Digital sleuths and burger deliveries: Inside the true crime scene outside Nancy Guthrie’s home

TUCSON, Ariz. – Four weeks into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the parent of NBC's "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, journalists camped extracurricular her Tucson location gathered astir a conveyance pulling up to the residence driveway, with their camera phones signaling arsenic the operator was told by a Pima County Sheriff's lawman that nary 1 was allowed connected the property. 

The operator backed retired and began to propulsion guardant erstwhile she rolled down her model and, with a stern voice, told the reporters to halt filming her. She wasn't a Guthrie household subordinate oregon anyone connected to the missing 84-year-old.

She was a nutrient transportation worker, traveling with 2 bags filled with Wendy's cheeseburgers and chickenhearted nuggets and a ample drink. 

The nutrient was for Alina Smith, co-founder of Crime Seen Collective, a web of influencers and online streamers who independently screen large transgression stories wherever and whenever they happen. 

Alina Smith, co-founder of Crime Seen Collective, traveled from Texas to Tucson to screen the disappearance for their audience. She streamed extracurricular of Guthrie's location connected Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. The emergence of online streamers has changed the mode high-profile transgression stories are reported.  (Olivia Palombo / Fox News Digital)

Smith, who had been streaming from extracurricular Guthrie's location each day, said 1 of her followers ordered the nutrient aft she mentioned that she was hungry. 

Smith is 1 of respective streamers who person flocked to Tucson to screen Guthrie's suspected kidnapping. 

"We effort to beryllium boots connected the ground," Smith, who drove from Dallas to Tucson, told Fox News Digital. "We effort to amusement our followers what it's similar connected location."

The nationalist media person descended connected Tucson to screen the story. In caller years, accepted journalists, arsenic good arsenic authorities, person had to vie with, and negociate different benignant of writer – the existent transgression country streamer. 

The amateur sleuths are a caller question of autarkic reporters who person made it their ngo to broadcast videos to their often sizable audience, reporting adjacent the astir nuanced developments successful round-the-clock earthy coverage.

Another streamer, Mel Smith, nary narration to the Crime Seen Collective founder, traveled from his location conscionable northbound of New York City to springiness updates connected the lawsuit to his followers connected his "Watching the World 777" YouTube channel. 

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A heap of flowers grows extracurricular Nancy Guthrie's location successful Tucson, Arizona connected Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. Guthrie has been missing for 24 days arsenic of Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Olivia Palombo / Fox News Digital)

Dressed successful a crisp grey suit with a reddish necktie and Yankee headdress amid the godforsaken heat, Smith, 49, gives updates to his followers, arsenic good arsenic a glimpse into the country extracurricular Guthrie's home, including a memorial for the 84-year-old that has grown larger by the day. 

"I typically similar to instrumentality with what's been presented factually, not a batch of speculation," Smith told Fox News Digital successful beforehand of Guthrie's home. "Because I person a batch of radical following, I privation to marque definite I support everything supra grade."

Smith said helium typically has ineligible professionals connected his amusement to interruption down courtroom developments for his viewers. 

Smith said helium was successful the courtroom for the weeks-long Sean "Diddy" Combs proceedings and astir precocious was successful tribunal for proceedings related to the apprehension of Luigi Mangione and erstwhile Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

"I was 1 of the individuals that was determination erstwhile helium said Happy New Year 4 times to 4 of america sitting successful line," Smith said of Maduro. 

Alina Smith, who is funded done donations and different means, started her Crime Seen Collective successful 2024 and has covered a scope of large quality stories, including the 2022 University of Idaho murders successful which 4 students were savagely killed successful an off-campus home. 

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Australian-born presenter, Savannah Guthrie poses alongside her parent Nancy Guthrie during a accumulation interruption whilst hosting NBC's "Today Show" unrecorded from Australia. (Don Arnold/WireImage)

Many of the streamers connection video of the exterior of Guthrie's home, arsenic good arsenic portions of her neighborhood, contempt immoderate fed-up neighbors who presumption the ample media beingness arsenic an inconvenience. They typically stitchery adjacent the location during displacement changes for Pima County Sheriff's deputies guarding the location oregon immoderate vehicles that propulsion up to the property. 

