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Skeleton unearthed near Nancy Guthrie search site believed to be up to 1,000 years old, expert says
TUCSON, Ariz. — The discovery of prehistoric human remains just miles from the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie has unearthed a grim reality of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, where an expert says a dozen or more bodies can surface in a given year, and “there’s just so much space” to conceal them.
Guthrie is the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, and as a result of her daughter’s high profile, the grim discovery quickly caught national attention.
Just as quickly, experts determined the remains had nothing to do with her case.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, James T. Watson, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona who responded to the scene where the remains were found, revealed that there was a skeleton unearthed at the scene, not just the single bone that initially went viral.
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They belonged to someone believed to have been buried between several hundred and 1,000 years ago, he said.
“Whether it is a thousand years old or 50 years old, these are human remains,” Watson said, adding that he hopes additional discoveries are treated with dignity and respect if searches continue in the Guthrie case.
A local YouTuber named AJ Wysopal came across an exposed bone while conducting an amateur search for Guthrie less than 5 miles from her home in the Catalina Foothills on May 7. Guthrie is believed to have been kidnapped out of her house in the early hours of Feb. 1.
Authorities quickly determined that the remains were human — and also that they were significantly older and unconnected to Guthrie’s suspected abduction. They are called prehistoric because they belong to someone who died before there was written language in the area, Watson said.
There is also a known archaeological site nearby, and Watson said that ceramic artifacts uncovered at the scene are consistent with known examples there.
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“All of that contextual evidence allowed me to be pretty sure that this individual was in fact Native American,” he said. “The ceramics really sort of drove home that point.”
The remains have since been transferred to the Tohono O’odham Nation, a Native American tribe with a large reservation just west of Tucson. No additional research or testing is expected, he said.
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Watson said that a combination of the Sonoran Desert’s harsh terrain and new developments on land that has been largely untouched for centuries often lead to similar discoveries as the search for Guthrie continues.
“The desert there is a pretty harsh environment and obviously it’s been settled for hundreds, thousands of years,” he told Fox News Digital.
And in addition to inadvertent archaeological discoveries, the region is also near the U.S.-Mexico border, where illegal immigrants have for years been attempting to cross illegally in those same harsh conditions.
On some occasions, he’s been called to the findings of their remains, he said.
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“There are literally probably hundreds of bodies that are discovered every year out in the desert,” he told Fox News Digital.
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Like the recent find at River and Craycroft Roads, some are exposed by natural causes, including erosion caused by the region’s powerful ephemeral rivers, which are mostly dry but flood violently during heavy rainfall in the desert. Others have been unearthed by real estate development, Watson said.
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And there could be many different reasons why they came to rest where they are found.
“So there [are] a lot of places that an individual could get lost or pass away — or hide a body,” Watson said. “I think…as people start to poke into some of these crevices that don’t normally get poked into into across the desert, they’re likely to find more individuals.”
The investigation into Guthrie’s disappearance is ongoing, and there is a combined reward of more than $1.2 million in play.
Her family is urging anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips can be submitted anonymously to Tucson’s 88-Crime hotline at 520-882-7463.
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Super Bowl champion Joe Theismann says the NFL’s is losing tradition to streaming-era scheduling
Super Bowl champion Joe Theismann said the NFL has left tradition behind.
The NFL has expanded their primetime schedule to holidays and playing games overseas, meaning they are playing more games outside of the traditional Sunday afternoon timeslot. Theismann pointed out the drastic differences in how the games are broadcast.
“They’ve drifted away (from tradition). I mean, when you look at all the different streaming services and all the different networks, it used to be ABC, NBC, and CBS, but that doesn’t exist anymore. There only used to be those TV channels where you could watch things other than sports only existed then,” Theismann told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
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“Now, we’re in a time and a place where the opportunity for the owners to make lots of money from different entities, from YouTube, from Amazon, from Peacock.”
Theismann said fans used to look forward to Sundays, but now there are games seemingly all the time.
“Sunday is something you would look forward to sitting down to because you really didn’t have an option. Now you have options on Monday night, Thursday night, Wednesday night, God only knows, Tuesday night, Saturday evening. If you’re a fan of the NFL, you’re going to find the game,” Theismann said.
The opening game of the 2026 season will be on Wednesday this season, with the second game being played in Melbourne, Australia, on a Thursday. The NFL introduced a Thanksgiving Eve game this year, adding another Wednesday game to the schedule.
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There will also be NFL games on Friday this year, as the league has gone forth with its fourth annual Black Friday game. The NFL also has three games scheduled on Christmas Day, which is a Friday.
Once the college football regular season ends in mid-December, there will also be Saturday games.
Theismann did say the NFL now has gotten fans easier access to watch more games, which he considers a good thing.
“It gives you a chance to find the game that you want to watch now. You don’t have to read about it the next day. So, in one regard it’s grown the NFL and the other side of it, yeah, would we all like things to be a little bit like they used to be? Maybe. But I believe in the progressive as a progressive individual, but life is changing. You have to adapt and change with it,” Theismann said.
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This will be the 37th American Century Championship, and Joe Theismann has played in 36 of them. He said he used to be a 2-handicap, but is now a nine, as he doesn’t hit the ball as far. He will look to turn back the clock when he plays in the tournament from July 10-12 at Edgewood Golf Course in Lake Tahoe.
He said the American Century Championship is the lone thing that you really want to participate in.
“The American Century Championship has evolved to one of those things that, if you love golf at all, and you happen to be in that quote-unquote celebrity world, it’s the thing you really want to participate in. You get to measure your game. You get to pull back the curtain on so many wonderful people, and you get to see those that you watch on TV because I’m a fan of everything. But now you get a chance to see them up close and personal, and you get a chance to meet them and get to know them, and it’s exciting,” Theismann said.
The 76-year-old said he gets to visit people on the range. He mentioned Jerry Rice, Tony Romo and Miles Teller as people he has had conversations with, calling himself a “fanboy” of Teller’s.
Theismann said “Top Gun: Maverick” is his favorite movie of all time.
The tournament has raised more than $8 million for regional and national charities. American Century Investments donates 40% of its profits to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and activates fundraising at the tournament to drive direct donations to Stowers each year. Theismann credited CEO Jonathan Thomas for the tournament’s charitable work.
Theismann credited CEO Jonathan Thomas for the tournament’s charitable work.
The tournament will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
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