These Things Make No Sense in the Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping
The Dr. Phil Podcast
Dr. Phil McGraw
4.3 • 13.5K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2026
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After decades analyzing kidnapping cases and working directly with the FBI and law enforcement , I can tell you this: real kidnapping-for-ransom cases follow patterns. The kidnappers make contact. They provide proof of life. They issue demands quickly. They want a transaction, not a standoff. That’s how these cases typically work. But that is not what I’m seeing in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Dr. Phil here, and I wanted to talk to you about the latest on the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, |
| 0:07.1 | the mother of Savannah Guthrie, who I'm sure you all know from the Today Show. |
| 0:12.0 | I do want to tell you what we know at this time, although it is changing sometimes hour to hour. |
| 0:19.6 | The reason I'm talking about this is twofold. One is you're concerned about it just as I am. You probably feel like you know Savannah Guthrie because you've watched her so much. I do know Savannah Guthrie. I've worked with her a number of times. She's interviewed me over the years. I've spent some time talking to her off camera as we were getting ready for interviews, |
| 0:42.3 | or we were sitting while others were doing things on the show, |
| 0:46.3 | and we've had the opportunity to get to know one another. |
| 0:48.3 | Let me tell you, there aren't two Savannah Guthrie's. |
| 0:51.3 | She's not one way on camera and another way off camera. She's a very real, |
| 0:57.8 | warm, genuine, authentic individuals. So if you feel like you know her, you do get the real |
| 1:06.1 | Savannah Guthrie on camera that you would get if you met her on the street or at some event or something. |
| 1:13.6 | This obviously is a terrible, terrible time for her and her family as I'm sure you're |
| 1:19.6 | empathetically feeling for her. |
| 1:22.6 | The other reason I'm talking about this is because I did choose to get trained in forensic |
| 1:28.1 | psychology, which is psychology and the law, and that includes criminal activities. |
| 1:33.3 | And for over 45 years now, I guess, I've either been working with law enforcement. |
| 1:41.3 | I've worked with the FBI, state, local law enforcement. I've |
| 1:47.0 | been involved in some of these kind of cases, and I've been reporting on them a lot over the last |
| 1:52.5 | 25 years. And this is a very unusual and disturbing case. This isn't following the pattern |
| 2:00.2 | that kidnappings typically follow. And sadly, |
| 2:04.5 | there are enough that there is a pattern. And data and patterns matter in these kind of situations |
| 2:13.2 | because they help you to know how to resolve them. And there are some things that it might be of interest to you to know how to resolve them. |
| 2:21.6 | And there are some things that it might be of interest to you to know. |
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