An independent expenditure committee backed by Silicon Valley executives spent $4.8 million on television ads supporting San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s gubernatorial bid that will begin airing Thursday.
The two 30-second ads highlight the Democrat’s life story — being raised in a working-class family and working on a grounds crew and as a middle school teacher — and his accomplishments leading the state’s third-largest city.
Mahan’s parents “taught him the difference between nice to have and need to have,” a narrator says in one of the ads. “So as mayor of San Jose, Matt focused on the basics and delivered results on the things that matter most. The safest big city in America, a sharp drop in street homelessness and thousands of homes built. As governor, Matt Mahan will focus on results Californians need to have, like affordable homes, safe neighborhoods and good schools.”
The ads, which will air statewide on broadcast and cable TV, were paid for by an independent-expenditure committee called California Back to Basics Supporting Matt Mahan for Governor 2026.
The group has not yet filed any fundraising reports with the secretary of state’s office, but the ads’ disclosure says the top donors are billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz, luxury sleepwear company founder Ashley Merrill and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Michael Seibel.
Billionaire Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso, who considered running for governor or mayor of Los Angeles but ultimately decided against seeking either post, is involved in the effort, according to a strategist working for the committee who requested anonymity to speak about it.
The committee legally cannot coordinate with Mahan’s campaign, which he launched four weeks ago. Although Mahan lacks the name recognition of several other candidates in the crowded field running to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, his fundraising prowess, notably among tech industry leaders, is notable. He has raised nearly $9.2 million in large donations since entering the gubernatorial race.
The throng of reporters camped out around Tucson is beginning to thin.
It’s been nearly two weeks since Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos held a news conference updating the case.
And despite more than 20,000 tips, the investigation appears to be cooling and the paths to solving the Feb. 1 kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie could be narrowing.
Officials insist the investigation is still in full force and that they have some solid clues: Her blood drops on the doorstep. Her suspected abductor snatched the front door Nest camera, but not before it captured the ski-masked armed man with a backpack lurking on the porch and trying to cover the lens with his gloved hand. More than a dozen gloves have since been recovered in the surrounding community, including one authorities say matched that worn by the person in the video.
Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her Arizona home more than three weeks ago and there is still no person of interest, no suspect or even a description of a kidnapper’s getaway car.
But so far there have been no DNA matches with known criminals in the federal database.
Ransom notes came after the Feb. 1 kidnapping, but no proof that the Guthrie was alive followed. Locals were detained and quickly released as investigative leads dried up.
Still, experts say it’s far too early to call this a “cold case” and noted a break could come at any moment.
But the paths to finding Guthrie and her abductor are limited:
1. Forensic evidence
Investigators could get a scientific breakthrough with DNA evidence.
Sheriff’s investigators say they are still checking DNA from the gloves recovered in the area and Guthrie’s home, which was searched after the 84-year-old grandmother failed to show up on a Sunday to her church group and a missing person’s case became the nation’s biggest kidnapping drama in decades.
Nanos and his department have said there are multiple DNA strands mixed from the home — meaning two or more persons — and “there can be challenges separating DNA.”
A glove was found two miles from the scene that authorities say it appears to match the pair worn by the masked man. But the DNA found on the glove did not match any in the Combined DNA Index System, which has more than 19 million offender samples nationwide.
Investigators haven’t said how much weight they are giving to specific pieces of evidence. Still, experts say anything with Guthrie’s DNA discovered outside the home may also contain her abductor’s DNA.
“We believe that we may have some DNA that may be our suspect, but we won’t know that until that DNA is separated, sorted out, maybe admitted to CODIS, maybe through genetic genealogy,” Nanos told NBC News.
2. Familial DNA
Genetic genealogy is most famous for apprehending the Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., known for serial rapes and murders in the 1970s and 1980s in California. The technique, known as forensic investigative genetic genealogy, incorporates public genealogy websites with DNA analysis. The National District Attorneys Assn. heralded it as a “new era in crime solving.”
With FIGG, authorities can compare DNA collected from Guthrie’s home with publicly accessible databases containing the genetic profiles of millions of people who have given them over for family history research and other reasons. From there, investigators can sometimes find distant relatives to help piece together a family tree that can point to a suspect, said CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogist and co-founder of DNA Justice.
In the Golden State Killer case, investigators retrieved old DNA processed in the Ventura County crime lab connected to one of his crimes. Instead of processing it on CODIS, they used another part of the DNA to search for potential relatives of the unknown killer in ancestry databases.
If the person has a long family history in the United States, it’s a bit easier for investigators to use genetic genealogy, Moore added, because there’s more representation in the databases that law enforcement can access.
However, law enforcement does not have easy access to the roughly 50 million genetic profiles contained in Ancestry.com, 23andMe and MyHeritage databases. Those companies have barred authorities from accessing such information and said they would release it only if compelled by a court order or warrant.
Databases GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA and DNA Justice are open to law enforcement use but contain fewer than 2 million genetic profiles, Moore said.
“Cases with Latin American subjects are incredibly difficult,” she said. “Mexico is typically a little bit easier because we have more representation in the database from Mexico than any of the other Latin American countries. But still, because we’re limited to the smallest databases, which are less than 2 million profiles, it’s going to be quite difficult, unless they just get lucky.”
Investigators can also run familial searches on the CODIS system, where relatives of the suspect may have been placed. Such a search is legal in Arizona.
3. Evidence breakthrough
Identifying the suspected kidnapper: FBI agents have already identified the masked man’s backpack as a 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack sold at Walmart, which is now working to assist investigators. The masked assailant’s gun holster, slung between his legs, is what law enforcement terms a universal fit holster and is ill-fitted for a much larger gun. Retired LAPD Capt. Paul Vernon, who oversaw homicide probes, said the style of carry may be familiar to some at a gun range, and investigators will be pursuing the carry method as a signature part of the man’s behavior. Once law enforcement identifies the man’s specific clothing, weapon, and the carry holster, it may trigger someone’s memory and generate a vital tip, Vernon said.
On Monday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department addressed reports that there may be video of the suspect at Guthrie’s door on a day prior to her abduction, saying it was inconclusive.
“We are aware that doorbell images released earlier in the investigation depict a suspect in different stages of attire, including with and without a backpack,” the department statement said. “There is no date or time stamp associated with these images. Therefore, any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative.”
Cellphone pinging: Investigators, particularly those with FBI technical units, will use geo-fencing to scour the cell towers around Guthrie’s home for cellphone users. They will seek to separate out the phones that aren’t usually there. Even if a kidnapper carries a disposable phone with prepaid minutes, also known as a “burner,” investigators will want to identify the phone and see if they can trace its past movements. In a Los Angeles County jewelry heist, investigators last year linked a burner phone from a traffic accident to the heist location and to other crimes. Vernon said that if you identify a phone, it’s possible to see if it pings along a route, say, along the highway from Tucson toward the border.
Cameras: The investigation is also continuing to try to retrieve other data from cameras around Nancy Guthrie’s home. Detectives have asked residents of the Catalina Foothills neighborhood where Guthrie lived to submit any suspicious behavior captured on security cameras for the entire month before the abduction. Initially, they asked specifically for any videos related to Jan. 11. Authorities haven’t said whether they have evidence that the perpetrator may have surveilled the home before the kidnapping. But it is not uncommon for burglars, robbers and home invaders to be seen on surveillance of a crime in the weeks before, law enforcement experts say.
The disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother three weeks ago has inspired a small number of volunteers to launch their own searches in the dense desert near her home in hopes of cracking the case.The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said while it appreciates the concern for Nancy Guthrie, it asked people inquiring about volunteering to give investigators space to do their jobs. Video above: Nancy Guthrie search turns to Mexico”We all want to find Nancy, but this work is best left to professionals,” the agency said in a statement over the weekend.Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home just outside Tucson on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will. Drops of her blood were found on the front porch, but authorities haven’t publicly revealed much evidence. Despite the sheriff’s request for people not to search on their own, volunteers have continued to look. A small group reported finding a black backpack on Sunday, but it wasn’t the same brand as one identified in video surveillance that the FBI released of a masked man at Guthrie’s home the night she disappeared. A sheriffs’ spokesperson told Tucson television station KOLD that the bag and its contents didn’t appear to be viable leads. The Associated Press reached out to the sheriff’s department for comment on Monday.Two women from the group Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, or “Searching Mothers of Sonora,” who were carrying digging tools Sunday outside of Guthrie’s home, said they, too, would join the search. They posted fliers on Guthrie’s mailbox with her picture and their contact information.Tony Estrada, the former long-time sheriff in neighboring Santa Cruz County, said volunteer searchers have good intentions in wanting to help and can serve as a force multiplier, but it’s crucial that their efforts be coordinated with law enforcement.”You can’t have people all over the place looking for something and not reporting to anybody or letting them know that they’re going to be in that area,” Estrada said. “They may be trampling into things that may come out to be helpful in the future.”Nearly all search operations for U.S. law enforcement agencies are staffed with volunteers, said Chris Boyer, executive director of the National Association for Search and Rescue.Untrained volunteers who show up to help in a search may mean well, but experts say they could end up contaminating a crime scene.”It’s painful for law enforcement when that happens,” Boyer said. Volunteers should undergo background checks, be trained in things like administering first aid and preserving crime scenes, and work under the direction of law enforcement authorities, said Boyer, whose group provides education, certification and advocacy for search and rescue efforts across the United States and other countries.Several hundred people are working the Guthrie investigation, and more than 20,000 tips have been received, the sheriff’s office has said. The FBI and other agencies are assisting. Video below: United Cajun Navy says it will join search for Nancy GuthrieThe sheriff’s office has watched around the clock lately at Guthrie’s house. It also enacted a temporary one-way flow on the road so that emergency vehicles and trash collection trucks could get through. The constant presence of news crews, bloggers and curious onlookers has drawn mixed reaction from neighbors.Some appreciated the attention the case has been getting. Others have placed traffic cones and signs on their properties to keep people off. Meanwhile, the tribute to Nancy Guthrie outside her home keeps growing, with flowers, yellow ribbons, crosses, prayers and patron saints for older adults and in desperate situations.Aran Aleamoni and his daughter Ariana picked out a bouquet of red, pink and white flowers and placed them at the edge of Guthrie’s yard, alongside a sign that read “Let Nancy Come Home” and a statuette of an angel.”My heart goes out to the entire family,” said Aran Aleamoni, who has known the Guthrie family for a long time. “We are all pulling for you. We’re with you in your corner.”Billeaud reported from Phoenix.
TUCSON, Ariz. —
The disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother three weeks ago has inspired a small number of volunteers to launch their own searches in the dense desert near her home in hopes of cracking the case.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said while it appreciates the concern for Nancy Guthrie, it asked people inquiring about volunteering to give investigators space to do their jobs.
Video above: Nancy Guthrie search turns to Mexico
“We all want to find Nancy, but this work is best left to professionals,” the agency said in a statement over the weekend.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home just outside Tucson on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will. Drops of her blood were found on the front porch, but authorities haven’t publicly revealed much evidence.
Despite the sheriff’s request for people not to search on their own, volunteers have continued to look. A small group reported finding a black backpack on Sunday, but it wasn’t the same brand as one identified in video surveillance that the FBI released of a masked man at Guthrie’s home the night she disappeared.
A sheriffs’ spokesperson told Tucson television station KOLD that the bag and its contents didn’t appear to be viable leads. The Associated Press reached out to the sheriff’s department for comment on Monday.
Two women from the group Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, or “Searching Mothers of Sonora,” who were carrying digging tools Sunday outside of Guthrie’s home, said they, too, would join the search. They posted fliers on Guthrie’s mailbox with her picture and their contact information.
Tony Estrada, the former long-time sheriff in neighboring Santa Cruz County, said volunteer searchers have good intentions in wanting to help and can serve as a force multiplier, but it’s crucial that their efforts be coordinated with law enforcement.
Felicia Fonseca
Neighbors walk by a growing memorial for Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, outside her home in Tucson, Ariz., Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.
“You can’t have people all over the place looking for something and not reporting to anybody or letting them know that they’re going to be in that area,” Estrada said. “They may be trampling into things that may come out to be helpful in the future.”
