Ex-FBI Agent Links Nancy Guthrie Abduction to Recent Arizona Arrests: How Cases Are Connected

Nancy Guthrie Billboard
Jennifer Coffindaffer/X

What To Know

  • A retired FBI agent thinks the January arrest of two California teens in Arizona could be connected to Nancy Guthrie’s case.
  • She revealed why she thinks a new billboard in California about Nancy’s disappearance supports her theory.

Retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer is convinced that a recent arrest of two teenagers in Arizona could be connected to the case of Nancy Guthrie‘s disappearance. Jennifer first floated the idea on March 10, but has since shared an update with what she believes is new evidence to support her theory.

On January 31, just hours before Nancy, the mother of Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, was last seen outside her home in Arizona, two teenage boys from California were arrested after dressing as delivery drivers and allegedly duct-taping and assaulting two adults at their home in Scottsdale, Arizona, according to Fox 10. Police believe the boys were extorted to rob the homeowners because they allegedly possessed $66 million worth of cryptocurrency.

The teenagers “got the information from someone known as ‘Red’ and someone known as ‘8,’ and all communications with those people were through the Signal application,” police said.

Jennifer’s theory is that this scheme could “somehow be related” to what happened to Nancy, as Scottsdale, Arizona, is “not far north” from where Nancy lives in Tucson. On March 15, she took to X to share an update on her theory, pointing to a billboard in Woodland Hills, California, that reported on Nancy’s disappearance.

“What? Glad the FBI is paying for billboards, but why in California?” Jennifer wondered, pointing out that the teenagers who were arrested for the alleged cryptocurrency robbery traveled to Arizona from California.

“Those boys were bumblers, but these cases have similarities and I have no doubt the FBI is making sure that Red and 8 have no connection to Nancy or funding other kidnapping attempts,” Jennifer shared. “Now seeing this billboard in California, albeit 4 hours away from the teens, it begs the question, why California? I assure you that while everyone is camped out at Nancy’s, the real case investigation is occurring elsewhere.”

At the beginning of the investigation into Nancy’s disappearance, multiple news outlets received ransom notes, with at least one demanding payment in cryptocurrency. However, authorities have never confirmed whether any of these ransom notes were authentic.




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  1. S

    Sad for Nancy

    Unfortunately I think Nancy has passed. I thinks she passed at the outset - her heart may not have been able to handle the event. They should be reviewing high resolution aerials in the vicinity to see if there are any shallow graves or other ground disturbances. I do not think they would have gone far if they had a deceased person in the car. I really hope this is not the case, but there have been no communications at all, and it is now over 40 days.....

    1. D

      Debisue

      I agree, I’m sure they dumped her off a remote major highway, it just breaks my heart

    2. K

      KaliLove420

      That’s same thing I think, she was gone or almost there, when whoever took her. The police said he didn’t want to elaborate. But he said the crime scene showed signs of a struggle and that it would be great chance of her being alive. Plus the found her blood at the door. So we know she was injured. Also she required meds to basically stay alive. We’re on like week 16. Sad to say I think she’s no longer with us! But hopefully they find her either way for closure for everyone more importantly her family

    3. A

      Anita

      Sadly I agree. I think it happened in the beginning and the criminals plan didn't go as they wanted. What i dont understand is why no one has stepped up to say they know who that person is in the doorbell video. Someone knows who that criminal is but are afraid to come forward. I would think they would step up for one of 2 reasons. 1. For the reward money. 2. They have a heart. As far as the comments about the sheriff, I agree. This whole Investigation should have been turned over to the FBI from the beginning. Things just aren't adding up!

    4. A

      Allis

      I hope not but you are right i do believe because someone would speakup on the 1.2 million

  2. C

    Concerned for Nancy

    I would like to know why the Sheriff keeps turning down help. Cajun Navy Volunteers have helped on several for various reasons and are fantastic at what they do. Yet he turned them down and they were Volunteering. I think he should he looked into. It's like he wants his Dept or himself to get the credit for the outcome and doesn't know what he is doing. Nancy's family has been through enough yet he just keeps it going. The woman needs medical attention if she is still alive and he isn't close to getting her back. God bless her and her family.

    1. H

      Hoping for the

      He is awful. There was a poll taken amongst the sheriff's department prior to Nancy abduction. 98 percent of everyone within the sheriff dept said they had no trust in him. He is awful. That said, I hope him declining help means they are about to make arrests and simply don't want to waste the time of the volunteers

      1. B

        Be safe🙏

        I think he has be involved no one in-law enforcement doesn’t tape off crime scene and not have someone outside keeping everyone off the scene !!!! He messed up crime scene all mixed DNA is on him then every step they take he out telling the ones what they got so he be on tv everyday no one does that in any state they ask public for anyone recognize people on cameras that it !

