The kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie is the subject of a sprawling investigation involving local and federal agents.
But there is a second, shadow effort occurring on podcasts and social media platforms.
Psychics are on the case. Livestreamers are camped out in front of Guthrie’s Tucson-area home, waiting for another detail to share.
Online, true crime fanatics have parsed through information about the case — filling in the limited details with rumor, innuendo and sometimes downright conspiracy. On social media, people share videos comparing limited facial details in images of a masked suspect at Guthrie’s door the morning of her disappearance to photos of the 84-year-old’s relatives or people loosely connected to the family.
This has become a common — and increasingly controversial — side of high-profile crime investigations: armies of amateur sleuths descending into a community and creating friction with police.
In the Guthrie case, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos felt compelled to issue a statement on a weekend clearing her family as suspects to tamp down the rampant speculation.
“The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case,” he said. “To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel.”
He later told NBC News he took the unusual action “because sometimes we forget we’re human and we hurt and kindness matters. It is every cop’s duty to stand up and be that voice for our victims. I’m not going to sit in silence when others are attacking the innocent.”
News of Guthrie’s abduction 18 days ago has triggered a swell of public interest that’s grown as the case goes unsolved. The FBI has received more than 18,000 tips from the public since the investigation began, and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department has been flooded with some 50,000 calls, more than twice as many as it had gotten at this point last year.
But the theories stemming from the intense public interest can create serious problems for investigators —sapping time and resources that should be dedicated to solving the case and finding Guthrie, experts say.
“All the speculation doesn’t help. The detectives and police public relations people have to spend so much time to correct it. Then it fills the tip lines and gets in the way of real investigative leads,” said Paul Vernon, a retiredpolice captain who oversaw homicide detectives and crime analysis for the LAPD.
Last year, the case of missing 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro in Riverside County drew in people from across the country, with some setting up shop outside the family’s home for livestreams. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco called them out as “keyboard warriors” and accused some of spreading misinformation.
Hannah Kobayashi, a 30-year-old Maui woman, went missing after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport in 2024. The case received global attention, with some armchair detectives speculating she was the victim of a global sex trade. But police insisted she left for Mexico of her own accord and was not kidnapped. Her family urged people to tamp down speculation and she eventually returned safe and unharmed.
Online detective work is nothing new but has gained attention in recent years.
Author Michelle McNamara a decade ago helped revive interest in a serial killer who stalked parts of California in the 1970s and 1980s. She later wrote a book about her efforts. The “Golden State Killer” was captured in 2018, and she was praised posthumously for raising awareness about the case.
Those involved in the Guthrie case say they are just trying to help solve the what has been a confounding case.
Dana Bowling, who hosts the Daily Dose of Dana podcast, has discussed the Guthrie case on several episodes — sifting through public details from police and various news outlets and adding in context from past high-profile cases. During a live episode on Feb. 4, a viewer commented that discussing people as suspects in the case could potentially ruin someone’s life.
Bowling responded that it was a “very important” point, but did not commit to steering clear of the topic.
“It is such an interesting, sad, scary story that of course we’re going to talk about it,” she said.
Molly Dare Hillenbrand, a public relations professional who owns Molly Dare Media, said she’s discussed the case on Instagram — including with Bowling and other content creators — in the hopes that someone will be able to come up with a theory that could advance the investigation and find Guthrie.
“For so long the media has been brought in to help with these kinds of cases,” she said. “In some cases, it’s been really helpful to investigators when people see things they don’t see or notice a pattern of some sort.”
Hillenbrand said she tries to approach the discussions with curiosity rather than taking an accusatory stance, particularly when suspect theories arise.
“From day one [the Guthrie case] hasn’t followed the usual pattern … we normally see in a missing person or kidnapping case. There’s a lot of inconsistencies that I think we as the public are noticing and so we’re asking questions. I think it’s OK to ask questions,” she said. “Number one, we want to find Nancy and bring her home.”
On Sunday, “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie filmed a video —her eyes red-rimmed —pleading with kidnappers to return her mother.
“Unfortunately, this is big enough and widespread enough in terms of the interest that people will exploit it without thinking much of how it affects those in the middle of it,” said Karen North, a professor of digital social media and psychology at USC.
Breaks in the case have come and fits and starts.
Investigators didn’t get a match on DNA recovered from a glove found roughly 2 miles from Guthrie’s home. Authorities have said video footage from Guthrie’s Nest camera, captured on the morning of her disappearance, holds the key to solving the case.
Some on social media have been quick to point out the delays in finding Guthrie, taking sometimes-subtle jabs at law enforcement.
Others have used their large followings to promote suspects or theories of the case not rooted in evidence.
For weeks, thousands across the country have tuned into footage from livestreamers positioned outside Guthrie’s home and the home of one of her daughters, waiting for any breaking updates in the case.
Last week, a Domino’s driver walked up to the front door of Guthrie’s house after a viewer ordered food to be delivered to a livestreamer set up outside the property. The delivery driver walked past deputies stationed at the scene, prompting outcry about potential contamination and the lax security at the crime scene.
The sheriff’s department responded by sending out a post on X: “We can’t believe we have to say this, but media on scene: please do not order food delivery to a crime scene address. This interferes with an active investigation.”
When police have moved on leads —searching homes and questioning individuals before releasing them —livestreamers and some media outlets have been quick to share the information. In some cases, the tip doesn’t lead anywhere. In other instances, though, it can become fodder for more conspiracies.
“Speculation doesn’t solve cases. Evidence solves cases,” Vernon said.
On Friday night, as detectives served a search warrant on a Tucson home, there were reports that someone being stopped by police in a vehicle nearby in connection to the case had fatally shot themselves.
That turned out not to be true.
To many, Guthrie reminds them of their own mother or grandmother.
She lives alone, not far from her daughter and son-in-law, has heart issues and mobility problems, but is still sharp.
She belongs to a book club, plays Mahjong with friends and relishes time with family, even if it’s just chatting over dinner. Photos of her beaming, standing next to Savanna Guthrie on the set of the “Today” show and celebrating Christmas in matching pajamas with her grandkids, have been shared widely.
“This is a reminder that they’re real people experiencing an unfathomable tragedy,” North said. “We should remember that there are real people with real emotions that are a part of this.”