Nearly all search operations for U.S. law enforcement agencies are staffed with volunteers, said Chris Boyer, executive director of the National Association for Search and Rescue.
Untrained volunteers who show up to help in a search may mean well, but experts say they could end up contaminating a crime scene.
“It’s painful for law enforcement when that happens,” Boyer said.
Volunteers should undergo background checks, be trained in things like administering first aid and preserving crime scenes, and work under the direction of law enforcement authorities, said Boyer, whose group provides education, certification and advocacy for search and rescue efforts across the United States and other countries.
Several hundred people are working the Guthrie investigation, and more than 20,000 tips have been received, the sheriff’s office has said. The FBI and other agencies are assisting.
Video below: United Cajun Navy says it will join search for Nancy Guthrie
The sheriff’s office has watched around the clock lately at Guthrie’s house. It also enacted a temporary one-way flow on the road so that emergency vehicles and trash collection trucks could get through. The constant presence of news crews, bloggers and curious onlookers has drawn mixed reaction from neighbors.
Some appreciated the attention the case has been getting. Others have placed traffic cones and signs on their properties to keep people off.
Meanwhile, the tribute to Nancy Guthrie outside her home keeps growing, with flowers, yellow ribbons, crosses, prayers and patron saints for older adults and in desperate situations.
Aran Aleamoni and his daughter Ariana picked out a bouquet of red, pink and white flowers and placed them at the edge of Guthrie’s yard, alongside a sign that read “Let Nancy Come Home” and a statuette of an angel.
“My heart goes out to the entire family,” said Aran Aleamoni, who has known the Guthrie family for a long time. “We are all pulling for you. We’re with you in your corner.”
Moving to a new place is exciting, but getting there can feel overwhelming when clutter piles up fast. Clearing out what no longer fits improves the flow of moving day more than most realize. Less clutter means fewer decisions weighed under boxes. A quieter space waits ahead if sorting happens early enough. A method begins to emerge when sorting items into keep, donate, or discard piles. Moving becomes less stressful when boxes are labeled in advance. The key lies in tackling spaces step by step instead of rushing through them.
Moving Strategy: Planning Your Declutter and Move
Beginning to sort things out? A clear move plan makes sense first. Getting ahead means avoiding the rush of confusion that comes with shifting places. Picture where you want to be, then move step by step instead of cramming it all at once.
Begin sooner than you might think; four to six weeks before your move works best. Having extra weeks around makes everything calmer and smoother. As you sketch out your timeline, consider booking a trusted moving company early so the logistics are locked in while you focus on organizing. Instead of tackling everything at once, start with just one room.
That way, it breaks down into steps that feel doable without overload. Pick a moment every day or week to zoom in on exactly where you are. Work toward wrapping up just one area before shifting attention elsewhere. Slow steps add up without rushing past your limits.
Start putting things away by grouping them: keep, give away, or throw out. When something sits around unused for too long, or just doesn’t fit anymore, let it go. Stick with what matters or brings value, then place a small pile near the door for must-haves once you reach your destination.
Room-by-Room Decluttering Guide
1
Living Room
Furniture comes and goes, yet the living room usually holds steady as a central spot in the house, where tech hums, rugs anchor, and things sit. Look around without rushing; notice which chairs, sofas, or stands barely get touched anymore. Space changes when life does. Now might be the time to release what once fit but now feels off, even if it is still working well. If something you own stops working, consider giving it away or selling it.
Take a moment with your gadgets and fun stuff. When there are faded discs, unused consoles, or outdated devices just sitting around, start separating them. It makes sense to clear the clutter now rather than drag it out later without purpose.
Look closely at how things sit on shelves or tables. Decorations often take up too much space. Think about which objects make the room feel alive. If something no longer sparks joy, put it aside. Keep what fits the space without clutter. What stays should mean something to you.
Selling furniture or decor you no longer need? Facebook Marketplace is one of the easiest ways to move items quickly and put a little cash back in your pocket before the move.
2
Kitchen
Often, the kitchen holds more stuff than expected: machines, tools, cans, boxes. Take a moment to check what’s on the counters and in the cabinets. Is that blender still plugged in, but never touched since the holiday season last year? If appliances aren’t working well, leaving them behind might be for the best; there’s no need to move old or broken items into your next place.
Start by checking what’s left in the pantry and inside the fridge. Get rid of anything past its expiration date, including canned goods if they’re past their best-by date. You can slip leftover condiments or nearly empty spice jars into a donation pile instead of packing them. Clearing out those small items helps keep moving chaos light on your hands.
Look inside your cabinets, then check the drawers, too. The same tools might be duplicated. When extra items are sitting around, unused since last season, consider donating them. Someone nearby could make good use of those pots, spatulas, or kitchen scrapers.
3
Bedrooms
A place to unwind might live inside your bedroom, yet mess can build quietly. Begin by sorting through what hangs in the closet or stacks in drawers. When something has remained untouched for 12 months or shrunk beyond recognition, let it go. Give away what still has value.
Discard whatever serves no purpose now. Picture yourself later — what shoes will fit, what jacket feels right. Skip storing garments you’ve never worn. Trust your gut when picking outfits for next spring.
Look at what covers your bed first. When old or frayed bedding sits around, get rid of it. Packing extra things you never reach for wastes space. Anything past its prime has no place on the move.
Look around your bedroom and notice the furniture. Big pieces that are cracked or out of place can slow things down. Selling them might clear space fast. Donating instead brings new purpose to items piling up. A room full of extras feels tighter when nothing fits right.
4
Bathrooms
A single room does not need much, yet things pile up fast, especially toothpaste, shampoo, and bottles of cream. Start by checking every tube, jar, or bottle in the sink area. Get rid of anything stale or nearly gone, whether it is soap, conditioner, or eyeliner. There is no need to carry what might not be used.
Check what’s in your closet. Towels and bedding might be taking up space you could use. If there’s extra stuff gathering dust, think about sending it off to someone who could make better use of it. The same applies to household cleaners: keep only the ones you actually reach for.
Finish by peering into your medicine cabinet. Look for pills past their expiration dates or stuff you never get around to using. Once found, dispose of them properly while gathering everything else still in the bathroom.
See also
5
Home Office or Study
When people do their jobs at home, desks tend to pile up fast, with notes, bills, and old receipts stacking high. Start by going through every stack of paper. Tear up anything outdated you no longer need; keep only what matters or might come in useful later. Saving effort and room when shifting places becomes easier this way.
Look at your electronics and office supplies, too. Outdated gadgets, such as old printers or unused office items, should be recycled or given away. Share books or references you rarely open with someone who will actually use them.
Clean out clutter from your desk drawers last. Store only what actually helps you get through each day.
6
Garage or Storage Spaces
Out in the garage or back room, things often pile up: leftover gear, worn-out supplies, dusty equipment nobody touches. Start peeling things apart slowly, like sorting a messy drawer. When something sits untouched or falls apart, it no longer has a place here. Best to move it out without waiting. Nothing should move unless you truly need it later.
Take a look at your athletic gear. If anything sits unused or feels pointless now, consider giving it away or putting it online. Holiday ornaments that no longer fit your style? The same rule applies. Items that bring little value have no reason to travel with you into a fresh space.
Once you’ve settled in, a seasonal reset pairs perfectly with our spring cleaning tips to keep your new space fresh from day one.
Final Tips for a Smooth Move
After decluttering every room, turn attention toward getting ready for moving day. Start putting away items you do not use often — seasonal items, spare dishes, decorations, and so on. While storing these goods, note where they go later; write down both the room names and what’s inside each container. Starting early helps since moving day comes fast.
When you can, bring people along; it eases things. Friends, relatives, or hired movers might fill that role well. Whatever team you choose, keeping track of steps helps avoid hiccups later. Start by writing down everything you need to bring. Check each item as you gather it. This way, nothing slips through cracks. When everything is listed, you’ll see exactly what remains undone. Finish those tasks just in time. Avoid rushing only at the very end.
Starting to sort things out ahead of the move might feel like too much work, yet it pays off in the end. A bit of thought upfront makes shifting smoother and gives you a clean start somewhere else.
Better Living uses affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, we may receive a small commission (for which we are deeply grateful) at no cost to you.
This post was sponsored by Facebook Marketplace. Opinions and vintage obsessions are entirely our own.
If you have ever walked into a flea market and felt your heart race at the sight of a chippy painted table or a perfectly worn mid-century chair, you already get it. The hunt is half the fun. But what if you could do that hunt from your couch, in your pajamas, at midnight? That is exactly what Facebook Marketplace has become for me, and it has changed how I shop for my home entirely.
What You Will Learn in This Post
Why Facebook Marketplace is a gold mine for vintage home decor
How to search for vintage furniture and unique finds like a pro
How to contact a seller and negotiate a better price
What to inspect before you hand over cash
How to style a vintage find in your home
How to sell your clutter on Facebook Marketplace for cash
Safety tips for smart, confident buying
Pro Tip: Items move fast. If you see something you love, message the seller right away. Hesitate and it is gone.
Why Facebook Marketplace Is a Gold Mine for Vintage Home Decor
I will be honest. I was skeptical at first. I am a flea market girl. I love the smell of old wood and the thrill of digging through someone’s grandmother’s china collection. But Facebook Marketplace has surprised me with the quality and variety of what is out there. We are talking real vintage furniture, antique lighting, farmhouse decor, mid-century modern pieces, and quirky one-of-a-kind finds that you simply cannot get from a big box store or even most antique shops.
The difference is that you are buying directly from local people. No middleman markup. No shipping damage. And often, sellers are just happy to see their beloved piece go to someone who appreciates it.
1
How to Search Facebook Marketplace Like a Pro
Head to facebook.com/marketplace or tap the Marketplace icon in your Facebook app. The search bar is your best friend here. Be specific but also think like a seller. They may not know the exact era or style name of what they are selling, so casting a wider keyword net helps.
Search terms that get results for vintage home decor:
Farmhouse table, chippy table, enamel table
Mid-century chair, danish modern, vintage lamp
Antique dresser, hutch, buffet, sideboard
Vintage decor, old sign, cast iron, milk glass
Estate sale items, moving sale, downsizing
Use the filters to narrow by location, price range, and category. Set a reasonable radius. I usually start at 25 miles and expand from there if needed. Sorting by newest listings lets you catch fresh posts before anyone else does.
Save listings you love by clicking the bookmark icon, but do not sit on them too long. Popular items disappear fast.
2
How to Contact a Seller and Negotiate a Better Price
Found something you love? Click the listing and hit the message button to reach out. Facebook will send an opening message to the seller asking if the item is still available. From there you can ask questions, request more photos, or make an offer.
Tips for negotiating without being awkward about it:
Be friendly and show real enthusiasm. Sellers are more likely to work with someone who seems excited about the piece
Ask about the item’s history. People love sharing the story behind something they have owned for years
If the price feels high, make a reasonable counteroffer. Most sellers expect a little back and forth
Avoid lowballing aggressively. It is off-putting and can lose you the deal entirely
Mention that you can pick up quickly. Sellers appreciate a buyer who will not flake
When I found my vintage enamel baking table listed for $85, I asked a couple of questions, showed real enthusiasm for the piece, and we landed on $75 at pickup. The whole exchange took about ten minutes and felt completely natural.
3
What to Inspect Before You Hand Over Cash
Once you have agreed on a price, set up a time and place to meet. Always inspect the item in person before paying. Here is what to check:
Structural integrity: Wobble the piece, check joints, test the legs
Surface condition: Scratches and wear add character. Cracks and water damage are deal-breakers
Smell: Musty or smoky odors can be very difficult to remove from wood and upholstery
Dimensions: Always measure before you go so you know the piece fits your space and your car
My enamel table had a near-perfect top and beautifully worn chippy legs, exactly what I was hoping for. We met the next day, I handed over $75 cash, and that sweet little table rode home in the back seat.
4
How We Styled Our Vintage Enamel Baking Table
This is the fun part. Driving home I was already mentally rotating this table through every room in the house. Kitchen prep table? Vanity? Desk? It could work as all three. For now it landed as a reading desk and it looks like it was always meant to be there.
