Authorities investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie on Friday released the full text of two previously undisclosed <a href="https://x.com/PimaSheriff/status/2083266827707363582?s=20">ransom notes</a>, hoping the public can identify the author by analyzing the writing style nearly six months after the 84-year-old grandmother vanished.
The Pima County Sheriff&#8217;s Office said the newly released notes contain &#8220;distinctive patterns of word choice, syntax, and phraseology&#8221; that could help identify the person responsible for Guthrie&#8217;s kidnapping.
The first note, sent to KOLD on February 2 and addressed to NBC &#8220;Today&#8221; host Savannah Guthrie, described details inside Nancy Guthrie&#8217;s home, including a damaged flood light and a white Apple Watch near her bed. It demanded $4 million, then $6 million, for the 84-year-old&#8217;s safe return by a February 9 deadline.
&#8220;She will be held for ransom and once payment is received she will be released unharmed,&#8221; the note addressed to the Today Show host read. &#8220;If payment is not received by the last deadline on Monday the 9th at 5 p.m., she will be killed.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Nancy Guthrie Investigation Update: Video &amp; Ransom Note Details 1/3 <a href="https://t.co/O0HDb8asMX">pic.twitter.com/O0HDb8asMX</a>
— Pima County Sheriff&#8217;s Department (@PimaSheriff) <a href="https://x.com/PimaSheriff/status/2083266827707363582?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2026</a></blockquote>
The full note also included additional threats that investigators had not previously made public.
&#8220;Your mother is aware of this and her life is in your hands. It is in the best interest of everyone to have this completed as soon as possible. You will not be able to contact me from here on out, there will be no negotiation. Do not play games, law enforcement will not be able to help you.&#8221;
A second note, sent on February 6 and addressed to the &#8220;Guthrie Family,&#8221; claimed Nancy Guthrie had died shortly after being abducted.
&#8220;We did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition. We never intended to hurt her, that was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart related,&#8221; the note said.
&#8220;She is buried in nature now. Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome. We want your family to know this and hope you all can find peace. We are truly sorry.&#8221;
Savannah Guthrie said during a March <a href="https://www.today.com/news/watch-full-savannah-guthrie-interview-rcna265446" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with Hoda Kotb that she believed the two ransom notes were authentic. While several other letters have surfaced during the investigation, the family has publicly acknowledged only the two released Friday by the sheriff&#8217;s office.
Investigators said they are releasing the full notes because they believe someone who has interacted with the author may recognize the writing style.
&#8220;These communications reveal distinctive patterns of word choice, syntax, and phraseology that reflect the writer&#8217;s unique linguistic style,&#8221; the sheriff&#8217;s office said in a press release.
As the six-month anniversary of Nancy Guthrie&#8217;s disappearance approaches, investigators are also asking the public to revisit the FBI images showing a masked man outside her home before she vanished. Authorities believe the individual may have surveilled the property on more than one day before abducting Guthrie during the early morning hours of February 1.
Investigators urged anyone who noticed unusual changes in someone&#8217;s behavior around that time, including sudden travel, unexplained injuries, vehicle cleaning or repairs, or an unusual interest in the investigation, to contact law enforcement.
Earlier this week, Savannah Guthrie shared an emotional Instagram video describing the family&#8217;s ordeal as &#8220;a nightmare that will not end&#8221; and begged for her mom’s abductor to &#8220;do the right thing now.&#8221;
&#8220;Help us bring this situation to an end. For all of us, no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done, I believe there is always a way home,&#8221; Savannah said. &#8220;Please make the right choice.&#8221;
The FBI continues to offer a reward of more than $1 million for information leading to Nancy Guthrie&#8217;s recovery. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

