Nancy Guthrie Case Update: The investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has entered its 16th week, yet authorities have not named or arrested any suspects despite hundreds of leads, multiple theories, ransom notes, and rewards offered. The case began on January 31, 2026, when Guthrie, the 84‑year‑old mother of NBC journalist Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her Catalina Foothills residence in Tucson, Arizona. She was reported missing by her family the following day, and investigators later suspected she had been taken from her home against her will. Former detective calls Nancy’s kidnappers ‘mastermind’ hackers As search efforts intensify, Nancy’s apparent abduction has disrupted long-held assumptions about the tactics cybercriminals use, reshaping the way experts view their methods. One expert has cautioned that so‑called “mastermind” hackers are now swapping keyboards for guns and hiring kidnappers.Expert explains wrench attacksExplaining the trend of “wrench attacks,” Lisa J. Miller, a retired detective and law enforcement executive at the Colorado Attorney General's Office, said that they squeeze kidnapping victims or their relatives for cash. The term originated in a 2009 web comic depicting a frustrated hacker who suggested using a $5 wrench to beat someone until they surrendered their password, she said, because cracking it was too difficult."In the beginning of this Nancy Guthrie case, we’re all taking a look at it, and we’re seeing things that just didn’t seem to fit," Miller told Fox News Digital. "What we’re seeing with Nancy Guthrie is not a typical wrench attack."In traditional wrench attacks, according to the former detective, sophisticated criminals behind computers identify potential targets, then recruit local muscle to carry out the violence, she said. The "masterminds" plan out the logistics and pay thugs a cut to do the dirty work, which in some European cases has included torturing victims until they give up their passwords, accounts, or other targeted information, she said.Bringing the focus back to Nancy’s case, Miller said it was less likely that all of those tactics were deployed, since the person whose money was probably being targeted was her daughter, Savannah Guthrie.Nancy’s kidnappers are ‘street-level thugs’?"The street-level thug theory fits with what we’re seeing in the Guthrie case, because when the FBI released the pictures of this porch guy, and I’ve referred to him from the beginning as 'porch monster,' I mean, the guy comes across as a bit of a doofus," Miller said. “Look at his getup, look at how he carries his firearm… yet there are some very sophisticated elements to this case that again fall in line with what we see in a traditional wrench attack," she said.The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s suspected kidnapping, and the FBI later joined the effort to intensify the probe.ALSO READ: Nancy Guthrie Case Update: Why DNA evidence analysis at FBI lab taking so long? DNA expert Tiffany Roy explains the delay