Nancy Guthrie, 84, the mother of Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing on Feb. 1 in Tucson, Arizona, after she failed to arrive at a friend's home to watch a livestreamed church service.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department, county-level law enforcement in the US, led by an elected sheriff, has been chasing leads ever since, and earlier this month said it had ruled out 'all siblings and spouses' as suspects.
Still, online sleuths have done what online sleuths do: picked a face, fixed a theory, and pressed 'share.'
Nancy Guthrie Case And The Internet's New Suspect
A chunk of suspicion has landed on Dominic Evans, an elementary school teacher who plays in a band with Tommaso Cioni, the husband of Nancy's daughter, Annie Guthrie. People online have argued Evans resembles the figure seen in doorbell footage, someone described as wearing a ski mask and a backpack, released as investigators tried to piece together what happened.
This is Dominic Aaron Lee Evans, a close buddy and ex-bandmate of Tommaso Cioni, who’s the son-in-law of Nancy and is married to Annie Guthrie.
— USA NEWS 🇺🇸 (@usanewshq) February 10, 2026
Based in Tucson, Dominic is a local artist who helped kick off the indie/post-punk group Early Black back in 2007, where he handled… pic.twitter.com/z3xtpQEGnx
Law enforcement has not identified Evans as a suspect, yet he has still found strangers treating his home like a drop-in suggestion box for their theories. Evans told The New York Times that the experience has felt like an erasure. 'I feel like someone's taken my name.' Trying to explain why he believes the accusations stick, he added. 'I don't know monetary, clickbait, to be relevant, entertainment but there are innocent people that get hurt.'
Sheriff Chris Nanos sounded less like a badge giving an update than a man watching a sideways stampede. 'He's going through hell, and it is horrible,' Nanos said, adding that Evans should consider speaking with attorneys and 'sue some of these people for libel.' Nanos also stressed he did not want to publicly rule out suspects beyond the Guthrie family, saying, 'I wish I could jump out and defend every single one of them that's been falsely accused.'
NEW: I spoke with Dominic Evans, a 48-year-old schoolteacher in Tucson who plays in a band with Nancy Guthrie's son-in-law, about how the online accusations against him have upended his and his family's lives this month. https://t.co/naYtgprbyw pic.twitter.com/Bb45XuuXfV
— Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs (@NickAtNews) February 25, 2026
Nancy Guthrie Search, A Family's $1 Million Plea
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have announced a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to their mother's recovery. NBC News reported the reward was tied to the recovery itself, with no requirement for an arrest or prosecution, and that within 12 hours of it being publicized more than 750 calls had been made to the FBI tip line, according to a senior law enforcement official.
In a Feb. 24 Instagram video, Savannah Guthrie made a point of speaking plainly about the grim possibilities, even as she asked viewers not to look away. 'If you've been waiting and you haven't been sure, let this be your sign to please come forward,' she said. 'Tell what you know, and help us bring our beloved mom home, so that we can either celebrate a glorious, miraculous homecoming, or celebrate the beautiful, brave and courageous and noble life that she has lived.'
Nancy Guthrie is missing; investigators have publicly cleared her 'siblings and spouses'; a masked figure has appeared in released footage; and a teacher who says he was home with his wife and children that night is now living with the consequences of a viral accusation.