A Chilling Piece Of The Nancy Guthrie Mystery Has Just Been Made Public

Arizona

kidnapping

Nancy Guthrie

News

Savannah Guthrie

That's So Criminal

CBS Sports lead analyst Tony Romo is on leave “until further notice,” CBS announced on Friday following Romo&#8217;s arrest on suspicion of operating while intoxicated last week.
&#8220;Tony Romo is on leave from his role at CBS Sports until further notice,&#8221; the network said in a statement.
It remains unclear whether Romo was placed on leave by the network or if he chose to take a leave of absence.
The former NFL quarterback has been the lead NFL analyst for CBS Sports since 2017 following his playing career with the Dallas Cowboys.
Former Texans defensive end and current analyst J.J. Watt will replace Romo and work alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson, per ESPN&#8217;s NFL insider Adam Schefter.
Romo, 46, was hit with three citations from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office after the July 23 traffic stop. He was taken into custody after he struggled to understand instructions for a field-sobriety test, body cam footage <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-tony-romo-told-police-moments-before-he-was-handcuffed">shows</a>.
Romo told deputies during the stop that was coming from a golf course and was on his way &#8220;to visit grandma and grandpa,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49489175/police-tony-romo-had-open-bottle-alcohol-car-arrested">ESPN</a>.
Police found an &#8220;open bottle of an alcoholic beverage&#8221; in the passenger side of Romo&#8217;s Jeep during the search before the vehicle was towed per the outlet.
He was booked and released after the arrest.
His next court appearance is September 21, which will be at the end of week two of the NFL season.
The first game CBS will air this season featuring the new announcer lineup without Romo is the pre-season matchup between  the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles August 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.
This is a developing story; refresh the page for updates.

Credit: Eakin Howard/Getty Images

Tony Romo’s Future At CBS Sports In Question After Arrest

Sports

Tony Romo

Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool, just held an &#8220;emergency press conference&#8221; explaining why New York City’s democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn’t wanted at the 9/11 25th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony.
The millionaire social media mogul took to X Monday night to list several reasons why Mamdani should be excluded from the ceremony, emphasizing that the socialist mayor has not &#8220;hid who he is.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Hmm I wonder why the families of 9/11 don’t want Mandami at the 25th anniversary memorial ceremony. Could it be for any of the following reasons?
He campaigned with Hassan Piker who said US deserved 9/11
He endorsed Claire Valdez who also said America deserved 9/11
He… <a href="https://t.co/EH1vQMysWb">https://t.co/EH1vQMysWb</a>
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) <a href="https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/2081922743230984620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
&#8220;He campaigned with Hassan Piker who said US deserved 9/11,&#8221; Portnoy began.
Portnoy is correct. In 2019, on a Twitch livestream, Piker said, &#8220;America deserved 9/11, dude. F*ck it, I&#8217;m saying it,&#8221; adding, &#8220;We totally brought it upon ourselves … We did, we f*cking did.&#8221;
Portnoy then pointed out that Mamdani endorsed Darializa Avila Chevalier, who co-founded a group at Columbia University whose <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/anti-israel-columbia-students-call-for-total-eradication-of-western-civilization-divest-palestine-hamas-bangladesh-protests-demonstrations">mission</a> included this statement: &#8220;We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization.&#8221;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-newest-pick-is-their-most-radical-yet">Democrats’ Newest Pick Is Their Most Radical Yet</a>
The Massachusetts native also pointed out that back in 2013 Mamdani sympathized with the Boston Marathon bombers who killed three and injured more than 250 people on April 15, 2013.
Five days after that terrorist attack, Mamdani defended one of the bombers in a <a href="https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/325639432000655361?s=20">post</a> that read, &#8220;The implications of not mirandizing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.&#8221;
Mamdani’s father, Mahmood Mamdani, justified suicide bombing three years after the worst terrorist attack on American soil in his 2004 book titled &#8220;Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror.&#8221;
The elder Mamdani said that &#8220;we need to recognize the suicide bomber, first and foremost, as a category of soldier.&#8221;
Portnoy continued with nearly a dozen more reasons why he believes 9/11 families don’t want to see Mamdani on the 25th anniversary of arguably the worst day of their lives.
Making a name for himself in sports, Portnoy hasn’t shied away from political issues over the last few years. He spoke out against Mamdani during his mayoral campaign, and is still baffled at how someone who has repeatedly refused to denounce anti-America rhetoric can be in charge of the country’s most-populated city.
&#8220;How the hell did we get here in the 1st place?&#8221; Portnoy asked Monday.
Critics of Mamdani, including Portnoy, haven’t forgotten his previous statements and endorsements, which are mentioned at length in <a href="https://www.change.org/p/please-sign-to-support-honoring-the-memory-of-those-lost-on-september-11th-with-dignity?recruiter=1421960844&amp;recruited_by_id=0999a100-7bbb-11f1-8944-997c0a94f6b3&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=petition_dashboard&amp;utm_medium=copylink&amp;share_id=kbk5YJfjfS">a petition</a> initiated by 9/11 widower Giovanni Galante.
Galante&#8217;s petition has more than 25,000 signatures and counting in support of keeping Mamdani away from the ceremony meant to honor and remember the lives lost to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
&#8220;We felt that having Mamdani there would show a disrespect to our family members because of the people he supports,&#8221; Galante told CBS New York.
&#8220;Mr. Mamdani’s own father, whom he has acknowledged as having shaped his views, penned a book shortly after 9/11 in which he argued that suicide bombers should be &#8216;understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism,'&#8221; Galante wrote. &#8220;He also argued that there was a moral equivalence between the United States and al-Qaeda.&#8221;
It’s a question Dave Portnoy and 25,000-plus people are asking as Mamdani defends his right to attend the ceremony.