The vintage enamel baking table as found. Circa 1940s, chippy legs, near-perfect enamel top. $75 on Facebook Marketplace.
Before styling. The table in its new spot, already looking at home.
After styling with a gifted chair and accessories we already owned. Total spend: $75.
The legs are chippy and worn in that perfect way that no one can fake or mass produce. The enamel top is smooth, cleanable, and completely functional. It is the kind of piece that makes people ask where you got it, and the answer is always more satisfying when it comes with a story.
5
What Else Can You Find on Facebook Marketplace?
Vintage furniture is just the beginning. Facebook Marketplace has become a surprisingly deep well for all kinds of home-related finds. Here is a taste of what turns up regularly:
Decor: Artwork, mirrors, rugs, lighting, plants and planters
Kitchen: Appliances, cookware sets, vintage dishware and glassware
Renovation materials: Lumber, tiles, paint, fixtures, and hardware. A fantastic resource for home upgrades on a budget
Everything else: Electronics, clothing, toys, sporting goods, and more
See also
You can also find listings for cars, rentals, and local services. It has become a genuine one-stop local marketplace that keeps getting bigger and more useful.
The finished reading nook. Styled entirely with found, gifted, and already-owned pieces.
6
How to Sell Your Clutter on Facebook Marketplace for Cash
Here is the part that makes Facebook Marketplace a genuine lifestyle tool rather than just a shopping app. You can sell, too. That closet full of things you never reach for? The furniture that does not fit your new place? List it and get paid.
How to list an item in under five minutes:
Snap 3 to 5 clear photos in good natural light
Write a short, honest description including condition, dimensions, and any flaws
Set your price. Check similar listings first to price competitively
Choose your pickup preference: home pickup or a public meeting spot
Post it. There are no listing fees
Payment is handled between you and the buyer, so cash on pickup is the simplest option for local transactions. The whole process is refreshingly straightforward.
7
Safety Tips for Smart, Confident Buying
Facebook Marketplace is generally safe and straightforward, but a few smart habits go a long way:
Meet in public for small items. A parking lot, coffee shop, or police station safe exchange zone all work well
Bring a friend for larger furniture pickups at someone’s home
Check the seller’s profile and look for reviews, mutual friends, and how long they have been on Facebook
Never pay in advance via wire transfer or gift cards. Cash on pickup only for local deals
Trust your instincts. If something feels off about a listing or a seller, move on
Measure twice. Confirm dimensions before you drive across town
The vast majority of transactions are completely smooth and even enjoyable. I have met some wonderfully interesting people through Marketplace pickups, neighbors I never would have crossed paths with otherwise.
The chippy leg detail up close. This kind of patina simply cannot be replicated. Worth every dollar of that $75.
The Verdict: Facebook Marketplace for Home Decor Is the Real Deal
What started as a single sponsored search for a vintage piece turned into a completely new way of thinking about how I shop for and style my home. The combination of unique local finds, prices that actually make sense, and the satisfaction of rescuing something beautiful from someone’s garage makes this the most fun I have had decorating in years.
Whether you are furnishing a first apartment, refreshing a tired room, hunting for farmhouse antiques, or just trying to clear out your attic for cash, Facebook Marketplace consistently delivers. The inventory changes daily, the deals are real, and the stories that come with each piece are something no retail store can offer.
Mark me as sold. Completely and permanently sold.
Better Living uses affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, we may receive a small commission (for which we are deeply grateful) at no cost to you.
Pantone’s “Cloud Dancer” may be the 2026 Color of the Year, but what other home design trends are taking over this year? We asked local design and home industry experts to share their insights on 2026 design trends and the products that are becoming a favorite.
“This year, I see a continuing color trend of rich tones—deep teals, muted greens and warm neutrals, for example,” says Danielle Muecke of Muecke Design & Construction.
Color isn’t the only change to expect; textures and materials are getting a revamp as well.
“Our 2026 design trend forecast is that we will continue to ride the all-natural wood grain and stain wave, however, think darker stains like walnut and more variations of marbles, granite and real stone materials,” says Rachel Simpson, Senior Interior Designer of Revive Design and Renovation.
When it comes to countertops, quartzite is still a favorite for local designer Nicole Roe of R. Nickson Interiors.
“A lot of that comes down to the horizontal veining and flow,” Roe says. “Being a Florida-based firm, so many of our projects are on the water, and the movement in the stone feels like a subtle nod to the ocean or lake outside.”
Carin Zwiebel of Carin Zwiebel Interior Designs notes that 2026 isn’t about what’s new, but rather a return to classic and enduring materials like plaster finishes, Moroccan glazed tiles and warm, aged brass.
“Deep, saturated colors, architectural curves, warm woods and metal accents set the tone, while timeless elements like herringbone and marble ground the space,” she says.
Jesse Jackson’s life was defined by *** relentless fight for justice and equality. I was born in Greenville, South Carolina, uh, in rampant radical racial segregation. Had to be taught to go to the back of the bus or be arrested. In 1965, he began working for Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. I learned so much from him, such *** great source of inspiration. Both men were in Memphis in April 1968 to support striking sanitation workers. King and other civil rights leaders were staying at the Lorraine Motel. He said, Jesse, you know, you don’t even have on *** shirt and tie. You don’t even have on *** tie. We’re going to dinner. I said, Doc, you know it does not require *** tie. Just an appetite and we laughed. I said, Doc, and the bullet hit. With King gone, his movement was adrift. Years later, Jackson formed Operation Push, pressuring businesses to open up to black workers and customers and adding more focus on black responsibility, championed in the 1972 concert Watt Stacks. Watts. The Reverend set his sights on the White House in 1984. 1st thought of as *** marginal candidate, Jackson finished third in the primary race with 18% of the vote. He ran again in 1988, doubling his vote count and finishing in 2nd in the Democratic race. At the time, it was the farthest any black candidate had gone in *** presidential contest. But 20 years later when President Barack ran, we were laying the groundwork for that season. In 2017, Jackson had *** new battle to fight, Parkinson’s disease, but it did. It stop him. Late in life, he was still fighting. He was arrested in Washington while demonstrating for voting rights. His silent presence at the trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s killers prompted defense lawyers to ask that he leave the courtroom. Jackson stayed from the Jim Crow South through the turbulent 60s and into the Black Lives Matter movement. Jesse Jackson was *** constant, unyielding voice for justice.
Children of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson honor his legacy as memorial services set for next week
From jokes about his well-known stubbornness to tears grieving the loss of a parent, the adult children of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. gave an emotional tribute Wednesday honoring the legacy of the late civil rights icon, a day after his death.Jackson died Tuesday at his home in Chicago after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his ability to move and speak. Standing on the steps outside his longtime Chicago home, five of his children, including U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, remembered him not only for his decades-long work in civil rights but also for his role as spiritual leader and father.“Our father is a man who dedicated his life to public service to gain, protect and defend civil rights and human rights to make our nation better, to make the world more just, our people better neighbors with each other,” said his youngest son, Yusef Jackson, fighting back tears at times.Memorial services were set for next week, with two days of him lying in repose at the Chicago headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the organization he founded. A public memorial dubbed “The People’s Celebration” was planned for Feb. 27 at the House of Hope, a South Side church with a 10,000-person arena. Homegoing services were set for the following day at Rainbow PUSH, according to the organization.Jackson rose to prominence six decades ago as a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., joining the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. King later dispatched Jackson to Chicago to launch Operation Breadbasket, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference effort to pressure companies to hire Black workers.Jackson was with King on April 4, 1968, when the civil rights leader was killed.Remembrances have poured in worldwide for Jackson, including flowers left outside the home where large portraits of a smiling Jackson had been placed. But his children said he was a family man first.“Our father took fatherhood very seriously,” his eldest child, Santita Jackson, said. “It was his charge to keep.”His children’s reflections were poetic in the style of the late civil rights icon — filled with prayer, tears and a few chuckles, including about disagreements that occur when growing up in a large, lively family.His eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., a former congressman, said his father’s funeral services would welcome all, “Democrat, Republican, liberal and conservative, right wing, left wing — because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American.”The family asked only that those attending be respectful.“If his life becomes a turning point in our national political discourse, amen,” he said. “His last breath is not his last breath.”
CHICAGO —
From jokes about his well-known stubbornness to tears grieving the loss of a parent, the adult children of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. gave an emotional tribute Wednesday honoring the legacy of the late civil rights icon, a day after his death.
Jackson died Tuesday at his home in Chicago after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his ability to move and speak. Standing on the steps outside his longtime Chicago home, five of his children, including U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, remembered him not only for his decades-long work in civil rights but also for his role as spiritual leader and father.
“Our father is a man who dedicated his life to public service to gain, protect and defend civil rights and human rights to make our nation better, to make the world more just, our people better neighbors with each other,” said his youngest son, Yusef Jackson, fighting back tears at times.
Memorial services were set for next week, with two days of him lying in repose at the Chicago headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the organization he founded. A public memorial dubbed “The People’s Celebration” was planned for Feb. 27 at the House of Hope, a South Side church with a 10,000-person arena. Homegoing services were set for the following day at Rainbow PUSH, according to the organization.
Jackson rose to prominence six decades ago as a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., joining the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. King later dispatched Jackson to Chicago to launch Operation Breadbasket, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference effort to pressure companies to hire Black workers.
Jackson was with King on April 4, 1968, when the civil rights leader was killed.
Remembrances have poured in worldwide for Jackson, including flowers left outside the home where large portraits of a smiling Jackson had been placed. But his children said he was a family man first.
“Our father took fatherhood very seriously,” his eldest child, Santita Jackson, said. “It was his charge to keep.”
His children’s reflections were poetic in the style of the late civil rights icon — filled with prayer, tears and a few chuckles, including about disagreements that occur when growing up in a large, lively family.
Scott Olson
The children of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson Sr., Jesse Jackson Jr., Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Sanita Jackson, Ashley Jackson, and Yusef Jackson speak about their father outside their parents’ home on February 18, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. Jesse Jackson Sr. died early yesterday morning. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
His eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., a former congressman, said his father’s funeral services would welcome all, “Democrat, Republican, liberal and conservative, right wing, left wing — because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American.”
The family asked only that those attending be respectful.
“If his life becomes a turning point in our national political discourse, amen,” he said. “His last breath is not his last breath.”
L.A.’s Westside is finally getting its first Ikea outpost.
The furniture company known for its Swedish meatballs and blocky “Kallax” shelving units has found a home inside the old Helms Bakery complex in Culver City.
The store, slated to open this spring, will be its 11th in California and is the company’s first “city-center” store in Los Angeles.
It will occupy a roughly 40,000-square-foot portion of a lot formerly used by L.A. luxury furniture retailer HD Buttercup, which went out of business last year, said Wally Marks III, owner of the Helms complex.
Ikea chose to open a location in Culver City because residents “spend a significant amount of time commuting and are increasingly impacted by affordability challenges,” spokesperson Briana Lehman said in a statement.
“We’re bringing the IKEA experience closer to where people live, work, socialize, and shop—just in a smaller footprint,” Lehman said.
The Helms building was chosen because it is a historic Los Angeles destination known for its restaurants and home furnishings businesses, Lehman said.
The complex has other furniture stores, including a Scandinavian Designs store, The Rug Warehouse and Room and Board.
The expansion is part of Ikea’s strategy of opening smaller stores targeting urban customers.
Unlike the larger suburban stores in Burbank and Carson, this Ikea won’t have signature vibrant blue exterior walls. The exterior of the beloved Art Deco building won’t change, Marks said.
There will, however, be showrooms with fully-furnished home kitchens and bathrooms tailored for a local L.A. audience.
Meanwhile, unlike the tiny 9,000-square-foot Ikea store that opened in Arcadia’s Santa Anita Mall in 2024, the Culver City location will feature a food court.
In 2023, Ikea opened an 85,000-square-foot location in downtown San Francisco.
In 2025, Ikea U.S. reported $5.3 billion in sales, including $1.9 billion in e-commerce sales, according to a company statement.
Ikea U.S. interim Chief Executive Rob Olson said in the statement that the company was able to grow in 2025 “despite a challenging external environment.”
