Crime

Even with Nancy Guthrie still missing, life at her Tucson, Arizona home hasn’t completely stopped ... a landscaper was just spotted showing up and getting straight to work.

A KNXV-TV journalist captured video of the worker pulling up this morning, grabbing tools from his trunk, and heading into the backyard ... walking right past a marked police car, apparently getting the green light despite the ongoing kidnapping investigation.

It’s not the first time routine maintenance has continued either ... pool cleaners were also seen at the home last week, and while it initially raised questions, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told TMZ the family specifically requested the service to keep things maintained.

Cleveland Browns safety Ronnie Hickman was jumped by four people at a Manhattan hotel early Monday morning ... but thankfully, despite being hospitalized, he only suffered minor injuries.

The incident occurred around 4:30 AM at the SIXTY LES in the Lower East Side, where the DB was approached by a group of men who apparently realized he played in the NFL.

The confrontation quickly escalated into a physical altercation, sparking a brawl in the hotel lobby. The suspects took off, leaving Hickman with injuries that required a trip to the hospital

The Browns said he was treated for minor injuries and is now resting at home with his family.

10:09 AM PT -- The Pima County Sheriff's Department disputed the report, saying ... "PCSD has never stated that this was a burglary gone wrong. Any reports indicating otherwise are inaccurate. This remains a very active investigation."

There’s a major new development in the Nancy Guthrie case ... authorities now reportedly believe her kidnapping may have stemmed from a burglary gone wrong.

According to AZFamily, citing an inside source, Savannah Guthrie's mother is believed to have been abducted during a botched home invasion -- instead of a carefully planned abduction.

What's more ... the source also tells the outlet there is belief among investigators that Nancy could be alive.

The theory comes on the heels of the FBI's announcement that DNA was recovered from a glove found near the scene ... the glove appears to visually match the gloves worn by the alleged perpetrator. As you know, the masked intruder was caught on a doorbell camera lurking around Nancy's home just before she was abducted on February 1.

Tragedy in Las Vegas ... a mother allegedly shot and killed her 11-year-old cheerleader daughter before turning the gun on herself in a suspected murder-suicide.

Cops say 38-year-old Tawnia McGeehan and her daughter, Addi Smith, were found dead Sunday in a room at the Rio Hotel & Casino, with what appeared to be a suicide note left behind.

The Utah mom and daughter were in town for a cheer competition ... but when they didn’t show, their team, Utah Xtreme Cheer, sounded the alarm on social media, asking for help finding them.

Donald Trump is making it crystal clear ... if Nancy Guthrie’s kidnappers don’t bring her back alive, they could be staring down the ultimate punishment: the death penalty.

The President told the New York Post in a phone call the abductors need to release Nancy unharmed ... warning if she’s found dead, they’ll face "very, very severe -- the most severe" federal consequences.

When pressed on whether that meant the death penalty, Trump didn’t hesitate ... replying, "The most, yeah... that’s true."

TMZ Sports has obtained the body-worn camera footage from the January arrest of Commanders CB Marshon Lattimore ... and it shows the NFL vet telling cops he had no weapons in his car, before a search revealed otherwise.

Police initially pulled over the car -- owned by Lattimore and driven by a female acquaintance -- for a minor traffic violation. When they ran the plates, they were expired, according to law enforcement.

Before returning to his patrol car to begin writing up the citations, the officer asked if there were any guns or knives in the car.

The inmate who beat the hell out of wife-killer Scott Peterson during a prison pickleball match has sidestepped criminal charges, TMZ has learned.

In March 2025, TMZ broke the story ... Peterson and fellow inmate Charles Miles got into a fight while playing pickleball at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California -- and it ended with Peterson getting his ass whooped.

Now, after an investigation, it looks like Miles is off the hook -- criminally speaking. Amador County District Attorney Scott Riebe tells TMZ ... "Mule Creek (State Prison) will not be referring the case to our office for prosecution."

As for why the case won't be referred ... Riebe declined to comment, pointing us to prison officials for the answer. We've reached out to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ... so far no word back.

An expatriate American hotel owner from a prominent surfing family in California was brutally killed in Costa Rica this weekend … and local police are on the hunt for suspects.

Kurt Van Dyke -- a 66-year-old Northern California native who owned a tourist hotel in Costa Rica -- was found stabbed and strangled in bed in an apartment in Hone Creek, Cahuita, Talamanca, according to local reports ... his girlfriend was found tied up but otherwise uninjured at the scene.

Police responded to a report of a break-in and attack at an apartment at 10:50 AM local time Saturday in Cahuita, on the Caribbean coast near the Panama border … about 10 miles from the hotel Van Dyke owned. They found Van Dyke with multiple stab wounds and signs of asphyxiation.