Credit: Theo Wargo/ Spencer PlattGetty Images

Dave Portnoy Goes Scorched Earth On Mamdani Over 9/11 Controversy

9/11

New York

New York City

Zohran Mamdani

Bryan Kohberger, the man who admitted to stabbing four college students in Idaho nearly four years ago, says he wants to take back his guilty plea.
In an interview from his jail cell — where he is serving four life sentences at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, Idaho — he told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/us/bryan-kohberger-idaho-college-deaths.html">The New York Times</a> that he wants the plea vacated because &#8220;he is innocent and was misled into confessing to the high-profile killings.&#8221;
&#8220;My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,&#8221; Kohberger told The Times on Sunday night. He doubled down in the phone call saying he had an “absolute claim of innocence,&#8221; the outlet reported.
When pressed about what went wrong during the process, he declined to discuss any evidence or other specific details related to his innocence claim — and also declined to outline any specific concerns he had about the plea process — The Times noted.
Per Bryan Kohberger’s Affidavit of Facts In Support Of Post-Conviction Petition — obtained by The Times after it was filed July 22, 2026 — Kohberger said his counsel failed to tell him about exculpatory discovery received during the plea discussions. Kohberger specifically <a href="https://people.com/read-bryan-kohberger-petition-claiming-innocent-idaho-murders-12027835">references</a> &#8220;clumps of unknown hair&#8221; found in the hands of Ethan Chapin, one of the four victims.
Kohberger further explained in that document that he was convinced that &#8220;actual guilt&#8221; was not an important factor in considering plea acceptance and that death row would be “imminent” if he failed to accept the deal as presented.
The Daily Wire has reached out to Latah County for comment on the new filing.
To put this new push for freedom into perspective, it is rare for a defendant to win a post-conviction challenge according to former prosecutor David Gelman. Gelman told The Daily Wire &#8220;you have a better chance of winning the PowerBall than getting post-conviction relief.&#8221;
Kohberger, who was studying criminology at Washington State, admitting to killing four college students during the night at a house in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. The manhunt that ensued after the gruesome stabbings captivated the nation until Kohberger was arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania in late December of that year. The victims were Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. A motive was never identified.
The mountain of evidence against the now 30 year old included his DNA found on a KA-BAR knife sheath that was left next to two of the victims, Amazon records showing the purchase of the knife sheath found at the scene and a KA-BAR knife. Other evidence showed Kohberger’s phone pinging that night around the town, with his phone turned off at the time of the murders, and his white Elantra matched the description of the car investigators said was at the crime scene on surveillance footage.
Kohberger did not talk about the evidence laid out against him in his call with The Times. He said instead, &#8220;The intention is for all of those questions to be investigated and answered appropriately in a trial setting.&#8221;
Court-appointed lawyers were Kohberger’s counsel throughout the case until his guilty plea was entered weeks before his trial was scheduled to start last July. But Kohberger told The Times his conviction challenge was prepared on his own without his counsel, and he will look for a lawyer to represent him moving forward.
Kohberger signed a plea agreement where he said he &#8220;knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waives all rights to appeal any and all issues in this case.&#8221; He is not legally barred from making other claims about the legal process through post-conviction relief.

