Top experts lay out 'local' criminal profile of Nancy Guthrie kidnappers

A TV special on the dissapearance of Nancy Guthrie aired May 6 on NewsNation, exploring the possibilities behind what happened to the mother of the Today Show's Savannah Guthrie

A new Nancy Guthrie TV special aired on NewsNation(Image: Facebook)
Criminal profilers put their heads together to hypothesize about Nancy Guthrie's kidnapper.
Nancy, 84, was reported missing on February 1, 2026, after she didn't show up to a church service that day. The mother of Today Show co-host Savannah Guthrie was last seen entering her Arizona home the night before, after returning from her daughter Annie's house.
A TV special aired on NewsNation on May 6, 2026, more than three months after Nancy went missing, despite the case stalling with no viable clues or suspects. The special aired more than a week after a man's trial date was set for creating fake ransom notes concerning Nancy's kidnapping.
NewsNation's Brian Entin brought together three criminal profiles for the special, and the group dug into the possible profile of the suspect who was found on Nancy Guthrie’s front door security camera. The man, who has not been named, was seen attempting to break into Nancy’s Tucson home while tearing the Nest camera off the front door.
The male suspect was wearing a ski mask, gloves, and a backpack. He was also armed with weapons.

Savannah Guthrie's mom Nancy dissapeared on February 1(Image: Getty)
The experts shared their thoughts based on the footage, with Dr. Casey Jordan saying the suspect was “27 to 28 years old, definitely lives locally, probably not there anymore.”
“I think he was either eliminated by a puppet master or he fled. And I’m not saying he’s Mexican, but it's the closest border, and that’s where he would go. This is a guy who, on the day this came out, quit his job, left his job, broke up with his girlfriend,” she added. Dr. Ann Burgess replied, “The only thing I'd add there is anyone who isn’t working. just doing odd jobs.”
Dr. Gary Brucato added, "What you’re dealing with is somebody with some cruel, sadistic, scheming personality, and you don’t develop that kind of personality overnight; you tend to have a long history of being that way...they tend to be cool under pressure like this, but what tends to make them not cool is when there are slights to this ego.”
Featured in the episode was NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin. Brian has been closely following the investigation, posting daily on his YouTube account.
During his investigation, a law enforcement source spoke to Brian on condition of anonymity to safeguard their identity. They said that authorities presumed Nancy had merely "wandered off" at the beginning of the investigation.

The FBI released doorbell footage of a masked suspect outside Nancy's house(Image: FBIDirectorKash/X)
"Some people that actually know the intimate knowledge of this investigation have told me that there was an immediate rush to judgment on what was happening at the scene, and it was that Nancy had somehow wandered off," the source said.
They continued, "And so, they rushed to that judgment, stayed with that judgment, and then ran the investigation as if this was a search-and-rescue issue, as opposed to a possible criminal issue."
The investigation is currently being treated as a kidnapping. Footage was released early from Nancy's doorbell camera, showing a masked figure at her front door who appeared to be trying to tamper with the camera the night she disappeared.
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For some time, Nancy's daughter, Savannah, took a break from her job at the Today Show to be with her family. During her absence, Savannah's co-stars wore yellow ribbons of support on their lapels.
READ MORE:
THE EVIDENCE THEY HID: Nancy Guthrie | Special Report
“Daddy… do I cost too much?” Callum Calder froze. His four-year-old daughter stood beside the kitchen table, three quarters clenched in her tiny fist. She was trying to slip them into the front pocket of his work bag without him noticing. “Sweetheart, what is this for?” Sadie lowered her eyes. She had started doing that lately whenever she thought she had done something wrong. Callum still didn’t know where she had learned to brace for trouble before anyone even raised their voice. “The cookie,” she whispered. “And my bath.” At the sink, Ivy stopped moving. The dish towel remained frozen in her hands. They had already left Walter and Diane’s house. Two weeks earlier, they had packed the car in a rush and driven away. It had started with something as small as Sadie reaching for a second cookie. Then came the screaming. Then Diane slapped the back of Sadie’s hand hard enough to make her cry. Another night, Diane snatched away Sadie’s bowl of noodles while she was still eating. The food spilled down the front of the little girl’s shirt. And Diane told her four-year-old granddaughter she hadn’t “earned” the right to finish dinner. Callum had driven away from his childhood home with Ivy and Sadie in the back seat believing one thing: Getting them out would be enough. Those two months with his parents had only been temporary. A way to save money while their apartment leases overlapped. Callum thought distance would undo whatever damage had been done there. Then his four-year-old daughter stood in their new kitchen holding seventy-five cents— trying to pay her own father for a cookie and a bath. And Callum realized leaving that house had only removed Sadie from the place that hurt her. It hadn’t removed the fear that place had taught her. 👉👉 I’ve exceeded the character limit, so please read the rest of the episode in the comments below. If you don’t see it, click **“All comments.”** 👇👇👇

“Daddy… do I cost too much?”
Callum Calder froze.
His four-year-old daughter stood beside the kitchen table, three quarters clenched in her tiny fist.
She was trying to slip them into the front pocket of his work bag without him noticing.
“Sweetheart, what is this for?”
Sadie lowered her eyes.
She had started doing that lately whenever she thought she had done something wrong.
Callum still didn’t know where she had learned to brace for trouble before anyone even raised their voice.
“The cookie,” she whispered.
“And my bath.”
At the sink, Ivy stopped moving.
The dish towel remained frozen in her hands.
They had already left Walter and Diane’s house.
Two weeks earlier, they had packed the car in a rush and driven away.
It had started with something as small as Sadie reaching for a second cookie.
Then came the screaming.
Then Diane slapped the back of Sadie’s hand hard enough to make her cry.
Another night, Diane snatched away Sadie’s bowl of noodles while she was still eating.
The food spilled down the front of the little girl’s shirt.
And Diane told her four-year-old granddaughter she hadn’t “earned” the right to finish dinner.
Callum had driven away from his childhood home with Ivy and Sadie in the back seat believing one thing:
Getting them out would be enough.
Those two months with his parents had only been temporary.
A way to save money while their apartment leases overlapped.
Callum thought distance would undo whatever damage had been done there.
Then his four-year-old daughter stood in their new kitchen holding seventy-five cents—
trying to pay her own father for a cookie and a bath.
And Callum realized leaving that house had only removed Sadie from the place that hurt her.
It hadn’t removed the fear that place had taught her.
👉👉 I’ve exceeded the character limit, so please read the rest of the episode in the comments below.
If you don’t see it, click “All comments.” 👇👇👇