A Tucson man detained for hours during a SWAT operation on February 13 says he has nothing to do with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie. His lawyer confirmed that Luke Daley, 36, was the subject of two search warrants served that day by Pima County deputies and FBI agents. He was released without charges.
His attorney, Chris Scileppi, stated in a local outlet that left no room for ambiguity:
"Mr. Daley has no link whatsoever to Nancy Guthrie and has no information related to her kidnapping."
Scileppi also confirmed that Daley's mother was detained alongside him during the operation. Both walked free. A second ex-con linked to Daley in online speculation, 32-year-old Kayla Day, was already sitting in the Pima County Adult Detention Complex when the raid took place, jailed for allegedly skipping court dates on unrelated charges.
Neither has been accused of involvement in the Guthrie case. Authorities have said almost nothing publicly. A public information officer for the Pima County Sheriff's Department told Fox News Digital simply:
"We have no additional comments at this time besides the information released in our updates."
The February 13 operation drew dozens of law enforcement vehicles to the intersection of Camino de Michael and East Orange Grove Road in Tucson, approximately two miles from Nancy Guthrie's home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood. The operation went on for hours. A Range Rover was towed from a nearby Culver's restaurant, though it was not immediately clear whether it belonged to Daley, as Fox News reports.
The scene was large enough to rattle the neighborhood. One unnamed neighbor told Fox News Digital he was "pissed," adding that "everyone wants Nancy Guthrie found." The frustration is understandable. Guthrie is believed to have been abducted from her home around 2:30 a.m. on February 1, and weeks later, the public still has precious few answers.
The FBI released photos on February 10, 2025, showing a masked "subject" on Guthrie's property, described as between 5 feet, 9 inches and 5 feet, 10 inches tall. Beyond that, the investigation has produced more questions than clarity.
The fact that Daley and Day have not been charged in connection with the Guthrie case does not mean they are model citizens. Their rap sheets tell a different story entirely.
Daley was arrested by the Marana Police Department on May 15, 2025, accused of:
A vehicle search turned up a 9mm pistol with a loaded magazine, about a thousand opioid pills, and $1,366 in cash. Court documents referenced "indicators of illegal drug transactions" in "plain view." He appeared in court on January 12, is currently out of custody, and his jury trial was rescheduled from February 24 to May 19.
Day was arrested the same day at the same Walmart location and faces her own drug and weapons charges. She was arrested again on March 19, 2025, on four more drug-related charges. A warrant was issued for her arrest in January for missing court dates. She is currently being held without bail. When her February 18 court date arrived, she refused transport. The hearing was rescheduled to February 27, and a judge ordered the Pima County Sheriff's Department to transport Day "by any means necessary."
A thousand opioid pills in one vehicle. A felon with a loaded handgun. A co-defendant who simply refused to show up to her own court date. These are the kinds of cases that illustrate why the revolving door of the criminal justice system remains one of the most urgent public safety failures in the country.
When law enforcement goes quiet, speculation floods the gap. Daley and Day have faced intense online scrutiny since the SWAT operation, with internet sleuths drawing connections that authorities have not endorsed. The proximity of the operation to Guthrie's home, the scale of the law enforcement response, and the involvement of the FBI were enough to set social media ablaze.
Scileppi's statement to local media tried to put the speculation to rest:
"Like the entire Tucson community, both Mr. Daley and his mother are hopeful that Nancy will be returned to her family unharmed."
Day's lawyer, Nicholas Brereton, declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital. Scileppi also declined direct comment to Fox News Digital, having already issued his statement through a local outlet.
The online frenzy is a predictable consequence of an information vacuum surrounding a high-profile case. When law enforcement provides nothing beyond boilerplate non-answers, the public does its own detective work. Sometimes that work is insightful. Often it is reckless. In this case, two people with serious criminal histories but no apparent connection to the abduction have become the center of a narrative that authorities have neither confirmed nor convincingly dispelled.
The core reality remains: an 84-year-old woman was taken from her home in the middle of the night, and three weeks later, the public knows almost nothing about who did it or why. The FBI has released grainy photos of a masked figure. Local law enforcement is issuing the bureaucratic equivalent of "no comment." And two felons with drug records are dominating the public conversation about a case they may have nothing to do with.
The Guthrie family deserves answers. The Tucson community deserves transparency. And the investigators working this case deserve the space to do their jobs without online mobs identifying suspects for them.
But silence from authorities is not the same thing as progress. At some point, the people asking questions are not the problem. The people refusing to answer them are.
