Nancy Guthrie's disappearance took another curious turn this week in Arizona, after a US investigative journalist published new images of her son-in-law, Italian-born chef Tommaso Cioni, sitting closely with another woman at a table laid with wine, candles and a heart-shaped mat. The photos, shared on X on Thursday, were flagged by reporter Jonathan Lee Riches as material he believes should be examined by detectives leading the Nancy inquiry in Pima County.
After weeks of online speculation over the role of Guthrie's family, particularly because Cioni and his wife Annie, Nancy's daughter, were reportedly the last relatives to see the 84-year-old before she vanished from her Catalina Hills home. The Pima County Sheriff's Department, which is working alongside the FBI, has repeatedly and explicitly ruled out any Guthrie family member as a suspect.
Even so, the vacuum left by an unsolved, high-profile missing person case has proved fertile ground for amateur sleuths and social media theories, most of them untested and many of them impossible to verify.
New Images Raise Questions In Nancy Guthrie Investigation
Riches, who has built a following by posting granular updates on the Nancy case, uploaded two images featuring Cioni. In the first, Cioni appears seated next to a woman who, Riches claims, 'doesn't look like Annie.' The table between them carries what looks like a romantic set-up: an empty wine bottle, a candle and a heart-shaped mat.
'Where's his other hand? Where's Nancy Guthrie?' Riches wrote in his caption, bluntly linking the apparently intimate scene to the still-unresolved disappearance. There is, at this stage, no confirmed indication that the image is recent, connected to the case, or even taken in Arizona. Authorities have not commented on the photo, and without official corroboration, any direct link should be treated with a heavy dose of scepticism.
A second image shared by Riches shows Cioni performing CPR on a dummy, apparently during some kind of training or class. The reporter reposted his same provocative caption underneath, reinforcing his view that the material ought to be scrutinised by law enforcement. Again, police have not said whether they are aware of this training image or whether it has any forensic value.
The formal position remains unchanged. In previous briefings, the Pima County Sheriff's Department has stated that investigators have 'no evidence' implicating any member of the Guthrie family. Their public focus is firmly on an unidentified masked man, captured on Nancy's own doorbell camera, seen tampering with the device outside her home.
Savannah Guthrie Steps Back From Screen As Nancy Guthrie Case Rolls On
The fresh speculation around Cioni surfaced just as Nancy's high-profile daughter, Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, announced another temporary break from the NBC breakfast programme. Her time away has repeatedly prompted viewers to wonder whether it is linked to the continuing search for Nancy.
This time, Savannah pre-empted that narrative. On air, she told viewers she would be off for several weeks to film the television version of Wordle, the wildly popular word game. 'I'm headed over to shoot Wordle over the next few weeks. We're going to shoot the whole season, and we're super excited. We cannot wait for everyone to see it. It'll probably air in the New Year,' she said, sounding more like a game show host than the daughter of a missing woman.
Her explanation may quiet some of the gossip, but probably not all of it. Since Nancy's disappearance, every gap in Savannah's schedule has been pored over online and interpreted, fairly or not, through the prism of the Arizona investigation.
What Detectives Say They Actually Have In The Nancy Guthrie Case
Investigators have blood traces found on her porch and on the street leading to her Catalina Hills property, along with multiple surveillance videos from around the neighbourhood and nearby locations. Data from an app connected to Nancy's pacemaker recorded activity until 2.28am, according to the FBI, before it stopped abruptly. A single strand of hair recovered from her home, signs of forced entry and human remains found near the house all form part of the forensic jigsaw.
Then there is the 'porch guy,' the masked man in the doorbell video. Detectives say he is believed to be around 5ft 9in or 5ft 10in tall, with a medium build, wearing gloves and carrying a black backpack. In the footage, he appears to use his gloved hand and flowers taken from Nancy's garden to try to obscure the camera. Police are still actively seeking this man, who remains the most tangible figure in an otherwise hazy narrative.
There are, as of the latest update, no named official suspects. Early suggestions that local fugitive Coral Michelle Smith might be involved were formally ruled out by investigators, who have been unusually clear in swatting down that particular theory.
Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, who has been following the case and posting her analysis on X, has voiced a concern that cuts through much of the online noise. She argues that the most pressing issue is that 'there's a man on the loose' believed capable of abducting and likely killing an elderly woman in her own community.
Coffindaffer has highlighted what she calls a troubling pattern of kidnapping cases in Tucson's Catalina Hills area, noting that '2 kidnappings for ransom in 2 days in the same area should be statistically concerning.' In her view, whether Nancy was targeted for her wealth or for some more personal reason, the risk of repeat offending is not theoretical.
'Further, although she was targeted (picked as a victim above others) doesn't mean the same kidnappers for ransom won't target another rich person,' she warned.
Photos of a son-in-law at dinner and clips from a TV studio thousands of miles away are drawing the clicks. The people tasked with actually solving the disappearance of Nancy insist their attention is fixed on the masked man on the porch, the trail of blood and a pacemaker that fell silent in the middle of the night.