In 2026, the company plans to “build on this momentum, focusing on continued investment in the U.S. to make IKEA more affordable, accessible and sustainable,” Olson said. The company has set a goal of opening 10 new stores during its 2026 fiscal year, which began in September.
The 11-acre Helms complex is the former home of the Helms bakery, famous for the butter yellow trucks that once zoomed across Southern California delivering fresh bread and for being an official supplier for the 1932 Olympics – a distinction still proudly displayed on a rooftop sign.
The bakery shut down in 1969 because the founder did not want his company to unionize, The Times once reported. The Marks family real estate firm bought the property in 1972 and turned it into a center for home furnishings and antiques.
A new version of Helm’s Bakery opened inside the Helms Design District in November 2024 but closed in December due to lagging sales. That 14,000-square-foot lot has found its next tenant, Marks said.
No extra parking is being built for Ikea, but patrons can use the existing Helms Bakery lots across Venice Boulevard, Marks said. The store is a short walk from the Culver City light rail station and bus lines, he said.
With fire pits on the beach, showers and a front-row view of the sun sinking into the Pacific, Mike and Nicole Wirth had no complaint about their $45 overnights at Dockweiler Beach.
But neither was their three-night stay there last April a quaint camping experience. Dockweiler RV Park was No. 13 of the 15 places they’ve bedded down since the Eaton fire destroyed their Altadena home last year.
Among their other sleepovers — from one night to four months — were two hotels, an Airbnb, a church parking lot, another campground, a townhome rental and three tiny guest houses — one at a co-worker’s boyfriend’s house. In between were three stays with Nicole’s parents where their precious Australian cattle dog Goose succumbed, they believe, to accumulated trauma.
Mike and Nicole Wirth in their Sprinter van in Altadena. The Wirths were displaced during the 2025 Eaton fire and have moved 15 times, including stints of camping in their van.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
They were not alone. The Eaton and Palisades fires left an urban population of tens of thousands homeless in a single day. They moved in every direction, some near, some far, some — the lucky ones — only once. For many, home became an improvisation.
Sometimes Nicole stayed with her parents while Mike stayed alone at Dockweiler to be near his work in Hawthorne. It had a subtle reassuring effect.
“The van felt like the only room from our house that survived,” Mike said.
The Wirths, who are rebuilding their home and expect to move back in April, reflect the frenetic side of the complicated quest for shelter for tens of thousands whose homes were destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires.
Their orbit, compact but intense, was dictated by their decision to stay near his job and to oversee the reconstruction of their home.
Others moved less frequently, but often went much farther, to stabilize their lives.
Christie and Michael McIntire were grasping for anything in the San Gabriel Valley and coming up short.
“Won’t take cats. Price really high. Extremely far. Somebody got to it first,” Christie McIntire said in a phone interview.
The McIntire family walk through their new home outside Nashville. They are preparing to move in April 1.
(Diana King / For The Times)
After spending several months in two seedy rentals, the McIntires pulled the trigger on a longtime fantasy. They found a rental in Nashville. Christie flew with her two girls and the cats, and Michael drove with the dog. They’ve purchased a 3,600-square-foot suburban house to replace their 1,400-square-foot Altadena bungalow. They will move in April 1 when their current lease expires.
The lease was the first step in a multistage recovery.
“We didn’t feel homeless anymore,” Christie said. “When we found the house to buy is when we began to feel secure.”
The Eaton and Palisades fire diaspora has played out in a sunburst pattern of impromptu moves that likely will never be traced in full detail.
A blurry outline is revealed in a quarterly survey commissioned by the Department of Angels, a nonprofit created by the California Community Foundation and SNAP Inc. It has documented the broad outlines and delved into the emotional and financial stress on those who were displaced. Its latest survey, released for the fire anniversary, found that 7 out of 10 people displaced — 74% from Pacific Palisades and 65% from Altadena — are still in temporary housing, down only slightly from the third quarter.
Only about a third in both communities said they expect to remain where they are more than a year or two, and about 20% — 22% in Palisades and 17% in Altadena — said they expect to move again within the next few months or weeks, both up from September.
A sharper picture of mobility can be gleaned from those like the McIntires, who have put down roots and changed their addresses. Data provided to The Times by Melissa, a global address provider, shows that most of those displaced in the two fires stayed close to home but they also spread tendrils across the country.
(Melissa compiles the data from records including change-of-address filings with the post office, magazine subscriptions and credit card applications. The Times provided addresses of the roughly 21,800 housing units rated by Cal Fire as either destroyed or sustaining major damage. The company tied each address to the individuals living there, whether as family members or owner/renter.)
More than 83% of the 30,000 tracked by Melissa stayed within Los Angeles County, and just under 95% remained in California. The pattern was similar for both communities: 93% from Pacific Palisades and 96% from Altadena stayed in-state.
Each dot represents a new address for a person displaced by the Eaton and Palisades fires.
83% of people moving stayed within L.A. County.
Those displaced from the Eaton fire tended to move within the San Gabriel Valley, or to Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Those displaced from the Palisades fire tended to stay near the coast.
83% of people moving stayed within L.A. County.
Those displaced from the Eaton fire tended to move within the San Gabriel Valley, or to Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Those displaced from the Palisades fire tended to stay near the coast.
Address changes from January 2025 through Nov. 11.
melissa.com
Lorena Iñiguez Elebee LOS ANGELES TIMES
At least 1,600 people traveled to other states to make new homes. Texas (166), Florida (144) and New York (141) were their top destinations. In all, they went to 45 states with Maine and Rhode Island each receiving one. The McIntires were among 50 relocating to Tennessee.
Each dot represents a new address for a person displaced by the Eaton and Palisades fires.
The Northeast had the
most overall.
Texas and Florida were
the top destinations.
The Northeast
had the most overall.
Texas and Florida were
the top destinations.
Moves based on individuals notifying USPS of a new address or establishing credit at a new location between January 2025 and Nov. 11. Two people relocated to Puerto Rico, not shown.
The preference to stay nearby was strong. More than 2,900 people displaced by the fires relocated within the seven ZIP Codes that had almost all the destroyed and damaged homes, either directly or after an intermediary move. Pasadena was at the top of that list, followed by Altadena and Pacific Palisades.
Seven Southern California coastal counties accounted for 98% of all displaced people who stayed in California. Los Angeles County was by far the primary destination, receiving more than 25,000 people. Orange County was a distant second at 738. Outside of L.A., Palisadians tended to stay near the coast, from San Diego to Santa Barbara counties. Altadenans more often moved east in the San Gabriel Valley and to Riverside or San Bernardino counties.
How many of those moves are permanent is not known, but they reflect a cohort of the displaced population more likely to gain stability. About 3,300 were tracked through two post-fire moves, while the number moving three times dropped precipitously to 129.
While the Wirths’ 15-stop odyssey may represent an extreme, many lacked either the opportunity or desire to lay down new roots while anticipating a return to what they consider their real home.
Nicole and Mike Wirth walk their dogs outside their temporary home in Altadena.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
“I never did a change of address,” said Sara Marti, whose Palisades rental was destroyed. “Whatever mail I was receiving, who knows where it went.”
Marti, her husband, Jordan Corral, and their two school-age children stayed two nights in a Marriott after evacuating. Their next move was to an Airbnb in Lancaster.
“It was a bizarre experience because it was so far from everything we knew,” she said.
Next they used insurance money to put a down payment on an RV and moved to the River’s End RV Park in Canyon Country. They thought they were settled until a crack in the gray water tank sent their home in for repairs. They moved from motel to hotel to Airbnb until she couldn’t take it anymore, Marti said. They’ve now leased an apartment in Canyon Country. Corral works locally.
The Wirths relocated 15 times since the Eaton fire damaged their home
For the first few months, their stays in each new place lasted from one night to several weeks.
After the Eaton fire, Mike and Nicole first stayed at Nicole’s parents’ house.
From Dockweiler
State Beach
From Dockweiler
State Beach
To Crystal
Cove State Park
After the Eaton fire, Mike and Nicole first stayed at Nicole’s parents’ house.
To Crystal
Cove State Park
From Dockweiler
State Beach
OpenStreetMap
Lorena Iñiguez Elebee LOS ANGELES TIMES
Marti, who works for the community environmental group Resilient Palisades — remotely now — intends to return to be near her parents who are rebuilding their destroyed house.
“I’d love to return into an apartment, assuming the pricing doesn’t go crazy,” she said.
Whether to take steps to formalize a temporary address was a decision that some debated.
Wirth, who organized a support group of AAA Insurance holders after the fire, chose not to and instead has her mail forwarded to her parents’ house.
“Today, literally, I have to move again,” she said. “What places do I change my address to?”
But Postal Service forwarding ends after a year.
“Now it’s going to be a disaster,” she said.
Landscaper Jose Cervantes, who lost his home as well as 26 of his customers in Altadena, picked up his mail at the post office for a time after the fire.
After a series of moves to Palmdale and the San Gabriel Valley, his family of five settled in an ADU in Pasadena. But they never changed their address.
Once he had made the decision to rebuild, Cervantes installed a temporary mailbox on the vacant lot. His daughter Jessica, who handles bills and insurance issues, goes there to pick up the mail.
Currently spread out over a Monrovia rental and various aunts’ houses, the family is in the process of moving into a nearly completed ADU behind their future house, which is now in the framing stage.
Jose Cervantes and his daughter Jessica outside the home they’re rebuilding in Altadena.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
The quarterly surveys by the nonprofit Department of Angels give a limited view of the housing instability that still lingers a year after the fire.
The surveying firm Embold Research found in June that more than half of displaced households — 61% in Altadena and 65% in Pacific Palisades — had stayed in multiple places. About a third in both cases said they were expecting to move again soon.
So many moves only compounded the trauma of losing a home to fire.
In January, Embold reported that 44% of respondents said their mental health was much worse since the fire, up from 36% in June and September, and 39% said it was somewhat worse.
“Therapy helped,” said Christie McIntire, whose move to Tennessee restored her sense of community but still left emotional work to do.
“For the longest time I was gravitating between anger and sadness,” she said. “Happening all last year; you just feel this guilt, like you could have done something to get a different outcome.”
The McIntire family found a rental in Nashville and have now set down new roots.
(Diana King / For The Times)
Four sessions of prolonged exposure therapy, a technique used by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to treat PTSD, helped her pack the imagery into long-term memory.
“I no longer constantly think about that day,” she said.
Decluttering before moving starts with the three-box method: Keep, Donate/Sell, and Discard. Sort items by category rather than room, apply the one-year rule (if you haven’t used it in a year, let it go), and digitize documents to reduce paper clutter. Start 6-8 weeks before your move for best results.
⚡ Quick action: Tackle one room per weekend using the three-box approach. This moving strategy helps you organize efficiently and start fresh in your new space without unnecessary clutter weighing you down.
Moving to a new home presents a unique opportunity, one that forces you to confront every possession you own. Whether you’re downsizing, relocating across the country, or simply seeking a fresh start, decluttering before your move isn’t just practical. It’s transformative. This complete guide will show you how to turn the chaos of moving into a strategic reset, with proven organization strategies that make the process manageable and even liberating.
Something shifts when you shift places. Truth tends to tag along.
The closed closet needs no attention. Boxes tucked behind garage walls? They matter less than they seem. Yet here you are, moving every item you keep into boxes, then moving them forward. Hiding won’t work now.
Every so often, the right question makes things clearer. What if “Do I actually need this?” was it?
Moving brings heavy moments, not just because of boxes or deadlines. Hidden beneath the surface sits a quieter unease. Shifting places does what staying cannot. Routine breaks when boxes stack high. Open air arrives where walls once stood. When intentional, such moments extend beyond relocation. Starting again becomes possible.
🔄 Why Moving Creates a Natural Reset
Quietly, things pile up. Not loud, just steady. A drawer on its own, a shelf filling a corner. A single trinket grows into half a dozen. Years pass, then you see how the room breathes differently under the weight.
That rhythm breaks when you move. Everything that needs lifting, wrapping, and labeling helps you see which things truly fit where you’re going. Cost shows up, not only in feelings but also in space and weight. When something takes effort to move, it may not belong anywhere. Unpacking trouble might mean letting go.
