I spend my days writing page-turning plots inspired by real-world headlines. The difference between my crime fiction and reality, however, is that I can create closure when real life only offers more uncertainty. Despite recent developments in Mexico, the search for Nancy Guthrie is one of those unresolved plots.
Please read on.
Photo by Tim Foster via Unsplash
Nancy Guthrie, mother of Today television show host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen 31 January 2026 at her home in Tucson, Arizona. Months later, after seemingly endless tips, searches, and even security camera footage, what happened to her is still an open question.
Earlier this year, a Sonora-based group from Mexico wanted to apply hard-won expertise gained in Mexico to the hunt in Arizona. One of many volunteer groups searching for the remains of loved ones and neighbors amid Mexico’s crisis of missing persons, the Madres Buscadoras de Sonora applied for a permit to carry out a field search in the Arizona desert but the local sheriff denied the application.
Photo courtesy Madres Buscadores de Sonora
Most recently, anonymous tips took the search for Nancy Guthrie to Mexico and another private volunteer group, Buscando Corazones Nogales.
On 10 May, the Buscando Corazones Nogales searcher collective received an anonymous tip. A body matching 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie’s description was in a shallow grave near Nogales, Sonora across the US-Mexico border about 70 miles from her Tucson home.
A search was conducted. Buscando Corazones Nogales came up empty-handed. FYI-their arsenal of tools include long poles and metal detectors to probe the countryside for disturbed earth, belt buckles, etc.
A second tip led to another search by the group in Sonora. This time the collective turned up a mass grave with the remains of 25 people. None matched Nancy’s description. All remain unidentified.
Unfortunately, finding mass graves in Mexico full of unknown people has become so common it’s hardly national news anymore.
This latest turn in the search for Nancy Guthrie is disturbingly similar to DRAGON CARTEL, the tenth book in the Detective Emilia Cruz series set in Acapulco. The ebook edition was released this week.
In DRAGON CARTEL, Emilia takes on a Missing Persons investigation that unintentionally mirrors the search for Nancy Guthrie in Mexico: tips that lead nowhere, misleading clues and bureaucratic red tape.
There’s a Chinese complication to the tale, too, with a twist ending.
Let’s move on before I give away too many spoilers.
Billboard, courtesy NBC News
There are 3 similarities between the searches for Nancy Guthrie in Sonora and Emilia Cruz’s fictional hunt for the missing Customs inspector in Acapulco:
The Anonymous Tip: In both real life and crime fiction, a single anonymous tipster or untraceable message can be either a red herring (as in the case of the Sonora searches for Nancy Guthrie) or lead investigators in the right direction. Anonymity is the tipster’s only protection when retribution from organized crime and/or law enforcement is all but guaranteed.
The Power of Local Knowledge: In DRAGON CARTEL, key clues in the case come thanks to Emilia’s former partner, Lt. Franco Silvio and his network of local informants. Likewise, the collectives who helped search for Nancy Guthrie know the desert terrain of Sonora and aren’t associated with corruption, unlike local law enforcement.
Jurisdictional Red Tape: While time ticks away, wrangling between law enforcement, military and federal forces tie up investigations over questions of jurisdiction. In DRAGON CARTEL, Emilia faces Navy authority on port property, her lieutenant’s personal agenda and a federal distraction. The hunt for Nancy Guthrie is further complicaed by cross-border issues.
When it comes to searching for Nancy Guthrie across the border, you have to take into account competing relationships/jurisdictions at the national, state and local levels—and double them.
The ebook edition of DRAGON CARTEL is out now. The paperback edition releases 30 June.
If you are ready to walk with Detective Emilia Cruz on a fine line between dangerous investigations to find a man with the code to China’s expansion, grab your copy today.
Thank you for being part of The Crime Fiction Files. Let’s keep Nancy Guthrie’s family in our thoughts as the search continues.
That’s it for this newsletter. Thank you for spending this time with me and for all the kind wishes you’ve sent upon the ebook release of DRAGON CARTEL.
I truly appreciate your support, which allows me to support veteran and first responder organizations.
All the best, Carmen
PS: A percentage of book sales and affiliate links go to support veterans and first responder organizations. When you buy a book, invite me on a podcast or recommend this newsletter, you help me help others. Thank you.
MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.
In case you missed earlier newsletters:
Your Guide to the Ghosts that Haunt my Crime Fiction
·
Apr 12
Welcome to the Crime Fiction Files. I’m CIA veteran Carmen Amato, sharing the encounters, experiences and current events behind my crime fiction thrillers, including the award-winning Detective Emilia Cruz police series set in Acapulco.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.