Earlier this month, the Pima County Sheriff's Department asked the media to halt ordering nutrient to the transgression country code aft a Domino's transportation operator went up to the home.

Despite their following, immoderate presumption streamers arsenic doing much harm than bully portion not adhering to journalistic standards typically followed by mainstream reporters. 

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Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos gives an update connected the probe aft the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. (Rebecca Noble/Reuters)

On Feb. 16, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos refuted allegations enactment retired by immoderate streamers and others that Guthrie's household members whitethorn person been progressive successful her disappearance. 

"The household has been thing but cooperative and gracious and are victims successful this case," Nanos wrote successful a statement. "To suggest different is not lone wrong, it is cruel… Please, I’m begging you the media to grant your professionalism and study with immoderate consciousness of compassion and professionalism."

Robert Quigley, an subordinate prof of signifier astatine the University of Texas astatine Austin who spent 16 years arsenic a writer astatine the Austin American-Statesman newspaper, said the cardinal for reporters and streamers is to travel ethical standards. 

"Are you pursuing ethics… are you being sensitive, are you being transparent, each those types of things that marque for bully journalism?" Quigley told Fox News Digital. "In situations similar this wherever everybody is benignant of flooding successful and everybody's getting a batch of leafage views and tons of engagement… you're going to get everything from idiosyncratic that benignant of understands however to bash coagulated reporting, and past you're going to person different radical who are benignant of determination for the salaciousness of it."

State typical Alma Hernandez, who lives successful Tucson, precocious said she was sick of "reporting ‘grifting’ insane speculation, lies, and BS by random wannabe journalists and YouTubers who person present caused much harm than bully to this full concern and enactment this superior lawsuit successful jeopardy."

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Yellow flowers and a enactment are near successful beforehand of Nancy Guthrie's location arsenic the 84-year-old grandma remains missing. (Ty O'Neil/AP Photo)

"Please GO HOME. Let instrumentality enforcement bash their jobs," Hernandez wrote successful a Feb. 10 station connected X. "Stop pursuing them during swat operations and playing detectives. I americium sick of the changeless LIES from those who can't adjacent spell Tucson and intelligibly person ne'er been to our city."

"This location is not adjacent downtown oregon midtown, truthful posting random videos of radical walking successful yards ain't it y'all, no, Mexicans don't each look the same, yes, our sheriff should astir apt enactment disconnected societal media and not talk to the property anymore," she added. "Yes, this is sad, and we each privation Nancy home. But seriously, PLEASE STOP."

Hernandez did not sanction immoderate circumstantial idiosyncratic successful her online rant.

The Nancy Guthrie probe caught the attraction of assorted "streamers," who person traveled to Tucson to screen the disappearance for their audience. (Olivia Palombo / Fox News Digital)

Unlike streamers who travel from retired of town, Damian Enderle covers Tucson quality with his "857 Tucson" YouTube channel, wherever helium reports connected section crime, homelessness and different issues. 

"All of a sudden, the biggest has travel to Tucson," Enderle said arsenic to wherefore helium began covering the Guthrie case. 

The streamers noted that they person much flexibility to screen events than accepted quality media reporters.

"It's a antithetic mindset," Enderle said. "It's thing against the bequest media. It's conscionable that everyone has a spot and this is simply a caller thing."

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Alina Smith noted that 1 quality enactment near the country of the Guthrie location amid a slowdown successful quality from the case. 

"They got told that they had to prime up and spell to different occupation and that's it," she said. "You person a commencement day and an extremity date. And we conscionable proceed to beryllium present until we consciousness it, and our followers and our supporters benignant of say, 'look, there's thing there.'"

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