💡 The psychology of moving:
Movement creates momentum. What once dragged on for weeks now has a firm cutoff date. Not only does clarity arrive early, but decisions begin to turn into action. What belonged before gets returned: space, time, clutter, all reclaimed without guilt. Letting go becomes less about resistance and more about release.
That is the reason movement carries weight. It builds momentum.
And permission matters.
📋 Start With a Clear Moving Strategy
Start by pausing what feels like chaos. A basic plan for moving begins with sorting, just enough to clear confusion. Jumping in without order risks clutter piling up again.
🎯 The foundation of effective decluttering:
Begin by sorting into types, not by room name. Consider what matters most: must-haves, keepsakes, useful pieces, along with extra clutter. That change aligns with intent rather than location.
Picture your fresh environment before setting foot there. Think about what atmosphere matters most: quiet, light-filled, with few things showing. Feel how space can breathe easily while still holding warmth through purposeful placement. Let that image shape every move.
If you’re relocating far away, choosing a reliable long-distance moving company early in the process helps anchor everything else. Knowing your belongings will arrive safely allows you to focus on what truly deserves to make the journey.
🔍 Three Categories for Every Item
1
Essential Items
Lay out what matters most, things you cannot replace, like bills or health records. Alongside them, place whatever helps get regular tasks done. Stuff people actually reach for during the day. Even if it’s just a toaster or a screwdriver, position it so hands can grab it fast. These picks don’t require second thoughts.
✅ Pack these first: Important documents, daily-use items, and irreplaceable belongings.
2
Maybe Items
Next, tackle the tougher groups. Items you’ve kept but never worn since last summer. Kitchen gadgets that once felt helpful now sit unused. That old décor might have looked good once, but now it just sits there. Truth is, keeping something you barely remember exists makes little sense. Odds are, if it’s been gathering dust, it’s time to let it go.
⚠️ Apply the one-year rule: If you haven’t used it in 12 months, you won’t miss it.
3
Clear Decisions
Start by outlining where things will go. Donations need a checklist, too. Stuff meant for sale gets its own section. Recyclables go into separate piles. Having a straight path forward stops endless wondering later.
When you sort things by purpose, it feels easier. This way, cleaning up stops being messy inside and outside. Decisions come slowly, yes, yet they carry less weight than old arguments about who left what where.
💭 The Emotional Side of Letting Go
What seems like cleaning up often points elsewhere. Objects pile because something deeper stays buried under them.
💔 Why we hold on:
Worn college gear sometimes says who you are
Pages from years ago often whisper about a drive that never stopped
Objects passed on keep lives alive inside them
Releasing things might seem close to wiping out parts of your own story
Yet this changes. Memories don’t reside in things. Inside you, they exist.
One special thing can stay, while many others are left behind because they no longer fit. Letting go doesn’t erase what came before, even when boxes are gone.
🌱 The truth about sentimental items:
Emotionally, change begins before you move. Stepping into what’s next helps loosen ties to things that no longer belong. The act of going forward clears space behind you. Not just clearing space. It’s about fitting things together right.
✨ Creating Space for What Matters
Stuff piling up usually points to thoughts doing the same. Every corner packed means thinking never really stops. Overflowing drawers add up, small irritations piling on quietly. Without notice, your surroundings shape how sharp your mind feels, how free your thoughts are, and even where inspiration hides.
Starting fresh with a new place opens space to shape life just right.
🏡 Envision your ideal space:
Picture taking out just the things you actually reach for
Opening shelves where space isn’t packed tight
Stepping into spaces where air moves freely
That kind of clarity helps build stronger routines. Cleaning becomes simpler when things are sorted correctly. Less effort means fewer delays throughout the day.
What stands out isn’t just what it can do. It shifts something inside you, too.
A new setup, shaped by what matters to you now, often sparks possibility. This shift might say change is real. Not because life forced it, but because moving forward happened anyway. Growth hides here. Starting fresh proves that standing still was never an option.
🎯 10 Practical Tips to Declutter Efficiently Before Your Move
1
Start Early (6-8 Weeks Before)
Start by splitting the work into smaller chunks. Instead of tackling everything at once, pick just one area each weekend. That keeps things steady and doable. One step at a time makes it easier to stay on track.
⏰ Timeline tip: Six weeks gives you enough time without feeling rushed.
2
Use the Three-Box Method
Try the three-box approach: Keep, Donate or Sell, Discard. Avoid starting a fourth pile labeled “maybe.” That stack often spreads, slowing things down.
📦 Keep it simple: Three choices only. Make the decision and move on.
3
Apply the One-Year Rule
Set clear boundaries you can track. Say you haven’t worn something in a year with no special occasion involved, then it’s time to let it go. When multiple versions are available, pick the strongest and keep only that.
See also
✂️ The cut: Twelve months unused means it goes. No exceptions.
4
Digitize Documents
Stuff like old papers, pictures, or user guides tends to pile higher than they should. Try scanning key pieces instead of keeping everything physical. Once done, toss the rest without hesitation.
💾 Go digital: Photos and documents take zero physical space.
5
Sort by Category, Not Location
Gather all similar items together, like all books or all kitchen tools, regardless of which room they’re in. This prevents duplicate keeping and helps you see exactly how much you have.
🔍 See the whole picture: You might not realize you own five can openers until they’re all together.
6
Take Photos of Sentimental Items
Can’t part with your child’s artwork or your college t-shirt collection? Take a photo, then let the physical item go. The memory stays, the clutter doesn’t.
📸 Memory hack: A photo album takes less space than boxes of memorabilia.
7
Schedule Donation Pickups
Book donation pickups for 2 weeks before your move. Having a firm deadline prevents you from second-guessing your decisions and pulling items back out of the donate pile.
🚚 Commit to it: Once it’s scheduled, the decision is final.
8
Sell High-Value Items Early
List valuable items for sale 4-6 weeks out. Furniture, electronics, and collectibles need time to find buyers. The money you make can offset moving costs.
💰 Double win: Less to move plus extra cash for your new place.
9
Pack an “Open First” Box
As you declutter, identify the essentials you’ll need immediately in your new home. Pack these separately and clearly label the box. This prevents frantic searching on move-in day.
🎯 First night essentials: Toiletries, phone chargers, coffee maker, basic tools.
10
Don’t Pack Clutter
What matters above all? Bringing along just what you’ve thoughtfully picked. Avoid shoving leftover items into spaces meant for moving, only to handle them afterward. This exercise aims nowhere near chaos relocation. Lowering that number is the main goal.
⚠️ Hard truth: Moving unwanted items wastes money, time, and space.
🚀 Moving Forward With Intention
A part of who you are now walks away from where you once stood, moving toward someplace new. Something about that shift asks for care.
Moving day isn’t just about crossing a line. It begins when boxes come undone. Upon taking things out, stop just short of stacking them on the shelves. Let the room stay open, uncluttered. The weight changes when there are fewer things around.
🎯 Your fresh start action plan:
Start decluttering 6-8 weeks before moving day
Use the three-box method religiously
Apply the one-year rule to questionable items
Schedule donations and sales early
Only pack what deserves space in your new life
A second chance doesn’t usually show up so plain. Things shift slowly in everyday routines. Still, changing locations makes the split between then and now stand out.
What happened before doesn’t have to happen again. You might take a few things along, though. Picking what sticks changes everything.
When moving, getting rid of things isn’t punishment. It brings focus instead. Seeing how room (real floor space and inner order) holds worth becomes clear.
Closing the door on your old place isn’t only walking away from paint and plaster. It’s letting go of routines that no longer fit, quiet habits drifting in the air, unseen baggage slowing your steps.
☐ Gather three boxes/bins for sorting (Keep, Donate/Sell, Discard)
☐ Tackle one room per weekend
☐ Apply the one-year rule to clothing and items
☐ Digitize important documents and photos
☐ Schedule donation pickups 2 weeks before move
☐ List valuable items for sale on marketplace
☐ Dispose of hazardous materials properly
☐ Pack an “open first” essentials box
☐ Do a final walk-through to ensure nothing gets left behind
💚 Remember: Every item you don’t move is money saved, space gained, and stress reduced. Your new home deserves only the things that serve your life now, not the life you used to live.
Better Living uses affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, we may receive a small commission (for which we are deeply grateful) at no cost to you.
As the investigation into the abduction of Nancy Guthrie entered its third week, authorities await key DNA evidence, President Trump threatened the abductors and daughter Savannah Guthrie urged her mother’s kidnappers to “do the right thing.” But with no sign of the 84-year-old, there growing concerns about her welfare and questions about how long the investigation will drag on.
On Sunday, the FBI said DNA was found on a glove discovered several miles away from Guthrie’s home, and the glove matched those worn by a masked person seen outside the home.
This could prove a key development in an investigation beset by false starts and stops. No suspects have been named, and local authorities have come under scrutiny over the lack or progress and certain tactical decisions. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos of Pima County told CBS News that investigators believe the clothing and face mask worn by the suspect were purchased at a Walmart.
Savannah Guthrie issued a statement on Instagram Sunday pleading with the kidnappers.
“And I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is that it’s never too late, and you’re not lost or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing,” she said. “We are here and we believe, and we believe in the essential goodness of every human being, and it’s never too late.”
Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her Tuscon home Feb. 1. The kidnapping drama has captivated the nation but until now there have been relatively few leads.
Investigators got their first major break in the case Tuesday with the release of footage showing an armed man wearing a balaclava, gloves and a backpack. The man was seen approaching the front door of Guthrie’s home and tampering with a Nest camera at 1:47 a.m. the night she was abducted.
On Tuesday, authorities detained a man at a traffic stop in Rio Rico, a semirural community about 12 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, in connection with the investigation. Deputies and FBI forensics experts and agents searched his family’s home overnight but did not locate Guthrie. The man was released hours later and has denied any involvement in her disappearance. The Times is not naming him because he has not been arrested or accused of a crime.
Authorities served a search warrant at a home in Tucson on Friday night in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie but made no arrests.
President Trump on Monday told the New York Post that the kidnappers would face “very, very severe — the most severe” punishment. When asked if he was referring to the death penalty, the president said: “The most, yeah — that’s true.”
Nancy Guthrie was discovered missing Feb. 1 after she didn’t show up to a friend’s house to watch a church service. She was taken from her home without her heart medication, and it’s unclear how long she can survive without it.
A day after Guthrie disappeared, news outlets received identical ransom notes that investigators treated as legitimate.
Sources told The Times that authorities have no proof the person who authored the ransom notes has Guthrie. But they also said the Feb. 2 note felt credible because it included details about a specific damaged piece of property and the placement of an accessory in the home that had not been made public.
Investigators packed up equipment near Nancy Guthrie’s home Thursday on day 12 of the search for the missing 84-year-old, and new tips are flowing in in her disappearance. Doorbell camera footage was released earlier in the week of *** masked and armed person on her front porch. From that video, the FBI now saying the suspect is male, 5’9 to 5’10, and wearing *** black 25 L Ozark Trail hiker pack backpack. The height and the backpack are very good clues, and what the The FBI will do is they’ll start with the realm of the possible. How many of these backpacks were sold, when they were sold. *** white tent was temporarily placed outside the front door of Guthrie’s home Thursday, and the sheriff’s department says it has discovered multiple gloves in the investigation. They’re going to check this thing every possible scientific way for anything that can bring them to *** clue or *** person. Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie posting *** tribute to her mother on social media as she and her siblings. Desperately hold on to hope for her return. Near her home, yellow ribbons lined trees and sympathizers added flowers to *** growing shrine outside. In front of *** local news station in Tucson, *** banner has been placed reading Bring Her Home. Some neighbors are writing messages of support. I think we’re all just wishing the best for them and praying for *** resolution. So praying for, obviously it would be amazing if she were brought back to them. I’m Cherelle Hubbard reporting.