        1. A

          Allis

          He may be tied in

    2. K

      Kate

      Right? And why is he so adamant on using this private lab in Florida? I understand that he's used this lab before, but wouldn't you take the FBI up on their offer to test the DNA samples? I'm not exactly sure how it all works, but couldn't he have used both? IDK, but I get a strange energy when I think about this part.

      1. A

        Allis

        You would think fbi could over ride a county being federal

    3. C

      Care

      The same reason they turned down the Cajun Navy volunteers for North Carolina for months. They feel that they are the best and they know it all.

    4. A

      Allis

      The most high profiled kidnaping ever and the sherriff is dragging his leg and turning down what is valuable resources . Wth?

      He has contract (maybe some kick back never know) with Fl lab yet fbi wanted it to go to quantico but wouldnt do it . This lab in fl doesnt have same capability they do . Quantico solved golden gate killer for pete sakes) after 40 yrs of noone else figuring that out. . He is wasting time and 38 days since last interview, he has turned equasearch down and few more also. He needs to step down, he is wasting time if not to late (praying its not) .

      I am going with theory of the people around 2 teens arrest.

    5. J

      J

      Kickbacks!! How can a sheriff afford a brand new corvette convertible? He’s the definition of corruption & I wouldn’t be surprised if he and his devoted PCSO robbed NG by mistake instead of her neighbor the guy with all the expensive Gemstone’s. Just throwing out another theory cause I’ve never seen such a bumbling idiot deliberately compromise an entire crime scene.

  3. T

    Tomsongal1

    I believe that poor Nancy is no longer alive. More than likely she passed soon after she was taken and her body probably dispossessed of. The Police and FBI are no closer to solving this now than they were at the beginning. This wasn’t a random kidnapping. It seems to be a very planned out operation, involving more than one person. I’m not an expert by any means but why hasn’t the DNA they collected provided any information? It’s 2026 and nothing at this point ??

    1. A

      Anita

      Yes I agree. If the other ransom notes were legitimate, it would explain why there was no more communication because they could not provide proof of life. The criminal had a plan but it didn't go the way they had planned. Very scary and makes me angry! I hope and pray so much someone will step up and reveal they know who that person is in the doorbell camera video. It could have been their mother, grandmother etc... who was taken. Someone maybe more than one person knows who the criminal is but are to afraid to step up.

    2. Z

      Zander

      The blood splatter on her front step looks aspirated---as if it were coughed up. That would be quite an injury. I pray she is alive and will be found soon.

    3. Y

      Yepyepyep

      If you get DNA from an unknown source it's useless until you have something to compare it to . Imagine if you did a crime assuming you have never been in any felony trouble in the past and the only clue was your DNA well until you are someone close to you gets into some sort of trouble requiring a DNA sample that clue is useless .

  4. H

    Hoping for the

    While this could be true, keep in mind that Derrick Callella is also from California and was arrested in relation to Nancy case. He also has a band who has performed at the same venues in LA and Tucson on same nights as Nancy's son in law. Within a week after his arrest, Carlos and then Luke were detained. The Sheriff recently eluded to the idea that they know WHY Nancy was inducted which makes me feel they must know WHO and are only building a case. He also said that nothing has changed since towards the beginning which makes me feel Derrek may be more involved than we are led to believe and he gave fbi info that led them to Carlos and Luke. I personally feel they are close to making their moves on arrests and may very well be this week. We shall see.

    1. T

      Trish

      Who are Carlos and Luke? Where are you getting all this info?

      1. H

        Hoping for the

        Carlos and Luke are the 2 that have been detained. It's been all over the news a month ago. Carlos was detained as the swat went into his mother in law House about an hour south of Tucson and Luke was detained and his range rover confiscated while his mom's house was searched. Both men have given interviews. I also modified my above comment as it stated they were arrested when they were detained-not arrested. That was a mistake on my end

  5. L

    Linda

    Jennifer, do you really think teenagers whose brains are not fully matured can carry out this elaborate scheme and avoid detection for this long could possibly be involved? I think the Mexican cartel or other Mexicans across the border are involved. And I think they have done this before.

    1. A

      Adenoidectomy

      Stop with your nonsense.

