Phoenix police investigate woman found dead along canal as case remains unlinked
Phoenix police said Saturday at 10: 40 a. m. ET they are investigating after a woman was found dead alongside a canal in the city. The death drew added attention the same day Pima County authorities said they had not received any indication the case is connected to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie.
Phoenix canal scene prompts active police investigation
Phoenix police were called to the area of 27th Place and Grand Canal Trail around 7: 40 a. m. local time (9: 40 a. m. ET) on Saturday, March 7. A police statement said the details of the call indicated an adult female was on the nearby canal bank and was unresponsive.
Officers who arrived located the woman, and she was pronounced deceased at the scene, police said. Further details, including the woman’s identity, have not been released.
Pima County authorities say no notice of link to Nancy Guthrie case
The “why now” for the public focus around the Phoenix canal investigation is the timing: the discovery happened while the search for Nancy Guthrie remains unresolved, and questions about possible related law enforcement activity had been circulating the same day.
Later on Saturday, Digital reporter Michael Ruiz wrote on X that authorities in Pima County, Arizona, had not been informed of any link between the Phoenix canal case and Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. Ruiz wrote that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department “has not been advised of any law enforcement activity at the canal in Phoenix this morning being connected to the Nancy Guthrie case. ”
For now, Phoenix police have not publicly tied the death investigation to any other case, and Pima County authorities have indicated they have not received information suggesting a connection.
Disappearance timeline keeps attention on developments across Arizona
Nancy Guthrie was reported missing from her home near Tucson, Arizona, on February 1. In a post on X dated February 10, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote that surveillance footage recovered from the home shows an armed individual tampering with a camera at her front door.
On Friday, March 6, Brian Entin said the FBI was looking into a possible internet outage the night Nancy went missing and that one neighbor’s Ring camera history from that night was mysteriously unavailable.
Over the past five weeks, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have posted multiple videos asking for public help in Nancy’s safe return and sending messages to their mother’s possible abductors. On Friday, Savannah visited the Today studio in New York City to thank colleagues for support and said she still had hope.
Police have not released an identity for the woman found dead in Phoenix, and no agency has announced any formal connection between the Phoenix canal investigation and the missing-person case. More details are expected after investigators provide additional information.
The next confirmed milestone is the release of additional information from law enforcement; as of 11: 30 a. m. ET Saturday, Phoenix police had not publicly identified the woman or provided further details about the circumstances of her death. If authorities determine the death is connected to another investigation, they are expected to address that in an official update.