Savannah Guthrie’s latest message to mother’s kidnapper: ‘Do the right thing’
On Sunday evening, Savannah Guthrie took to social media in another attempt to plead to the kidnapper of her mother, Nancy.It has been two weeks since 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home. Video above: New tips in Nancy Guthrie caseEarlier Sunday, the FBI said DNA recovered from a glove near Nancy Guthrie’s home appears to match glove worn by suspect in video.In the Instagram video, Savannah Guthrie said, “It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope and we still believe. I wanted to say to whoever has her, or knows where she is, that it’s never too late and you’re not lost or alone. And it is never to late to do the right thing. We are here. We believe. And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being. It’s never too late.”Guthrie, her sister and her brother have gone on social media and shared multiple video messages to their mother’s purported captor.The family’s Instagram videos have shifted in tone from impassioned pleas to whoever may have their mom, saying they want to talk and are even willing to pay a ransom, to bleaker and more desperate requests for the public’s help. A video on Thursday was simply a home video of their mother and a promise to “never give up on her.”Sunday’s video issued an appeal to whoever abducted her mother or anyone who knows where she is being kept. Authorities have expressed concern about Nancy Guthrie’s health because she needs vital daily medicine. She is said to have a pacemaker and have dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.
On Sunday evening, Savannah Guthrie took to social media in another attempt to plead to the kidnapper of her mother, Nancy.
It has been two weeks since 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home.
Video above: New tips in Nancy Guthrie case
Earlier Sunday, the FBI said DNA recovered from a glove near Nancy Guthrie’s home appears to match glove worn by suspect in video.
In the Instagram video, Savannah Guthrie said, “It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope and we still believe. I wanted to say to whoever has her, or knows where she is, that it’s never too late and you’re not lost or alone. And it is never to late to do the right thing. We are here. We believe. And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being. It’s never too late.”
Guthrie, her sister and her brother have gone on social media and shared multiple video messages to their mother’s purported captor.
The family’s Instagram videos have shifted in tone from impassioned pleas to whoever may have their mom, saying they want to talk and are even willing to pay a ransom, to bleaker and more desperate requests for the public’s help. A video on Thursday was simply a home video of their mother and a promise to “never give up on her.”
Sunday’s video issued an appeal to whoever abducted her mother or anyone who knows where she is being kept.
Authorities have expressed concern about Nancy Guthrie’s health because she needs vital daily medicine. She is said to have a pacemaker and have dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.
When a cow started running loose through Port Orange, Florida, Lewis Perry handled it the only way he knew how: he saddled up his horse and rode into town.Before the roundup came the routine.Perry prepared Tweety, his 8-year-old roping horse, for a job no one expected, capturing a stray cow wandering near homes and busy streets Thursday. “I called around to some buddies of mine, and nobody was really available,” Perry said. “So I told my wife, I said, ‘I think we’ve got to do something about this.’” Once he located the cow, he knew there was little room for error.“If you go to rope a cow that is loose like that, you generally only get one try at it,” Perry said. “If you rope it and miss, then she or he will bolt, and you have to race and chase them down. In suburbs like that, it can get really dangerous.” With homes, traffic, and onlookers nearby, a missed throw could have made the situation worse.But Perry made the catch.With assistance from officers and neighbors, he guided the cow safely into a trailer without injuries or damage.He credited Tweety for staying calm despite the unusual surroundings, including crowds gathering to watch.“It didn’t bother him at all,” Perry said. “It bothered me more than him, probably.”Where the cow came from remains unclear.“That one had no markings at all, which is weird,” Perry said. “We use ear tags on all of our cattle.”For now, Perry is keeping the cow while trying to identify its owner.In the meantime, he’s praising the horse that helped bring the situation under control.“He’s just a well-mannered horse that does a very good job for me,” Perry said. “I’m very, very lucky to own him.”
When a cow started running loose through Port Orange, Florida, Lewis Perry handled it the only way he knew how: he saddled up his horse and rode into town.
Before the roundup came the routine.
Perry prepared Tweety, his 8-year-old roping horse, for a job no one expected, capturing a stray cow wandering near homes and busy streets Thursday.
“I called around to some buddies of mine, and nobody was really available,” Perry said. “So I told my wife, I said, ‘I think we’ve got to do something about this.’”
Once he located the cow, he knew there was little room for error.
“If you go to rope a cow that is loose like that, you generally only get one try at it,” Perry said. “If you rope it and miss, then she or he will bolt, and you have to race and chase them down. In suburbs like that, it can get really dangerous.”
With homes, traffic, and onlookers nearby, a missed throw could have made the situation worse.
But Perry made the catch.
With assistance from officers and neighbors, he guided the cow safely into a trailer without injuries or damage.
He credited Tweety for staying calm despite the unusual surroundings, including crowds gathering to watch.
“It didn’t bother him at all,” Perry said. “It bothered me more than him, probably.”
Where the cow came from remains unclear.
“That one had no markings at all, which is weird,” Perry said. “We use ear tags on all of our cattle.”
For now, Perry is keeping the cow while trying to identify its owner.
In the meantime, he’s praising the horse that helped bring the situation under control.
“He’s just a well-mannered horse that does a very good job for me,” Perry said. “I’m very, very lucky to own him.”
As a psychologist in the occupied West Bank, I have spent my career sitting across from children carrying burdens no child should ever know — lives shaped not by playgrounds or classrooms, but by constant fear.
I recognize that fear because I lived it myself. I remember when I was less than 5 years old, Israeli soldiers stormed our home in the middle of the night and took my father from his bed. The pounding on the door, the shouting, the terror — those memories are still vivid.
Children who wake from nightmares convinced Israeli soldiers are coming for their families.
Children who flinch at the slam of a door.
Children who can recognize the sound of drones and fighter jets before they can multiply or divide.
I have helped them process arrests, home demolitions, settler violence, humiliation at checkpoints and the grinding, quiet stress of growing up without ever feeling safe.
I joined the Palestine Red Crescent Society in 2021 because I knew it was one of the few relief organizations willing to go where the need was greatest — into red zones, near the separation wall, close to illegal settlements and even in active conflict areas. Mental health services are scarce and often inaccessible for Palestinians. If children were hurting in the hardest-to-reach places, I wanted to be there with them.
I thought I understood trauma.
I thought I knew how to guide children through fear.
I thought I had the tools.
Then, on Jan. 29, 2024, the phone rang. It was a call from Gaza.
Five-year-old Hind Rajab was trapped in a small car, surrounded by the bodies of her six relatives, who had just been killed. Israeli tanks were closing in. Gunfire crackled in the background. She was whispering into the phone so no one nearby would hear her.
“I’m scared. They’re shooting at us. … Please come get me,” she repeated again and again.
For hours, we tried to reach her. Our ambulance was minutes away, but it needed clearance from Israeli authorities to enter the area. We waited for permission that came hours later, only to be ignored.
Inside our operations room in Ramallah, time slowed to something unbearable. With every passing minute, the frustration and helplessness grew heavier.
All I could do was talk to her.
How do I keep a child hopeful when she’s trapped alone among her dead family members?
How do I make her feel safe when tanks surround her?
How do I keep her conscious and focused on anything but the immediate trauma?
I kept reminding her to breathe. To keep talking. To stay awake.
Above all, one thought kept repeating in my mind: She is 5. Just 5 years old. Barely old enough to tie her shoes. Barely old enough to read on her own. And yet she was alone, asking strangers to come save her.
Near the end, her voice grew faint. She told me she was bleeding. “From where,” I asked. “My mouth, my tummy, my legs — everywhere,” she whispered. I tried to stay calm and told her to use her blouse to wipe off the blood. Then she said something I will never forget: “I don’t want to. My mother will get tired from washing my clothes.”
Even then — alone, terrified, wounded and hungry — she was thinking about her mother who would have extra laundry to wash. Those were the last words I heard.
We lost Hind that day. We also lost two of my brave colleagues, Yousef Zeino and Ahmad Almadhoun, when their ambulance was struck as they waited for clearance to reach her. They were just minutes away.
Hind’s story is not an exception. It is one of tens of thousands of children in Gaza.
For more than two years now, children in Gaza have opened their eyes each morning to displacement, loss, violence and little access to even the most basic needs. At least 20,000 children have been killed since October 2023, an average of at least 24 children killed each day, the equivalent of an entire classroom. And we recognize this is a gross undercount as so many children remain buried under rubble. Tens of thousands have been forced from their homes. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have been destroyed and doctors and medical personnel detained and targeted.
This is not only a man-made humanitarian catastrophe. It is also a mental health crisis.
Children in Gaza are not only surviving bombs and displacement; they are carrying an overwhelming psychological burden that grows heavier each day. Nearly every child is at risk of famine or getting sick from preventable diseases. More than 650,000 have no access to school, and more than 1.2 million children need immediate psychological support. Reports on the ground show that more than 39,300 children have lost one or both parents, including about 17,000 who have become orphaned. Hundreds of thousands are trapped with nowhere safe to go, living in a world defined by fear and instability.
Healing is impossible when the threat never stops and when schools and healthcare systems have collapsed. Trauma doesn’t fade under these unbearable conditions; it accumulates. The consequences could be irreversible.
We are witnessing the psychological injury of an entire generation.
Immediate action is imperative. A real, permanent ceasefire is the first step toward stability, but it must be followed by the rapid restoration of healthcare and education, with sustained investment in psychosocial and mental health support. Mental health cannot be an afterthought in a humanitarian response but must be central from the beginning. Without these interventions, the psychological toll will only deepen, shaping an entire generation with long-term consequences for their well-being and for the future of the Palestinian people.
And above all, children must be protected from continued violence, because no therapy can compete with ongoing trauma.
Hind’s last words will haunt me forever. The world failed her. It has failed the children of Palestine. But there’s still time to save the ones who remain. Through the film “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” her voice will continue to travel across borders, carrying the truth of what children in Gaza and the West Bank endure day after day.
It is not just another story. It is a call we must answer.
Nisreen Qawas is a psychologist with the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
CABIMAS, Venezuela — The pumps that brought prosperity from deep in the Earth’s crust are now mostly rusted relics of a storied past.
The buildings that housed a prideful labor force are vandalized, colonized by squatters or boarded up.
The schools, clinics, the manicured golf course — onetime amenities from an industry awash in petrodollars — gone or overgrown with weeds.
“Our biggest problem is depression and anxiety,” says Manuel Polanco, 74, a former petroleum engineer whose recollections of the good times only highlight a dystopian present. “We barely survive. We have just enough to feed ourselves, to get by.”
This is the dismal tableau today in Venezuela’s Maracaibo Basin, which, for much of the last century, was one of the globe’s leading sources of petroleum.
A monument to oil workers stands in a square in Cabimas, a once-thriving oil town in Venezuela.
(Marcelo Pérez del Carpio/For The Times)
Since the U.S. attack last month and arrest of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, President Trump has vowed to rebuild the country’s moribund oil sector — while also providing resources and cash for the United States. East of Maracaibo lies the Orinoco Belt, home to the world’s largest proven deposits, estimated at more than 300 billion barrels.
But a recent swing through the Maracaibo region in northwestern Venezuela dramatized the many obstacles. Greeting visitors is a dire panorama of nonfunctioning wells, battered pipelines and empty storage tanks, among other markers of decline.
The U.S. plans have generated considerable skepticism in a place not accustomed to good news. But some oil-field veterans envision a return to the glory days.
“I see myself flourishing again,” said José Celestino García Petro, 66 and a father of eight, who said he never found steady work after his well-servicing firm was expropriated by the government years ago. “Rising from the ashes!”
Deteriorated oil rigs and gas flow stations are seen on Lake Maracaibo, near the city of Cabimas.
At its peak in the 1970s, Venezuela was daily pumping some 3.5 million barrels. A charter member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the nation exuded affluence and excess — though the wealth was mostly channeled to domestic elites and foreign oil companies, not the impoverished majority.
But slumping crude prices, government mismanagement and U.S. sanctions have left Venezuela’s industry a hollowed-out shell of its former, grandiose self.
Last year, Venezuela managed to pump about 1 million barrels a day, less than 1% of global production. Even so, petroleum was still a lifeline for a nation mired in more than a decade of economic, political and social tumult marked by mass emigration, hyperinflation and a near-ubiquitous sense of despair.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, left, and Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez hold a news conference after their meeting at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on Feb. 11.
(Julio Urribarri / Anadolu via Getty Images)
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Venezuela last week, met with the country’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, and even toured some oil fields. He boasted of “enormous progress” in reviving a business that is now effectively under U.S. management.