Credit: Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images

Killer Who Murdered Idaho College Students Makes Stunning New Court Request

Bryan Kohberger

Crime

Idaho

Fresh off winning the ESPY for Best Breakthrough Athlete, Olympic figure skating champion Alysa Liu is once again making headlines. But this time, it&#8217;s because of her younger brother, who has been competing in girls&#8217; high school sports in California.
Joshua Liu, who now goes by &#8220;Jaylin,&#8221; has competed in girls&#8217; track, basketball, and ultimate frisbee while identifying as a woman.
The teenage boy most recently won the women’s 400-meter race at the Tri-County Athletic League Finals on May 8, according to <a href="https://reduxx.info/exclusive-olympic-figure-skaters-brother-quietly-racking-up-wins-in-girls-sports/">Reddux,</a> and has won every girls&#8217; 200- and 400-meter race he’s participated in for Albany High School.
He also played on Albany High School&#8217;s girls&#8217; basketball team, where the 5-foot-8 junior was among the team&#8217;s top contributors.
For Jaylin’s other sport, girls&#8217; ultimate frisbee, he’s described as “dominant” this summer for his team coming off the Ultimate High School National Invite last month in Oregon.
&#8220;Jaylin Liu was one of the fastest players on the field and extremely dominant during the Garfield game,&#8221; <a href="https://ultiworld.com/2026/06/13/high-school-national-invite-2026-day-1-recap-girls-div/">Ultiworld</a> reported.
Kim Jones, co-founder of Independent Council on Women&#8217;s Sports (ICONS) told The Daily Wire that his sister, Alysa, represents the “pinnacle of female athletic achievement,” a strong contrast to what her brother is doing.
&#8220;It is a crime that girls in California are still being forced to compete against boys,&#8221; Jones said. &#8220;Her success was possible because a category existed that recognized and celebrated female athletes on their own merits. Without a clear category for female athletes, we would not know Alysa, and a male standard becomes the default in a backward society that devalues women for being female. A healthy society recognizes the unique merit of both male and female athletes.&#8221;
Jones said if Alysa, who won over the hearts of Americans during her Olympic run, stood up for women’s sports, it would be &#8220;inspirational,&#8221; but added the real responsibility falls on California’s leadership from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to the elected officials in Washington, D.C.
&#8220;When we reach a point where we demand that middle school girls take a public stance or a female Olympian speak out against her own family, leadership has failed to do the easiest thing in the world,&#8221; she said. &#8220;No girl should lose her place, recognition, or future because people in positions of authority refuse to protect female competition. This injustice must end.&#8221;
Under the <a href="https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/international-olympic-committee-announces-new-policy-on-the-protection-of-the-female-women-s-category-in-olympic-sport">International Olympic Committee&#8217;s</a> policy announced earlier this year, athletes eligible for the female category must meet the organization&#8217;s biological sex criteria, determined on the basis of a one‑time SRY gene screening.
IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the new policy is a protection for the female category.
&#8220;I understand this is a very sensitive topic, as a former athlete I passionately believe in all Olympians to take part in fair competition,&#8221; Coventry said. &#8220;The policy that we have announced is based on science. The scientific evidence is very clear. Male chromosomes give performance advantages in sports that rely on strength, power and endurance.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological male to compete in the female category.&#8221;

Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

An Olympic Champion’s Brother Is Dominating Girls’ Sports

California

Olympics

Mary Jo &#8220;MJ&#8221; Shannon, the matriarch of the Kardashian-Jenner household and a fixture on the family&#8217;s reality television shows, died Thursday at 91, just days before her 92nd birthday.
Kris Jenner announced her mother&#8217;s death in an emotional Instagram tribute celebrating MJ&#8217;s legacy.
&#8220;My mom was the heart of our family. She taught me everything that truly matters… to love your family fiercely, to be kind, to show up for the people you love, and to never take a single moment together for granted,&#8221; Jenner wrote.
&#8220;Our hearts are broken, but we find comfort knowing that love like yours never truly leaves us. Your love will live on in our family, in our traditions, in every moment we are together, and in every life you touched. When I look at my kids and my grandkids, I will forever see pieces of you in all of us.&#8221;
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The highly successful &#8220;Momager&#8221; of six and grandmother of 13 credited her mother with shaping the woman she became, writing that everything she&#8217;s accomplished in life was because of MJ.
&#8220;I spent my life trying to live in a way that would make you proud,&#8221; Jenner said. &#8220;Every memory, every moment, every blessing, it was all because of you, and I will forever thank God every single day for making you my mommy.&#8221;
The Kardashian-Jenner siblings also grew up around MJ’s San Diego clothing boutique, Shannon &amp; Company. Kim Kardashian has often credited her grandmother with teaching her valuable business lessons and giving her her first job.
&#8220;You were the woman who showed me what it meant to be a hardworking businesswoman,&#8221; Kim said in her Instagram tribute. &#8220;You gave me my very first job at your store in San Diego and taught me lessons about work ethic, strength, and confidence that I’ve carried with me ever since.&#8221;
MJ became a fan favorite through recurring appearances on E!’s &#8220;Keeping Up With The Kardashians&#8221; and, more recently, Hulu’s &#8220;The Kardashians.&#8221;
One of MJ’s final appearances on the series came at her 90th birthday party, where she showed up in her quintessential black pantsuit and dark sunglasses, and toasted with a glass of wine before blowing out the candles alongside several of her great-grandchildren.
Known for her quick wit, MJ was frequently described by her grandchildren as the family&#8217;s jokester. Kim Kardashian even joked that her grandmother had a secret Instagram account used to stalk her family.
&#8220;I know you are up in heaven, looking at all of our Instagram posts of you from your sneaky finsta account you would always use,&#8221; Kim said.
Although many fans viewed MJ as a Cali girl through and through, she was born in Arkansas in 1934 before eventually moving west, where she gave birth to Kris, then a few years later to Karen, who unexpectedly passed away in 2024 at the age of 65.
In a 2025 episode of The Kardashians, Kris said MJ had become &#8220;frail&#8221; following the loss of her daughter.
Jenner did not disclose a cause of death or provide additional details regarding her mother&#8217;s passing.

