around the time she vanished. The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department continue to work the case, but no suspect has been publicly identified.

A Wall Street Journal report cited by TMZ alleged that several early investigative decisions may have complicated the search, including how the property was secured, how blood evidence was initially interpreted and how quickly specialized surveillance resources were deployed.

Blood Evidence Became One of the Biggest Questions
One of the most significant issues involves blood discovered on the porch of Nancy’s home.

According to the reporting summarized by TMZ, deputies initially questioned whether the dried blood was connected to Nancy at all. Investigators reportedly considered the possibility that it could have come from an unrelated injury.

Subsequent testing reportedly identified the blood as Nancy’s.

That development is particularly important because investigators now believe the blood was connected to the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.

The handling of the property in those early hours has therefore become a major point of criticism.

The Home Was Not Immediately Treated Like a Crime Scene
The Wall Street Journal report cited by TMZ also raised questions about the security of Nancy’s property.

Investigators reportedly did not immediately restrict access to the home and porch. According to the report, journalists, livestreamers and even delivery workers were able to approach the property before crime-scene tape was eventually placed around the area several days later.

For a case involving a suspected abduction, preserving potential forensic evidence can be critical.

The questions being raised now are not simply about what investigators eventually discovered, but whether evidence could have been exposed to unnecessary contamination during the first days of the investigation.

Authorities, however, have not publicly stated that contamination destroyed any particular piece of evidence.

Investigators Also Had to Determine What Kind of Case They Were Facing
Another issue identified in the reporting concerns the initial classification of Nancy’s disappearance.

Investigators reportedly spent valuable time determining whether the case should be handled primarily as a missing-person investigation or as a kidnapping.

That distinction mattered because the circumstances were unusual.

Nancy had disappeared from her home during the overnight hours, and investigators eventually determined that evidence pointed toward an apparent abduction.

The FBI later released surveillance images showing an armed individual appearing to tamper with a camera at Nancy’s front door.

Authorities have since consistently described the investigation as a kidnapping case.

A Specialized Aircraft Was Reportedly Delayed
The report also raised questions about the use of Pima County’s surveillance aircraft.

According to TMZ’s summary of the Wall Street Journal investigation, the sheriff’s department’s aircraft was grounded for hours because investigators reportedly had difficulty finding someone qualified to operate its specialized camera system.

The aircraft allegedly did not begin searching until around 6:30 p.m., when fading daylight limited what the surveillance equipment could capture.

The issue has become another point of criticism because the earliest period after an abduction can be especially important.

Still, this does not establish that the aircraft delay caused investigators to lose a specific lead.

Sheriff’s Department Pushes Back
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has disputed the portrayal that the investigation was simply mishandled.

Authorities have repeatedly stressed that the case remains active and that investigators continue to work through forensic, video and digital evidence.

The FBI has also said that Pima County remains the lead investigative agency while federal agents provide assistance.

That relationship has itself received scrutiny.

A Pima County deputies’ union leader, Sgt. Aaron Cross, later told TMZ that some investigators assigned to the case had relatively limited homicide experience. He also described communication problems that he believed resulted in duplicated investigative work. Cross credited the FBI with helping obtain important Ring-camera footage.

These are criticisms from a union representative and should not be treated as an official finding that the investigation was improperly conducted.

The FBI Has Been Working on DNA and Video Evidence
As the investigation has continued, forensic evidence has become increasingly important.

Recent reporting indicates that investigators are examining complex DNA mixtures recovered from the home and considering advanced testing, including possible genetic-genealogy methods. Multiple laboratories, including the FBI, have reportedly been involved in the analysis.

Authorities are also continuing to review surveillance footage and other digital evidence.

That work may help investigators establish who entered the property and whether the same individual seen around Nancy’s home can be connected to other evidence.

Ransom Messages Complicated the Investigation
The case has also been surrounded by a series of ransom-related communications.

Authorities publicly released two messages in an attempt to generate new leads.

The FBI has clarified that it received multiple ransom notes during the investigation. Some were determined to be extortion attempts without legitimate information, while other ransom demands were considered potentially legitimate and remained under investigation.

Separately, California man Derrick Callella pleaded guilty in federal court after admitting that he sent fake ransom communications connected to Nancy’s disappearance.

His case is separate from the actual abduction, and his admission does not identify Nancy’s whereabouts or the person responsible for her disappearance.

Human Remains Found in the Desert Were Not a Breakthrough
In August, investigators received another potentially important lead when human remains were discovered in a remote desert location approximately 15 miles from Nancy’s home.

The discovery immediately generated speculation that the remains might belong to Nancy.

But investigators subsequently determined that there was no indication the remains were connected to her disappearance. Sources speaking to TMZ said the remains had apparently been at the location for a considerable period of time.

The discovery therefore did not provide the breakthrough Nancy’s family had hoped for.

The Investigation Has Now Entered Its Seventh Month
By September 2026, Nancy had been missing for more than seven months.

Despite the enormous law-enforcement response, no suspect has been publicly named and Nancy has not been located.

The investigation has not been closed.

Instead, authorities appear to have shifted much of their attention toward analyzing existing evidence rather than simply conducting broad searches.

Recent reporting said the FBI was reducing some of its personnel physically stationed in Tucson and shifting its command post to Phoenix, while maintaining investigators in the area and continuing to work with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. The move was described as an operational change rather than an indication that the investigation was ending.

Investigators are reportedly continuing to examine DNA, surveillance footage, sales records, digital information and tips.

A New Claim About a Possible Tablet Has Not Been Confirmed
Another recent development surfaced online in September.

A woman claimed that she had purchased a tablet that she believed could have belonged to Nancy.

However, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department reportedly indicated that its investigation had not included any confirmed report involving a stolen iPad matching the claim.

The allegation has circulated online but has not been independently verified, making it important not to treat the story as established evidence in the case.

Savannah Guthrie Continues to Search for Answers
Savannah Guthrie has remained one of the most visible public voices in the effort to locate her mother.

The family has continued to appeal for information and has offered a substantial reward.

In September, Savannah spoke publicly about her mother while discussing an upcoming Today show trip to Ireland and her family’s Irish heritage.

The comments came more than seven months after Nancy disappeared and reflected the continuing emotional impact of the unresolved case.

For the Guthrie family, the absence of answers remains devastating.

What the Early Mistakes Could Mean
The allegations about the initial investigation raise an important but unresolved question: Did the first hours of the response make an already difficult case harder to solve?

The answer is not yet known.

The criticism centers on several reported issues — the handling of blood evidence, delayed crime-scene restrictions, questions about investigative experience and the delayed deployment of specialized aerial surveillance.

But none of those reports, by themselves, establishes that a crucial piece of evidence was permanently lost or that a suspect escaped because of a specific investigative error.

The sheriff’s department maintains that the investigation remains active.

Latest Status — September 14, 2026
As of September 14, 2026, Nancy Guthrie remains missing.

Authorities continue to treat the disappearance as an apparent kidnapping. No suspect in the underlying disappearance has been publicly identified or arrested, and the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department continue analyzing DNA, video and other evidence.

The human remains discovered in the desert in August have not been connected to Nancy.

The early investigative decisions described by TMZ and the Wall Street Journal remain matters of public scrutiny rather than established findings of official misconduct.

For Nancy’s family, however, the central questions remain painfully simple:

Who took Nancy Guthrie? Where is she? And will the evidence eventually reveal what happened during those critical first hours?

The investigation continues.

Sources
TMZ: Reporting on alleged early investigative problems in the Nancy Guthrie case.