A volunteer search collective operating in northern Mexico carried out several searches for Nancy Guthrie in mid-2026 after receiving an anonymous tip claiming the missing 84-year-old woman had been buried near the U.S.-Mexico border. The tip pointed to an area close to Nogales, Sonora, on the Mexican side of the border.

Nancy Guthrie, mother of Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on the evening of January 31, 2026, entering the garage of her home in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood. She was reported missing the next day after she failed to join a planned virtual church service with friends. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, working with the FBI, has led the investigation since then. No suspects have been publicly named, though authorities previously released surveillance images of a masked individual seen at her residence around the time of her disappearance.

The Mexico-based group Buscando Corazones Nogales (Looking for Hearts) received the tip in May 2026. Group leader Ramona Guadalupe Ayala Ortiz told local media that the anonymous caller claimed Nancy’s remains were located near one of the streams in the Mariposa area west of Nogales. In a message to PEOPLE, the organization confirmed the tip and stated they intended to keep searching.

Volunteers began examining the indicated stream area around May 16 but found no evidence connected to Nancy Guthrie. After a second call provided more specific directions, the group conducted another search on June 10. That effort also produced no results. A further search was planned for June 16, and the collective later expanded its focus to additional nearby locations described as vast and difficult to cover.

The same volunteer organization had previously recovered remains of more than 30 people and identified over two dozen unmarked graves in the broader region during searches conducted between April and May. None of those remains were linked to Nancy Guthrie. Larger coordinated efforts involving additional volunteers, local authorities, and support personnel also took place in the Mariposa area in June, but again yielded no confirmation of the tip.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos publicly acknowledged awareness of the anonymous tip. In a statement, he noted that Mexican authorities had not contacted his department about the matter at the time and emphasized that the investigation remained active. Officials said they would continue to pursue any credible information. The FBI similarly described the overall probe as ongoing.

This cross-border lead was one of several pursued in the months after Nancy’s disappearance. Earlier in the case, two notes sent in early February claimed responsibility for taking her and later stated that she had died. Authorities eventually released the contents of those notes in an effort to generate tips based on distinctive language patterns. A reward of up to $1 million remains available from the family for information leading to her recovery.

As of later updates in the case, the Mexico tip and subsequent volunteer searches did not produce evidence confirming the information provided by the anonymous source. The primary investigation continues to focus on leads developed in Arizona, including analysis of physical and digital evidence from the scene of the disappearance.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department tip line.