Nancy Guthrie case: FBI experts question kidnapping theory claims

TUCSON, Ariz. – A former FBI agent and doctor with Fox News have discovered alternative theories other than kidnapping for ransom in the United States. Nancy Guthrie The case follows a former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino Join Sean Hannity on Fox News’ “Hannity” show on Monday to discuss Guthrie’s disappearance.

A The second deadline for the alleged ransom It was Monday night after the reported kidnappers of the Guthrie family demanded through the media $6 million in Bitcoin, leading some, including Bongino, to question whether the kidnapping theory was true.

Bongino said this is certainly possible, but he offered alternative ideas.

“The second possibility is that this is just a crime gone wrong. There’s someone in the house. Maybe that’s the case.” Robbery“Something bad has happened, and you have some bad actors committing another crime, unrelated to it, in other words, asking for ransom for something you didn’t do just to take advantage of a situation like this,” he said.

Conservative commentator Dan Bongino is photographed in Stuart, Florida on Thursday, March 18, 2021. (Kala Kessler for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Bongino emphasized that he was not classifying his theories according to plausibility when numbering them.

“The third possibility, again… and this is where I think you have to think outside the box, especially in light of some of the messages we’ve seen recently, is the possibility that there may have been some sort of… Medical emergency “Or something like that, and maybe this wasn’t a kidnapping.” “And I’m just saying that because – and again, I’m not weighing these odds, it’s just us – when you can’t find someone at a crime scene like this right away, within the first couple of days, you either have really good surgeons, or the story that you’re being told, or maybe you thought might not be the story.

Former FBI agent in Denver Johnny Grossing agrees there may be another explanation for Guthrie’s disappearance, which is now in its ninth day of investigation with no suspects named.

FBI agents search homes near Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson on Friday, February 6, 2026. Guthrie was last seen Saturday night as the investigation into her disappearance continues. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

Nancy Guthrie’s home is rigged with floodlights as authorities investigate evidence of the alleged ransom note

“I’ve heard other comments and I probably side with them, from other commenters, former FBI, who we don’t know for sure that these ransom demands are real,” he said.

“There can be a variety of reasons here, and we had them Multiple home invasions “I’ve worked where people entering a home were looking for money or jewelry or drugs or whatever, and it could be in upscale neighborhoods or outlying neighborhoods, and there’s someone there, and then they have to deal with that person,” he said. “I’ve had a victim die, others have fought, and I’ve had the perpetrators leave. A lot of bad things can happen if you walk into a home and there’s someone there, and you don’t suspect they’re going to be there.”

“So it could have happened, it exists,” he added. “She was a victim of circumstance and being in a very nice neighborhood.”

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“The other is that they were looking for someone else,” he said. “It’s also happened where they think they have someone’s address, and it’s the wrong house, and it’s a terrible situation because people come to that house to do violence, and it’s the wrong person and the violence happens anyway.”

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)

Grossing noted that the kidnap-for-ransom theory poses its own challenges, especially with the apparent lack of urgency on the part of the alleged kidnappers, who sent their alleged demands to the media, rather than directly to the Guthrie family. He said in his experience, bad people immediately contact the victim’s family and ask for money, and there are often quick and ongoing negotiations if the family is unable to pay the required amount.

He also pointed out another strangeness in this case. He said that Nancy’s alleged kidnapping appears to be very tactical and very well organized, but the alleged ransom attempts appear to be completely disorganized, as if they were not planned in advance.

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Dr. Nicole Safire is a Fox News contributor and radiologist. She supported Bongino’s theory that a medical emergency could have led to the disappearance, although she believes the chances of that are slim.

According to the Guthrie family, Nancy doesn’t have any known cognitive issues, but that doesn’t mean the condition is out of the question.

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

“You know, maybe she wasn’t having a known cognitive problem, but maybe, you know, she was suffering from something benign like an infection.”. This can send seniors into states of illness, to be honest. “So it’s possible that she definitely wandered off,” Sapphire said.

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Safire put forward another theory, saying that perhaps kidnapping was not part of the plan, but became necessary if Nancy had a medical episode during the break-in.

“The thing that worried me was that if there had been a kidnapping, in the initial shock of them entering the house, would that have been too much for her heart? And actually she had kind of a sense of fear.” Heart ring [or] Heart attack or stroke at that time, and she actually died there. “That’s why they spent so much time at home, because that wasn’t part of the plan now that they needed to know what to do.”