Beloved Member Of America’s Most Famous Reality TV Family Dies

Entertainment

An elderly Chicago woman has been identified 50 years after her dead body was found stuffed in a box in Indiana.
The DNA Doe Project helped identify the woman as Jane Hart, who was found in a cardboard box in rural Indiana in 1976. She was 69 years old at the time of her murder.
The breakthrough brings closure to this decades-long mystery that started on October 8, 1976. That day, a farmer tending to his field near Otterbein, Indiana, found a box about 15 yards from a nearby road, according to DNA Doe Project. When the farmer looked in the box, he found Hart’s body stuffed inside. She had been shot in the back of the head. Local authorities reported at the time that the box had only been in the field for about 12 hours, but estimated the woman had been killed about one week before her body was discovered.
&#8220;Everybody knew everybody, so it was a big deal, you know, finding a dead body in a box,&#8221; Curtis Skoog, who was 16 at the time his dad found the box, told <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-woman-murdered-in-indiana-identified/">CBS</a>. &#8220;I can&#8217;t explain to you how awful I felt.&#8221;
It wasn&#8217;t until 2021 that DNA Doe Project got involved after the Benton County Coroner’s Office brought the case to the organization.
After Hart’s DNA profile was generated, the team was able to determine that the unidentified woman was of Croatian descent. Though that was quickly identified, Hart’s DNA had just a 1.6% match to other DNAs in the databases available.
&#8220;We could tell that our Jane Doe had Croatian ancestry, which posed a challenge,&#8221; said team co-leader Harmony Vollmer. &#8220;Without more people of Eastern European descent uploading to the GEDmatch.com, FamilyTreeDNA.com and DNAJustice.org databases we have access to, cases like this will remain tricky to solve.&#8221;
The team made a breakthrough in 2024 when research led them to a Croatian woman who immigrated to the US in 1905 and gave birth to a daughter the next year.
The daughter was brought to an orphanage, and the DNA Doe Project was able to find census records showing that the same woman later moved from Ohio to Chicago as an adult. Lo and behold, her name was Jane Hart, and in the 1970s, she appeared to vanish from the public records.
&#8220;We uncovered further documentation from institutions that Jane had lived in, as well as probate records linking her to her family,” said Traci Onders, director of case management of the DNA Doe Project. “This research revealed genetic and genealogical connections that enabled us to identify her as a candidate.&#8221;
The key was that Hart’s surviving family members were able to identify her. After the family took DNA tests, the results confirmed that the Jane Doe from Benton County, Indiana, was their relative.
Skoog, who had spent his entire life wondering about the woman his dad found in the box, was thankful for the closure.
&#8220;It’s been a long road,” he said.

Doe Project

A Woman Was Found In A Cardboard Box. 50 Years Later, We Finally Know Who She Is.

