Missing mother Nancy Guthrie search draws online mom investigators

While searching for the missing mother Nancy GuthrieLaw enforcement isn’t the only force chasing answers.

Via Facebook groups, Instagram threads and neighborhood camera apps, a growing network of self-described “mom detectives” has been mobilized – dissecting timelines, swapping Ring footage and organizing files shared online in an attempt to piece together what happened.

“I’m crazy about Nancy Guthrie…I don’t try to hide it anymore,” Melinda Long, health and fitness coach, said. Content Creator The mother of three wrote on Instagram, describing “waking up at 2 a.m. kind of obsessed with the truth” diving deep into a case she says contains pieces that “completely add up.” She then asked her followers: “Is there anyone else totally involved in this right now?”

The response was immediate.

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Within minutes, comments poured in from women echoing the same sentiments — anxious, invested and unable to look away, Long said.

“I wake up in the middle of the night, I’m on Fox News, I’m not a girl who watches TV at night,” Long told Fox News Digital. “So many women writing, same girl, same thing.” “I just said exactly what I feel but I’m afraid to say it out loud.”

Long has no personal connection to the Guthrie family. However, the issue seems very personal.

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NBC has provided an undated photo of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie in response to the disappearance of the “Today” anchor’s 84-year-old mother. (Courtesy of NBC)

“Why do I feel so personal about this?” She said. “Savannah is like America’s sweetheart, right? So her mom feels like your mom. It’s like she could be my mom. I have a 75-year-old mom. And I think a lot of moms feel that connection to her.”

She said recent true crime documentaries also helped shape her view. After watching the Netflix series about the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, Long said she remembered those early assumptions Missing persons cases It could be a mistake.

“We all thought she was dead. We thought she was gone,” Long said. “And it wasn’t.”

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She explained that this memory enhances hope, even when the details seem limited.

“There has to be more,” she said. “There must be more information we don’t know.”

Long says her online community includes “everyday mums”, professionals and followers from as far away as the UK and Austria – underscoring how social media has erased geographical boundaries in modern crime cases.

“Social media is really going beyond just being an American news story,” she said.

Digital routine

The severity described by Long is not isolated.

On a Facebook page called “True Crime Mama.” One recent post asked followers: “It’s curious where everyone stands… Do you think she will be found or will she never be found?”

In another group, a user named Lori Sparks wrote that she had been following the case “from the beginning,” adding that she was monitoring updates on “two separate laptops that way I don’t miss anything,” along with hashtags demanding justice and Nancy’s safe return.

On Instagram, Michelle McNaughton posted a clip of herself scrolling on her phone with text reading: “New step I never skip in my morning routine: checking social media to see if they’ve found Nancy Guthrie yet.” In the comment, she asked: “Why is it taking so long to solve this problem?”

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“I really hope they find this woman. The whole thing feels like Mickey Mouse and a failure. It’s sad,” McNaughton told Fox News Digital. “None of this makes sense.”

MacNaughton added that she was “hooked by the story from the beginning.”

“I felt like this could be my neighbor or my mother who disappeared,” she said. “And I’m sure we all thought the cops were going to put an end to it in no time.”

But as the case developed, she said her self-confidence began to fade.

“As the days went by and the story got stranger, I started to think they were stumbling around this case,” she said, describing what she saw as a series of confusing developments — including references to ransom notes, talk of payment, and the detention and later release of suspects. “It’s a rollercoaster ride.”

The reaction in the comments section reflects similar frustration.

“The mothers of the world could have solved this problem by Tuesday,” one follower wrote.

“And the way things are going, I’m starting to wonder if we can do it,” she added.

For some women, checking in has become part of their morning routine — along with coffee, exercise, and time out of school.

Long insists that care, not cruelty, is at the heart of online interaction.

“I want them to know that everyone’s concern is real and genuine,” she said, referring to the Guthrie family. “Any concerns are just because everyone wants to be found. There’s a lot of advocacy and a lot of good will.”

Nancy Guthrie’s family members as suspects in the disappearance have been cleared

A sign of solidarity from neighbors at Nancy Guthrie’s home Thursday, February 5, 2026, in Tucson, Arizona. (AP Photo/Caitlin O’Hara)

Growing trend

The phenomenon extends beyond the Guthrie case.

In recent years, mothers and online communities have rallied around high-profile investigations, including the 2022 University of Idaho murders and the disappearance of Gabby Petitto — cases that unfolded in real time across TikTok, Reddit and Facebook, as civilians analyzed body camera footage, social media posts and digital timelines.

The Petito case in particular demonstrated the power of online attention to amplify missing persons investigations nationally, but it also highlighted the dangers of speculation spreading quickly across platforms.

Now, digital tools once used primarily for social communication, such as nearby camera apps, shared drives, and group chats, are being repurposed into informal centers of inquiry.

What could have been passive consumption of true crime has evolved for some into active participation.

When mothers solve cold cases

The idea of ​​mothers taking on investigative roles is not entirely new.

In his new book, “The Carpool Detectives: A True Story of Four Mothers, Two Bodies, and a Mysterious Cold Case,”” Author Chuck Hogan explains how a group of suburban mothers helped revive a A 15-year-old double murder Which has long eluded investigators.

As first reported by the New York Postthe case centered on a 2005 incident involving a suburban businessman and his wife whose bodies were discovered near their crashed SUV in a Los Angeles County ravine after they disappeared without a trace. The family business has collapsed, millions of dollars have disappeared, and the leads have dried up.

The effort was led by Marissa Bianco, who learned about the case while taking a broadcast journalism class at UCLA in 2020. What began as an academic exercise evolved into a years-long civil campaign to re-examine the evidence and push for renewed attention.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the group for comment.

The story has sparked debate about whether organized civic engagement can sometimes reveal details that have been overlooked or whether it risks complicating official investigations.

For a long time, constant scrolling and late-night updates isn’t about playing detective — it’s about hope.

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“There has to be more,” she said. “There must be more information we don’t know.”

Watching family members’ public appearances only deepened her emotional investment.

“It looks like hell,” Long said frankly. “And I’m thinking I’d look like hell too. I can’t even imagine if I was waking up in the middle of the night and not sleeping… I imagine the sickness and terror you must feel.”

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This definition, daughter to mother, mother to mother, may help explain why so many women gather in digital spaces to closely follow cases.

Until there are clearer answers, she and thousands of other moms say they will continue to watch, refresh the feed, share posts, and wait for the update they hope to see.

Stephenie Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and immigrant crimes. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.