Ex-FBI Agent Says Nancy Guthrie Case ‘Very Tightly Guarded,’ Not Cold, Seven Months In Amid Ongoing Search

TUCSON, Ariz. — Seven months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Arizona home, a retired FBI agent says the ongoing investigation remains far from cold, describing law enforcement’s tight-lipped approach as a deliberate strategy rather than a sign the case has stalled.

Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on the evening of Jan. 31, 2026, after family members dropped her off at her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson following dinner and a game night. She was reported missing the following day after failing to show up for a virtual church service with friends. Pima County investigators have said they believe Guthrie was taken against her will.

Scott Augenbaum, a retired FBI agent, told Tucson television station KOLD that the absence of regular public updates does not reflect inactivity on the part of investigators.

“This is by no means a cold case,” Augenbaum said. “A cold case is something that has been closed, it’s been put away … So in my opinion, this case is not closed at all. It’s still being held very tightly guarded by law enforcement, which I would expect at this point in time.”

Augenbaum said investigations of this nature can fall anywhere along a spectrum, from cases with genuinely no leads to those in which detectives already have a strong suspicion about who is responsible but must still build a case capable of surviving prosecution.

“There were cases where we didn’t really have any leads or anything like that and we just played that close,” Augenbaum said. “There were situations where we kind of had a really amazing idea. We knew who did it, but we had to build the case against that person. So it could be anywhere between those two things and somewhere in the middle.”

Augenbaum, drawing on his own experience at the bureau, said withholding updates until an arrest is made is standard practice, even when it frustrates the public.

“When I was with the FBI, you know, we didn’t tell anyone until we had a bad guy in handcuffs. We weren’t giving regular updates, and that drives a lot of people crazy,” he said.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has echoed that position. In a recent statement, the sheriff’s department said it “remains fully committed to the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance,” describing it as “an active and ongoing investigation” being pursued in close coordination with the FBI. Officials said DNA and video analysis work continues with support from laboratories nationwide, and that tips are still being received and reviewed, adding that “advances in technology are aiding investigative efforts.”

The case has drawn sustained national attention, driven in part by Savannah Guthrie’s public profile and by a string of unusual developments. The FBI released doorbell footage showing a masked, armed individual outside Guthrie’s home around the time of her disappearance, and investigators later released two ransom notes that prompted a modest increase in tips, though no suspect has been publicly named.

In August, human remains were discovered in the desert roughly 15 miles from Guthrie’s home. Authorities said at the time there was no indication the remains were connected to her case.

The investigation has also produced an unrelated criminal case tied to the public attention surrounding Guthrie’s disappearance. Derrick Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California, was sentenced Aug. 31 in federal court in Tucson after pleading guilty in July to two counts of harassment using a telecommunications device. Prosecutors said Callella, who was already out on bail in a separate overtime-fraud case at the time, sent a fake ransom demand to Guthrie’s daughter, Annie, and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, just days after Guthrie’s disappearance was reported. According to court records, Callella texted the family a message reading, “Did you get the bitcoin were waiting on our end for the transaction,” and separately placed a nine-second call to a family member.

Callella admitted in his plea agreement that he had been following news coverage of the case and was aware that an earlier ransom demand had already been made public, and that his messages were intended to harass the family by soliciting information about the investigation. U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker sentenced Callella to two five-year probation terms, to be served concurrently, along with a $200 special assessment and a requirement to report to a probation office within 72 hours. Callella had cited his methamphetamine addiction at the time of the offense, saying in court filings that it had “removed his inhibitions and his capacity for clear decision making.”

Local criminal defense attorney Louis Fidel, who was not involved in Callella’s case, said he hoped the sentence would deter similar conduct by others exploiting high-profile disappearances.

“You certainly hope that people see that and understand that to do something like that is a crime — it does hurt people, and it’s not something that people should do,” Fidel said.

Sheriff Nanos has separately warned that anyone found sending fraudulent ransom communications in connection with the case will face serious consequences.

“The FBI takes these notes extremely seriously,” Nanos said. “They track them down, and if they find it to be fraudulent, they don’t just put it aside; they will arrest you.”

Despite the Callella sentencing and the discovery of unrelated human remains in the desert, investigators have not publicly identified a suspect or announced a breakthrough in Guthrie’s disappearance itself. Savannah Guthrie has continued to publicly appeal for information, writing on Instagram in early August, “We are begging for help. We are desperate. We need someone to come forward,” and has offered a $1 million reward on top of other reward money tied to the case.

As the investigation moves further past the seven-month mark, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department has continued to withhold a formal press conference on the case until investigators have a significant development to share, leaving the Guthrie family, and the broader public that has closely followed the case, to continue waiting for answers.