Chicago

Indiana

The mother of 16 children found in a feces-filled Ohio home is asking a judge to lower her bond, with her attorney saying her &#8220;principal desire&#8221; is to reunite with her children.
Elizabeth Siders, 33, faces 16 felony counts of child endangerment after authorities discovered the children living in deplorable conditions inside a Vinton County home last month. Prosecutors say the children, who ranged in age from 18 months to 18 years, were living among feces and insects in a 12&#215;12 space, were not enrolled in school, and were &#8220;almost feral.&#8221;
In a motion seeking her release on a recognizance bond, Siders&#8217; attorney, J. Thomas Stolly, argued that his client has no criminal record, is not a flight risk, and would comply with any conditions imposed by the court.
&#8220;Through conversations with Counsel, the Defendant maintains that her principal desire (is) to reunite with her children; she understands that reunification of any sort is an impossibility if she does not appear before this Court,&#8221; the filing states.
Stolly argued that the family&#8217;s financial circumstances make the $300,000 bond excessive because she lived &#8220;in a home which exhibited extreme poverty.&#8221; He added that Siders would agree to wear a GPS monitor, provide a stable address, and, if released, regularly check in with a bond officer, WOWK reports.
He has also disputed some descriptions of the case.
&#8220;There’s no indication that the kids were not free to move about the home. There’s no indication from my conversations with my client that the kids were not allowed to go outside,&#8221; he said on July 9.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/look-16-children-found-in-feces-filled-home-state-intervenes?row=0&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;rowType=Web+Search+Overlay">LOOK: 16 Children Found In Feces-Filled Home, State Intervenes</a>
Siders, her husband Gary Siders Jr., and Gary Jr.&#8217;s parents, Gary Sr. and Christine Siders, have all pleaded not guilty to the charges and remain jailed on $300,000 bonds after waiving their preliminary hearings last week.
In an exclusive interview with <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/ohio-house-of-horrors-mom-not-evil-attorney/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NewsNation</a>, Stolly doubled down on his view of Elizabeth, adding that after meeting with her on three different occasions, she “does not come across as pure evil,” as he feels she is sometimes portrayed by the media.
The 16 children were found on June 30 in what many are calling the &#8220;House of Horrors.&#8221; Seven were hospitalized after being removed from the home, including two who were airlifted to trauma centers in serious condition.
A judge on Tuesday granted a gag order requested by Gary Siders Jr.&#8217;s attorney, who argued extensive media coverage could prejudice potential jurors in the small Ohio community.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Credit: New York Post/Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail

