Has Nancy Guthrie Been Found? Police Face Fury for Clickbait Post Amid Kidnap Mystery

The Pima County Sheriff's Department in Arizona is facing a wave of anger after posting an update on 16 April that read 'Nancy has been located,' fuelling hopes that missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie had been found, only for it to emerge that the post referred to a different woman entirely.

Guthrie, mother of US TV anchor Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson on the evening of 31 January. She was reported missing the following day. The case has since drawn intense media attention in the US and beyond, not least because of her daughter's public profile and the baffling lack of clear leads.

Almost three months on, the investigation has narrowed to painstaking forensic work inside Guthrie's home, while her family and viewers of NBC's Today show have been left waiting for answers.

The Post That Ignited Fury Over Nancy Guthrie

The latest controversy began when the Pima County Sheriff's Department posted an update on X on 16 April. The message read simply: 'Update: Nancy has been located,' accompanied by a missing-persons flyer bearing a large 'LOCATED' stamp. The woman in the picture, however, was not Nancy Guthrie but 82-year-old local resident Nancy Radakovich, who had also been reported missing that day.

Radakovich was described in an earlier appeal as a 'vulnerable adult' who had disappeared near River Road and Campbell Avenue in Tucson on 16 April. Local reports said she had last been seen in a bright pink jumpsuit and black sandals, driving a silver Toyota Avalon. She was found safe before 8 p.m. that evening.

The language of the follow-up post, though, barely distinguished between the two women. The flyer, with 'LOCATED' splashed across it in bold letters, partially obscured the face of Radakovich, and the post's wording did not include her surname. For many people following the Nancy Guthrie case, the wording was enough to spark a jolt of hope and then confusion.

Comments under the post quickly turned hostile. One user wrote, 'You need to fire your social media manager. This was so out of touch!' Another added that given the global coverage of the Nancy Guthrie case, the department 'did not have any discernment to revise the headline with the surname of Nancy.' The same user noted that even after complaints, the wording was not updated.

'I'm embarrassed for my town. How disgusting! Making post as click bait?!' another commenter said, accusing the sheriff's office of chasing engagement. They went on to point out that 'all the other missing persons posts' from the department had previously included first and last names.

A fourth reply went further, saying, 'I'm beginning to think Pima County Sheriff's Department is actually a satirical organisation. It's the only explanation for this post.' The same user questioned whether the force required a civil service exam or was simply a 'take what we can get department.'

The sheriff's department has not, in the material available, issued a formal apology or clarification about the wording of the Radakovich post, and there is no direct response recorded to the specific allegations of 'clickbait.' Nothing in the reporting so far suggests the message was intentionally misleading, but the lack of precision, and the decision to leave the post unchanged, has clearly damaged trust at a moment when the Guthrie family can least afford institutional missteps.

Where the Search for Nancy Guthrie Now Stands

Amid the online uproar, the central question remains whether Nancy Guthrie has been found. As of the latest reporting, the answer is no. Nearly 80 days after she was last seen at her home in the Catalina Foothills, there is still no confirmed sighting of the 84-year-old.

Investigators have instead turned inward, focusing on potential forensic evidence from inside the house. An ABC News report on 16 April, citing an unnamed source, said the FBI is analysing 'potentially critical DNA' found in Guthrie's home. According to that account, a private laboratory in Florida working with the sheriff's department developed a DNA profile that has now been passed to federal experts, who are using advanced methods in an effort to determine whose it is.

Separately, NewsNation reported that a strand of hair had been sent for analysis. It is not yet clear whether this hair is linked to the DNA sample mentioned in the ABC report or whether the two references describe different pieces of evidence. At this stage, authorities have not released any confirmed match, suspect identity or narrative of what they believe happened on the night Guthrie disappeared.

That uncertainty hangs over every new snippet of information. If the DNA turns out to belong to someone who had no reason to be in Guthrie's home, it could transform the case. If it matches a family member, a carer or a known visitor, it may simply close down one avenue of speculation. Until the FBI finishes its work and investigators choose to disclose the results, much of what is circulating remains informed guesswork at best.

For now, the only hard facts are stark. One 'Nancy,' Radakovich, disappeared and was safely located within hours. The other, Nancy Guthrie, has been missing for almost three months, her case overshadowed briefly by a poorly worded social media post that promised resolution and delivered only another layer of confusion. With no confirmed breakthrough yet, all claims about the significance of the DNA evidence or the hair sample should be treated with caution and seen as unverified until law enforcement provides clear, on-the-record findings.