Dimming the upbeat declarations is a harsh reality: It will likely take at least a decade — and perhaps $200 billion or more — to restore the country’s decrepit hydrocarbon infrastructure, experts say.
A lot depends on Big Oil, but some executives are wary. At a White House meeting last month, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods labeled Venezuela “uninvestable.”
Along the oil-streaked shores of Lake Maracaibo — actually a massive coastal lagoon, fed by both freshwater rivers and the Caribbean — the vestiges of a once-thriving enterprise stand out like totems from a past civilization.
Dotting the shoreline is a bleak expanse of detritus: timeworn pumps, tottering derricks, wayward cranes and aging pipelines. Gobs of oil mar the coast. Pollution has ravaged once-abundant stocks of fish and crab.
“I pray to God every day that things will change for the better,” said Joel José León Santo, 53, who on a recent morning was preparing his fishing boat with three colleagues. “But so far we haven’t seen any improvements. Food is more expensive. Tomorrow’s meal depends on today’s catch.”
1
2
1.Much of Venezuela’s oil industry is in disrepair, like this broken oil pipeline over Lake Maracaibo. 2.The General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge spans an outlet of Lake Maracaibo and links the region with the rest of Venezuela.
There is no official number, but industry observers estimate that fewer than 2,000 wells are functioning in a region that is home to some 12,000.
“Everything here is bad, at a standstill,” said Mari Camacho, 45, who, with her family, is among those squatting in a series of abandoned homes in the town of El Güere, flanked by mangroves along the eastern shores of Lake Maracaibo.
A brick factory that once served oil producers shuttered long ago. Her four sons left for Colombia, part of the country’s historic exodus.
Her home sits atop a sea of oil, but Camacho says there has been no electricity for six years, since a transformer blew out. No one fixed it. Alarming her and neighbors are rumors that the legal owners of their homes plan to claim their property.
“I don’t know where I would go,” she said.
About 10 miles south is the sweltering city of Cabimas, an iconic venue in Venezuela’s petroleum narrative. It is now a ramshackle, seemingly lost-in-time metropolis where residents sit on porches observing the unsteady progress of cars navigating pothole-ridden streets.
People stand near a sign reading “Maracaibo” at a park on the shore of Lake Maracaibo.
“All the great companies that used to exist were connected to the petroleum industry,” said Hollister Quintero, 32, a Cabimas native whose grandparents worked for foreign oil firms during the industry’s heady days. “Now, there is just desolation.”
Quintero, who lacked the funds to finish college, struggles as a freelance audiovisual producer. He also cares for his aging parents, whose public pensions amount to the equivalent of $2 a month.
Most young people leave town, Quintero said, while those who stay find jobs in the informal sector. A common, albeit not very lucrative, option: delivering food orders on bicycles or motorcycles.
“There just aren’t many opportunities,” he said.
A mural in Maracaibo celebrates Venezuela’s oil industry.
For centuries, Lake Maracaibo’s environs were known for natural seepage of oil rising to the surface from sedimentary rock, a phenomenon also seen in sites like Los Angeles’ La Brea Tar Pits. Indigenous people and Spanish settlers utilized the viscous goo for medicinal purposes and waterproofing boats.
But the dawn of the oil age in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries and the allure of black gold attracted a new crowd: wildcatters and fortune-hunters from the United States and Europe, drawn to a backwater heretofore known for coffee, cacao and cattle.
It was here in Cabimas where, more than a century ago, a well-named Barroso II jump-started a boom.
On Dec. 14, 1922, the ground shook in Cabimas, but it wasn’t an earthquake. Barroso II, managed by Royal Dutch Shell, began spitting skyward some 100,000 barrels daily.
“Suddenly, with a roar, oil erupted from the well in a spout that towered 200 feet above the derrick and fanned out in the air like a titan’s umbrella,” Orlando Méndez, a Venezuelan oil historian, wrote in a 2022 article for the American Assn. of Petroleum Geologists, marking the blowout’s centennial.
“The villagers poured out of their houses,” Méndez wrote. “Oil sprayed them in a torrent of black raindrops. … Only the bravest walked hesitantly toward the well. They held out their hands and the dark, sticky fluid splattered [on] their palms. ‘¡Petróleo!’ they all shouted.”
The gusher didn’t relent for nine days.
The runaway well ushered in a bonanza. Little attention was paid to the environmental catastrophe for Lake Maracaibo, destination of much of the escaping crude.
The Petróleos de Venezuela Bajo Grande Refinery on the shore of Lake Maracaibo.
Explorers scouring the lakeside soon discovered other, even more productive fields. By the end of the 1920s, Venezuela had become the world’s largest oil exporter.
“Maracaibo was alive with eager strangers as every boat that landed there disgorged an army of oil workers,” Méndez wrote.
In subsequent decades, Venezuela rode a boom-and-bust cycle, but by the late-1990s returned to producing near-record levels of 3 million barrels a day.
With revenues soaring, the late President Hugo Chávez, a left-wing populist, lavished cash on Venezuelan masses long excluded from the petroleum windfall. An opposition-backed general strike in 2002-03 prompted Chávez to fire almost 20,000 employees of the state oil firm.
Years later, Chávez nationalized dozens of oil companies, including some U.S. firms. The expropriations, along with the firings, consolidated state control of the oil sector and, experts say, drained the country of expertise and investment, inflicting lasting damage.
Chávez died in 2013. International oil prices soon cratered — bad news for his chosen successor, Maduro. U.S. sanctions enacted during Trump’s first term exacerbated the crisis. Most fired oil workers never got their jobs back.
“We were stigmatized, our benefits were taken away, and we were denied the opportunity to work in Venezuela,” said Polanco, the petroleum engineer.
An anti-U.S. mural in Maracaibo declares, “Venezuela is not a menace, Venezuela is hope.”
After his dismissal, Polanco said he found employment in Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, but later returned to Cabimas. He has one son in the United States, another in Mexico.
He and other former oil workers expressed guarded optimism for Trump’s ambitious revival blueprint.
“I would love to return to the oil industry and have it be the same as it was 22 years ago,” said Michelle Bello, 51, a father of five who said he and four siblings were forced out from the state oil company during the purge. “Take politics out of it.”
Quintero, the young entrepreneur, also welcomes the notion that his hometown may return to its renowned era of affluence. But he is skeptical.
“Of course I hope that Cabimas could be reborn anew as a petroleum center,” said Quintero. “This is a place with a lot of history and culture. But the sad fact is this: We are now a ghost town.”
Special correspondent Mogollón reported from Cabimas and Times staff writer McDonnell from Mexico City.
An Iowa couple ran into a wedding day hiccup Thursday when the judge scheduled to marry them didn’t show up, but love and a quick phone call found a way.Alexis and Rean Webb planned to tie the knot at the Marshall County Courthouse at 4 p.m. on Feb. 12. It was always meant to be something intimate, where they would be surrounded by close loved ones. “We wanted something very small and low-key,” said Rean Webb. The couple, joined by their children, posed for a photo inside the courthouse.Unfortunately, just moments later, they would learn the judge they had an appointment with wasn’t going to show up, and there wasn’t a different judge available. While the no-show could have derailed their plans, the Webbs kept calm. In fact, they said they were more surprised by how quickly everything came together next.”My dad instantly jumped up, and he was like, ‘I know somebody: Jody,’” Alexis Webb said.That “somebody” was Jody Anderson. He’s a family friend and is ordained. He and his wife are also the owners and funeral directors of Anderson Funeral Homes. Anderson said he was at home when Alexis’ father called his phone. His wife woke him up to let him know who was on the line.”I rolled into the funeral home. Parking lot was full of cars. Family members. Didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” Anderson said.Still, he opened the doors to the funeral home’s chapel, welcomed the family inside, and took time to speak with the couple.”I took five to 10 minutes, met with them, discussed the importance, made sure they were both for real,” Anderson said.They were.Within 30 minutes of that first phone call, Alexis and Rean Webb were married in a ceremony the couple said turned out to be more meaningful than they expected.”It was even better than we expected because we kind of did get a real wedding in a sense. We’re in a chapel. I got to walk down the aisle with my dad. The girls got to be flower girls. My son got to be the ring bearer, and his son got to be his best man. I mean, what more could we ask for?” Alexis Webb said.For the Webbs, what began as a setback ended with a wedding they’ll never forget, and they’re grateful for Anderson.As for Anderson, helping was never a question.”It goes back to my career as a funeral director. The phone rings? I go. I mean, you don’t say no. You help people, and I think that’s what the good Lord put me on the Earth to do, is to help people, and I was just happy to help,” Anderson said.
An Iowa couple ran into a wedding day hiccup Thursday when the judge scheduled to marry them didn’t show up, but love and a quick phone call found a way.
Alexis and Rean Webb planned to tie the knot at the Marshall County Courthouse at 4 p.m. on Feb. 12. It was always meant to be something intimate, where they would be surrounded by close loved ones.
“We wanted something very small and low-key,” said Rean Webb.
The couple, joined by their children, posed for a photo inside the courthouse.
Unfortunately, just moments later, they would learn the judge they had an appointment with wasn’t going to show up, and there wasn’t a different judge available.
While the no-show could have derailed their plans, the Webbs kept calm. In fact, they said they were more surprised by how quickly everything came together next.
“My dad instantly jumped up, and he was like, ‘I know somebody: Jody,’” Alexis Webb said.
That “somebody” was Jody Anderson. He’s a family friend and is ordained. He and his wife are also the owners and funeral directors of Anderson Funeral Homes.
Anderson said he was at home when Alexis’ father called his phone. His wife woke him up to let him know who was on the line.
“I rolled into the funeral home. Parking lot was full of cars. Family members. Didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” Anderson said.
Still, he opened the doors to the funeral home’s chapel, welcomed the family inside, and took time to speak with the couple.
“I took five to 10 minutes, met with them, discussed the importance, made sure they were both for real,” Anderson said.
They were.
Within 30 minutes of that first phone call, Alexis and Rean Webb were married in a ceremony the couple said turned out to be more meaningful than they expected.
“It was even better than we expected because we kind of did get a real wedding in a sense. We’re in a chapel. I got to walk down the aisle with my dad. The girls got to be flower girls. My son got to be the ring bearer, and his son got to be his best man. I mean, what more could we ask for?” Alexis Webb said.
For the Webbs, what began as a setback ended with a wedding they’ll never forget, and they’re grateful for Anderson.
As for Anderson, helping was never a question.
“It goes back to my career as a funeral director. The phone rings? I go. I mean, you don’t say no. You help people, and I think that’s what the good Lord put me on the Earth to do, is to help people, and I was just happy to help,” Anderson said.
Nancy Guthrie had been missing less than three days when family members and reporters, and even an Amazon delivery worker, could be seen wandering onto her property, with drops of her blood still staining the front entryway.
It’s been nearly two weeks since the 84-year-old mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie was abducted. With no suspects in custody as of Saturday, scrutiny is growing over how authorities have handled the case.
Some questions have focused on Pima County (Ariz.) Sheriff Chris Nanos and his department, which was the first to respond when Guthrie was reported missing from her Tucson home Feb. 1. Since then, Nanos has been the leading law enforcement communicator on the investigation, including after reports emerged of ransom notes demanding millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for Guthrie’s return.
The global spotlight is now on him.
“I’m not used to everyone hanging on to my every word and then holding me accountable for what I say,” Nanos said at a press conference early in the probe. “This is really, for me, pretty new.”
Critics pointed out his department opened up the crime scene a day after Guthrie was reported missing and sent vital evidence across the country to be analyzed for free, and the sheriff was seen at a weekend college basketball game while a ransom deadline still hung over the family.
President Trump has even weighed in on the issue.
“It was a local case originally, and they didn’t want to let go of it, which is fine,” President Trump said when asked about the case at the White House on Friday. “It’s up to them, it’s really up to the community, but ultimately where the FBI got involved, I think, you know, progress has been made.”
Guthrie was discovered missing after she didn’t show up at a friend’s house to watch a church service. She was taken from her home without any of her heart medication, and it’s unclear how long she can survive without it.