The search for Nancy Guthrie is hitting new extremes ... members of the public are now crowdsourcing crypto, with one "concerned citizen" launching a GoFundMe to help bring her home.

The page, started by Tucson, Arizona native Shawn Breeden and titled "Help Find Nancy Guthrie," says the plan is to funnel donations straight to the Guthrie family so they can buy bitcoin ... hoping it’ll help pay for info about Nancy’s whereabouts.

As we reported, TMZ received an email Wednesday demanding 1 bitcoin in exchange for the alleged kidnapper’s identity. That’s no small ask -- a single bitcoin is currently worth about $65,000.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos isn't taking any crap from people criticizing how he and his investigators are handling the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping.

On Sunday, Nanos was interviewed by a Daily Mail reporter about the case and, at one point, their convo turned to the sheriff's critics, who have slammed him and his detectives for allegedly packing up and leaving the crime scene early.

But Nanos stood his ground, insisting his officers thoroughly investigated Guthrie's property and he feels confident they did their job properly before the FBI swooped in and did another sweep.

The sheriff noted, "My officers were there for almost 20 hours, and they processed their scene, got it done, and brought in all the evidence." Nanos then said the FBI came in and "did their thing."

Authorities are using advanced Bluetooth detection technology as part of the search for Nancy Guthrie, who has been missing for two weeks.

A Pima County Sheriff's Department helicopter has been flying in a low, methodical grid pattern over the Tucson area near Guthrie’s home in an effort to detect a signal from her pacemaker, according to Fox News. Investigators are using specialized equipment capable of identifying nearby Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Guthrie was last seen around 9:30 PM on January 31 and was reported missing February 1. According to reports, her pacemaker disconnected from its companion phone app shortly before 2 AM on February 1. Around the same time, her Nest home security camera also went offline.

The investigation into Nancy Guthrie's case just took a major forensic turn ... TMZ has confirmed.

An FBI spokesperson tells TMZ ... a glove recovered in the case appears to visually match the gloves worn by the unidentified subject captured on the security camera footage released from Nancy's front door camera ... and DNA found inside the glove has been sent for analysis.

According to the feds, investigators collected roughly 16 gloves scattered around areas near the house. But authorities say most of those belonged to volunteer searchers who tossed them aside while combing the neighborhood.

Nancy Guthrie could be found one hour from now ... or it could take weeks ... or even years to locate her.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos made the sobering remarks in a recent interview with the New York Times, underscoring the very real possibility Nancy's kidnapping case could drag on for quite some time.

But Nanos also assured the public that investigators will ultimately "find" the suspect, or suspects, responsible for abducting Nancy from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the wee hours of February 1.

Another clue about Nancy Guthrie's potential kidnapper is tucked into an email from a man who claims he knows the individual who abducted Nancy ... and it sounds like the suspect may have crossed the border.

The latest money demand sent to TMZ ends with this ... "for the man hunt of the main individual that can give you all the answers and be prepared to go International."

It sounds to us like the guy demanding the $100,000 FBI reward implies that Nancy's kidnapper is hiding out in Mexico.

Nancy was abducted from her home near Tucson, Arizona ... and Mexico is a short drive south.

It's unlikely the kidnappers would have taken Nancy on a commercial jet ... that would require ID and the jig would be up. Plus, a previous ransom note sent by the alleged kidnapper themselves indicated Nancy was within a 700-mile radius of Tucson, which further supports the theory this kidnapper may be in Mexico.

Our sources tell us the FBI is hyper focused on the ransom note we received ... and they're also very interested in this latest batch of emails demanding bitcoin in return for information on Nancy's kidnapper.

The phrase "the main individual" is also significant ... it clearly suggest there are accomplices.

TMZ just received a third email from the man who claims he knows the identity of Nancy Guthrie's kidnapper ... and he has upped his price.

The email says he's contacting TMZ because he doesn't trust law enforcement. He's essentially using TMZ as an intermediary, telling authorities -- you don't trust me, and I don't trust you.

He suggests the reward being doubled to $100,000 was a move designed "to discredit me."

Nancy Guthrie's family has taken to social media to beg for her return ... but cops say that doesn't mean they've been cleared of wrongdoing yet -- because no one has.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos sat down with Briana Whitney -- a true-crime reporter for Arizona's KTVK-TV -- who asked him if Nancy's fam has officially been cleared in her Tucson-area disappearance.

Sheriff Nanos explains that everyone -- Nancy's family especially -- has been cooperating with the investigation ... including giving statements and submitting to DNA testing.