    2. X

      Xtina

      Mark Zuckerberg was 19 years old when he started Facebook. So yes some teens have brilliant minds if they don’t have the means to put them to good use.

      1. X

        Xtina

        It’s a shame they resort to crime

    3. K

      kevin

      If that dude in the mask seen at Nancy’s home was part of the cartel. He definitely needs to go back and get further training.

    4. T

      Toya 0213

      I said the same thing. These people are professionals. This was well planned,and I'm like you, i can't see no teenagers pulling this off. I might be wrong.

      1. Z

        Zander

        I don't think professionals go to a front door and try to use weeds to cover a Ring camera....

      2. R

        Rosebill

        Teens know a lot more then any other generation of teens ever they study and tv doesn’t help with the bad shows on

  6. E

    ER

    I think the Sherriff is doing a poor job, He seems half invested in the whole thing. I feel bad for the family and hope they are able to get some closure.

  7. C

    Charlie

    This entire search is an embarrassment to those who are "qualified" conducting it.... its despicable to hear how poorly this entire case is being handled. There's obviously much more going on behind the scenes with crooked agents and crooked family members.

  8. K

    Kate

    It's not a huge leap to place billboards in California, as well as Arizona. They're right next to each other, and Californians are known to travel through, or to and from there very often. Plus, why wouldn't you put it there? It can only help, especially since you're getting a lot of traffic from Arizona into Cali. I'm not sure which town the sign is in or if it's close to the border, but I'd bet that it is. It's likely got nothing to do with these 2 kids.

  9. J

    JG

    I just watched a 20/20 episode where they used a goggle fence to find a cell phone to solve the case. Have they tried this??

    1. D

      denny

      Nancy's cell was found at her home with her other personal items.

      1. P

        PervyMervy

        What he’s talking about is basically a more precise tower dump, where cell phone data is collected for a geofenced specific area for a specific time window. What that looks like is they could zone off Nancy’s property line and enclose it. And search for time periods between 11 PM and 11 AM the next morning. Anyone with a cell phone in that zone at that time, their phones will show them being there. Therefore, presenting law enforcement with a viable suspect.

        1. D

          Denise

          That makes sense. Unfortunately I don't think this sheriff would have any clue how to do that. Maybe the FBI?

        2. K

          Khfl

          At this point I think it’s safe to assume they’ve tried that already. Ps why the creepy user name?

    2. M

      Mirkat

      Good idea. They should do this, however the probability that they used burner phones is probably pretty high.

  10. T

    Toya 0213

    The system is failing this lady and her family. What kind of technology are they using

  11. H

    Hoping for the

    Hoping for the best

  12. B

    Bennie

    I think the Sheriff is the target. Some disgruntled LEO or Politician wants to discredit him. An unsolvable high-profile case may support the no-confidence accusations against him. When they saw the televised segment with Savanah and her mom in Tucson, it triggered a low risk, high profile crime that could be difficult to solve. especially if the perpetrator had some crime scene experience and possible knowledge of where a body could be hidden. The odd placement of the gun and the holster was a misdirection away from his police training. The antenna in his pocket was ether a police radio or a frequency scanner. The part that confuses me is his Keystone cop fumble with the doorbell camera

  13. J

    Jon

    I think this is a burglary gone wrong. What else would explain no communication from a kidnapper?

  14. O

    OilMan

    I think the Cartel did it. They have turned to kidnapping ever since they lost a lot of drug shipments to authorities. She's being held in Mexico someplace smuggled over the border in a desolate area.

    1. K

      Khfl

      Get real. If you know the statistics on cartel kidnapping Americans on us soil, then you would know better.

  15. B

    BrandywineLady

    Retired FBI agent? Billboard in California?

    We're grasping at straws now.

    I feel desperately sorry for the agony and emptiness Savannah and her family are experiencing, but we need to move on to the horrors taking place in Iran, the possibility of "Boots on the Ground", and our service men and woman who have already sacrificed their lives. It sounds cruel, but we need to let the local authorities take care of this local issue.

    1. A

      angelvoiced

      That's the sad part... The news has moved on, so who is making sure that law enforcement is still working on this?

  16. N

    NFL Wife

    Illegal alien did it

    1. C

      Casey

      What a smartass thing to say!! This isn’t a joke!! It’s about a REAL person with a REAL family!!!!

      1. K

        Khfl

        If you knew what the nfl wife was actually saying, you’d know that sadly she wasn’t joking. It pisses me off when people blame Mexicans.