Though she initially was considered missing, the urgency to quickly find Guthrie pulsed through the first days of media coverage because of her heart condition. So it came as a surprise to some observers that just a day after she’d been reported missing, Nanos declared the crime scene clear and released the home back to the family.
Forensic workers had processed the ranch-style home for evidence, including DNA and fingerprints, but could not recover images from a Ring camera because the family did not pay for a subscription to back up the recordings, Nanos said.
Afterward, as the home stood unguarded, reporters, photographers and others wandered the property, walking to the front door and capturing video of blood drops along the porch.
The crime scene eventually was closed again so the FBI could conduct its own search, and Nanos told reporters opening the scene up the first time may have been premature.
“Monday morning quarterback. Absolutely. I probably could have held off on that,” Nanos said at a news conference, with top FBI agents flanking him.
Sheriff‘s deputies eventually were stationed outside home, but even so, a pizza delivery driver walked food that had been ordered for someone in the neighborhood up to the door of the Guthrie home. On Friday, a company showed up to service Guthrie’s backyard pool, which was accommodated at the “request of the Guthrie family,” the sheriff’s department said.
Breaks in the investigation have come in fits and starts.
After searching the home last week, FBI technicians have been processing evidence from in and around it. Testing revealed the blood drops outside the door belonged to Guthrie.
Then, a series of ransom notes arrived in the tip boxes of two Tucson television stations and TMZ, seeking $4 million and $6 million in bitcoin, and included details about Guthrie’s home.
The fact that law enforcement announced Guthrie disappeared and then publicly gave credence to reports she was being held for ransom put authorities at a disadvantage, said Adam Bercovici, who has worked multiple kidnappings as the former supervisor of the Los Angeles Police Department’s special investigations unit.
“It is a debacle,” he said. “This kidnapping is one of the worst cases of incompetence I have seen.”
With so much information floating around, Bercovici said, it would be difficult to verify a legitimate ransom demand. Indeed, not long after news about the ransom notes broke, officials said a man in Hawthorne sent an imposter demand to the Guthries. He has been charged with a federal crime.
Much is still unknown about the details inside the investigation and exactly what evidence detectives have collected. Because of this, it will take time to fully assess their tactics and truly understand the complexity of the case.
The first big break in the case came Tuesday, when the FBI released surveillance videos of someone approaching Guthrie’s door wearing a holstered gun, ski mask and backpack. The videos, recovered by Google engineers, provided the first look at Guthrie’s kidnapper and last less than a minute. More than 4,000 tips flooded law enforcement agencies in the 24 hours after the images were broadcast.
By the following evening, sheriff‘s investigators were detaining a 36-year-old man after a traffic stop south of Tucson. Sheriff’s officials announced they obtained a court-approved search warrant for his Rio Rico home, immediately raising expectations among those closely watching the case.
But those hopes soon were deflated.
Surrounded by the throng of cameras and reporters, investigators and FBI forensic technicians swarmed the man’s home. His mother-in-law, under the glare of camera lights, declared him innocent, saying she didn’t know who Savannah Guthrie was, and told them “you won’t find anything here, we have nothing to hide.”
By the next morning, the man was free and his house cleared of investigators. The Times is not naming him because he has not been arrested or accused of any wrongdoing.
“I hope they get the suspect because I am not it,” the man told reporters. “And they better do their job and find the suspect that did it so they can clear my name.”
On Friday night, authorities served a search warrant at a home in Tucson and swarmed a parked Range Rover. In the end, officials said no arrests were made.
Investigators are casting an even wider net to find photos, videos and any other clues. Other people in the area should expect to be detained and questioned, Nanos told local station KOLD.
On Thursday, authorities revealed a series of images of men in the dark with backpacks near cars and homes. About two miles from the Guthrie home, investigators discovered a glove on the ground, then several others farther from the home, the sheriff’s department announced Friday. They’ll all be analyzed for DNA in hopes it leads to the 84-year-old grandmother. The department said other DNA found at the home did not match Guthrie or anyone in close contact with her, and investigators are working to identify who it belongs to.
Meanwhile, the FBI doubled its reward for information this week to $100,000 and released a description of the person seen at her front door.
“The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build. In the video, he is wearing a black, 25-liter ‘Ozark Trail Hiker Pack’ backpack,” the bureau said. More than 13,000 tips have flowed into the bureau.
On Friday, the sheriff’s department sought to quash rumors that there was a divide between local and federal investigators, centered around the handling of evidence and which lab it should be sent to.
“Our strong partnership is critical, and we remain fully committed to this collaborative investigation. To ensure consistency and streamline testing, evidence requiring forensic analysis is being sent to the same out-of-state lab that has been utilized since the beginning of this case,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “This decision was discussed with and agreed upon by local FBI leadership.”
But Nanos himself expressed frustration about the pace of the probe.
“It’s exhausting, these ups and downs. But we will keep moving forward,” he told the New York Times. “Maybe it’s an hour from now. Maybe it’s weeks or months or years from now. But we won’t quit. We’re going to find Nancy. We’re going to find this guy.”
Law enforcement investigating the disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother sealed off a road near Nancy Guthrie’s home in Arizona late Friday night.Video above: New tips in Nancy Guthrie caseA parade of sheriff’s and FBI vehicles, including forensics vehicles, passed through the roadblock that was set up about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the house.The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said the activity was part of the Nancy Guthrie case, but it said the FBI requested that it not release further information.Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on Feb. 1. Authorities say her blood was found on the front porch of her Tucson-area home. Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed.Authorities have expressed concerns about Nancy Guthrie’s health because she needs daily medication. She is said to have a pacemaker and has dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.Investigators have studied surveillance video, sorted through thousands of tips, and submitted DNA and other evidence for laboratory analysis.The FBI said it has collected more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1, the day Nancy Guthrie was reported missing. The sheriff’s department, meanwhile, said it has taken at least 18,000 calls.On Tuesday, authorities released footage showing an armed, masked person at Nancy Guthrie’s doorstep on the night she was abducted. The videos — less than a minute combined in length — gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in the foothills outside Tucson.Experts say the video could contain a mountain of clues. ___Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.
TUCSON, Ariz. —
Law enforcement investigating the disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother sealed off a road near Nancy Guthrie’s home in Arizona late Friday night.
Video above: New tips in Nancy Guthrie case
A parade of sheriff’s and FBI vehicles, including forensics vehicles, passed through the roadblock that was set up about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the house.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said the activity was part of the Nancy Guthrie case, but it said the FBI requested that it not release further information.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on Feb. 1. Authorities say her blood was found on the front porch of her Tucson-area home. Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed.
Authorities have expressed concerns about Nancy Guthrie’s health because she needs daily medication. She is said to have a pacemaker and has dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.
Investigators have studied surveillance video, sorted through thousands of tips, and submitted DNA and other evidence for laboratory analysis.
The FBI said it has collected more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1, the day Nancy Guthrie was reported missing. The sheriff’s department, meanwhile, said it has taken at least 18,000 calls.
On Tuesday, authorities released footage showing an armed, masked person at Nancy Guthrie’s doorstep on the night she was abducted. The videos — less than a minute combined in length — gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in the foothills outside Tucson.
Experts say the video could contain a mountain of clues.
___
Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.
Law enforcement investigating the disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother sealed off a road near Nancy Guthrie’s home in Arizona late Friday night.A parade of sheriff’s and FBI vehicles, including forensics vehicles, passed through the roadblock that was set up about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the house.Video above: New tips in Nancy Guthrie caseThe Pima County Sheriff’s Department said the activity was part of the Guthrie case. But it said further information was unavailable since it was a joint investigation with the FBI.Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on Feb. 1. Authorities say her blood was found on the front porch of her Tucson-area home. Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed.Authorities have expressed concerns Guthrie’s health because she needs daily medication. She is said to have a pacemaker and has dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.Investigators have studied surveillance video, sorted through thousands of tips and submitted DNA and other evidence for laboratory analysis.The FBI said it has collected more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1, the day Guthrie was reported missing. The sheriff’s department, meanwhile, said it has taken at least 18,000 calls.On Tuesday, authorities released footage showing an armed, masked person at Guthrie’s doorstep on the night she was abducted. The videos — less than a combined minute in length — gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Guthrie’s home in the foothills outside Tucson.Experts say the video could contain a mountain of clues.Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.
A parade of sheriff’s and FBI vehicles, including forensics vehicles, passed through the roadblock that was set up about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the house.
Video above: New tips in Nancy Guthrie case
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said the activity was part of the Guthrie case. But it said further information was unavailable since it was a joint investigation with the FBI.
Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on Feb. 1. Authorities say her blood was found on the front porch of her Tucson-area home. Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed.
Authorities have expressed concerns Guthrie’s health because she needs daily medication. She is said to have a pacemaker and has dealt with high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.
Investigators have studied surveillance video, sorted through thousands of tips and submitted DNA and other evidence for laboratory analysis.
The FBI said it has collected more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1, the day Guthrie was reported missing. The sheriff’s department, meanwhile, said it has taken at least 18,000 calls.
On Tuesday, authorities released footage showing an armed, masked person at Guthrie’s doorstep on the night she was abducted. The videos — less than a combined minute in length — gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Guthrie’s home in the foothills outside Tucson.
Authorities served a search warrant at a home in Tucson on Friday night in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, who investigators say was kidnapped from her nearby home 13 days ago.
A SWAT team converged on a house about two miles from Guthrie’s Arizona residence and removed two people from inside, law enforcement sources told The Times.
A man and a woman complied with orders to exit the home, News Nation reported. It is unclear what role, if any, the people may have played in Guthrie’s disappearance, which has flummoxed investigators for almost two weeks.
A Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson confirmed late Friday that there was “law enforcement activity underway” at a home near E Orange Grove Road and N. First Avenue related to the Guthrie case, but declined to share additional information.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Around midnight, federal agents and sheriff investigators focused their attention on a silver Range Rover SUV parked outside a restaurant about two miles away from the home that was being searched. After taking photographs of the vehicle, agents opened the trunk of the SUV using a tarp to block onlookers view inside the vehicle, video shows.
It is not clear what, if anything, was found.
Investigators got their first major break in the case Tuesday with the release of footage showing an armed man wearing a balaclava, gloves and a backpack approaching the front door of Guthrie’s home and tampering with a Nest camera at 1:47 a.m. the night she was abducted.
“Today” host Savannah Guthrie with her mother, Nancy, in 2023.
(Nathan Congleton / NBC via Getty Images)
Later Tuesday, authorities detained a man at a traffic stop in Rio Rico, a semirural community about 12 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, in connection with the investigation. Deputies and FBI forensics experts and agents searched his family’s home overnight but did not locate Guthrie. The man was released hours later and has denied any involvement in her disappearance. The Times is not naming him because he has not been arrested or accused of a crime.
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, was discovered missing Feb. 1 after she didn’t show up to a friend’s house to watch a church service. She was taken from her home without her heart medication, and it’s unclear how long she can survive without it.
A day after Guthrie disappeared, news outlets received identical ransom notes that investigators treated as legitimate. Days later, a note was sent directly to the Guthrie family, allegedly from a man living in Hawthorne, that authorities say was an impostor.
Another ransom note was sent to a television station in Arizona last week.
Sources told The Times that authorities have no proof the person who authored the ransom notes has Guthrie. But they also said the Feb. 2 note felt credible because it included details about a specific damaged piece of property and the placement of an accessory in the home that had not been made public.
On Friday, TMZ said it received a letter from someone claiming to know the identity of the person who abducted Guthrie and demanding the $100,000 FBI reward in bitcoin. The person wrote they don’t trust the FBI, which is why they’re sending the communication through TMZ, the website’s founder, Harvey Levin, told CNN.
“The manhunt of the main individual that can give you all the answers be prepared to go international,” the letter reads, according to Levin.
Authorities have released limited details about other evidence in the case.
A woman walks her dog past a Pima county sheriff’s vehicle parked in front of Nancy Guthrie’s home on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz.
(Ty ONeil / Associated Press)
However, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Friday that investigators located several gloves, including some found about two miles from Guthrie’s home, that are being tested.
Authorities also found DNA evidence that does not belong to Guthrie or members of her family at her home. Investigators are working to identify whom the DNA belongs to, according to the sheriff’s department.
Staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report