After 16 Children Were Found In Feces-Filled Home, Mom Makes New Request

Abuse

Ohio

Piles of human feces, garbage stacked several feet high, and bug-infested debris greeted authorities when they stepped in to rescue 16 “almost feral” children from the home now called the “house of horrors” in Ohio.
Photos from inside the home — which was raided in late June — have been released, showing the horrific conditions in which the children had been living.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1134179" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1134179" class="size-large wp-image-1134179" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-47-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-47-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-47-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-47-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-47.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: New York Post</div>
The photos obtained by The Post show broken windows, trash scattered all over the floor, broken furniture, food containers among other junk. There also appears to be an empty Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey &#8220;Party Bucket&#8221; laying in the middle of the other moldy waste.
The state is planning to give $1 million to assist the Siders siblings, ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years, who were living in the 12&#215;12 foot area — and prosecutors are looking to put the children’s parents and grandparents behind bars, The New York Post reported.
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<div id="attachment_1134059" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1134059" class="size-large wp-image-1134059" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-45-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-45-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-45-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-45-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-45.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: New York Post</div>
The Siders siblings, who have been described by authorities as &#8220;almost feral,&#8221; are unable to speak and have never been enrolled in school.
Authorities were serving an unrelated warrant when they found the 16 siblings living in deplorable conditions with their mother, 33-year-old Elizabeth Siders, their father, 36-year-old Gary Siders Jr., and their grandparents, Gary and Christina Siders — 73 and 67, respectively.
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<div id="attachment_1133967" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1133967" class="size-large wp-image-1133967" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-43-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-43-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-43-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-43-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-43.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Southeastern Ohio</div>
All four were arrested and charged with 16 counts each of felony child endangerment.
Court records show the ages of the children removed from the home as 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9, 8, 6, 5, 4, 4, 20 months, and 20 months. The children listed as the same age are two sets of twins. The 15th and 16th charges against the Siders do not list ages for those two children, WOWK news reported.
Elizabeth and Gary Jr. were apparently married as teenagers (15 and 18), according to court records obtained by WOWK. The eldest child removed from the house, now aged 18, was born just two months after their marriage in 2008. The outlet also reports that the two welcomed another set of twins, both girls, who were born in November of 2022, but died the same day.
A state legislative panel is expected to approve the request from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to give extra cash to Vinton County, an extremely rural county, to help the 16 victims in this child-abuse case, the outlet reported.
The children were forced to live inside the tiny room — which was overfilled with waste — for the past four years, according to authorities. Authorities said local livestock in the rural area lived in better conditions than the children, The Post noted.
Vinton County has just over 12,000 residents and the smallest budget out of Ohio’s 88 counties, which is why the state is stepping in.
Gary Sr. is also costing a pretty penny for his care behind bars.
Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer Jr. said the medical care costs for Gary Sr. would have &#8220;bankrupted the county,&#8221; per The Post. The court had to change the grandfather’s bond from the original $300,000 and release him from jail, with the understanding that Gary Sr. would need hospital care, so the county wouldn’t have to pay up.
&#8220;Based on the information the county was provided, his medical care could potentially bankrupt Vinton County,&#8221; Archer told reporters Wednesday.
Since the June 30 arrest, Archer said Gary Sr. had fallen at the jail — and authorities quickly realized that the grandfather would need specialized care.
Gary Sr.’s son-in-law, Ronnie Fletcher, told a local news station in Ohio he didn’t know about his nieces’ and nephews’ horrendous condition until he heard about it on the news.
Fletcher told WOWK he is married to a daughter of suspects Gary Sr, and Christina. The son-in-law claims his wife and the couple’s other three daughters had no idea the home situation had gotten this out of control.
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<div id="attachment_1134067" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1134067" class="size-large wp-image-1134067" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-46-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-46-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-46-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-46-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-46.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: New York Post</div>
&#8220;Horrified. Worried about the kids. It’s hard to explain the action when you’re distant family,&#8221; Fletcher told WOWK. &#8220;&#8216;What can I do to help?&#8217; That was the original reaction to it.&#8221;
Fletcher described his in-laws as distant family members, saying that over the years they had grown apart — citing no tension, but saying that they had just focused on their own lives.
The children, who had to spend time in the hospital because of their dire condition after being rescued, will be placed in care that will cost $150 and $250 per child daily, according to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth.
The Post reports the daily rates equal roughly $850,000 a year — which is more than three times the amount generated by Vinton County’s levy that goes toward both children’s and senior services.
An agency in Ohio is also consulting its attorneys about setting up a trust for the 16 siblings. South Central Ohio Job and Family Services has been handling donations for the children on Facebook since the news of the case broke.
The $1 million from the state would help with the children’s treatment — and would also help to cover court costs, and police overtime, The Post reported.
The case has moved to the grand jury for indictment after the Siders’ attorneys waived their preliminary hearings.
Gary Jr. will appear in court on a separate public indecency charge July 23 at 10:15 a.m. in Vinton County.

Credit: Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail

LOOK: 16 Children Found In Feces-Filled Home, State Intervenes

Ahead of the much-anticipated preliminary hearings for Charlie Kirk&#8217;s accused assassin Tyler Robinson, Kirk&#8217;s widow Erika Kirk, his parents, and his sister say the family will not be commenting during the judicial process.
Erika Kirk, alongside Charlie’s parents Kathy and Rob, will be in the courtroom together throughout the week, a source familiar with the situation told The Daily Wire. They say in a statement provided ahead of hearings that are expected to last all week that they will be there as spectators, and that the proceedings are a &#8220;painful reminder of his death.&#8221;
“Charlie was a beloved husband, son, brother, friend, and father. Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children,” the joint statement reads. “We remain deeply grateful for the support, prayers, and kindness we have received. This outpouring has sustained us during the darkest days of our lives. Out of respect for the judicial process, we will not be commenting further at this time. We ask for continued privacy as we navigate this process and immense grief.”
The Daily Wire is told this will be the only statement provided during the preliminary hearing that starts Monday in Provo, Utah.
The five-day hearing happens roughly 10 months after Charlie was murdered in front of thousands at a Turning Point USA college campus tour on Utah Valley University’s campus. Judge Tony Graf will decide whether the prosecution has enough evidence against Robinson, who faces an aggravated murder charge among other offenses, with the death penalty as a possible punishment. Robinson hasn’t entered a plea.
Utah is a &#8220;hearing&#8221; state, which is why this hearing takes place instead of the case going before a grand jury, which is typically what happens in federal felony cases before a trial can take place.
Starting on Monday the state will lay out evidence against the 23-year-old, who is accused of shooting the TPUSA founder on September 10, 2025. Robinson turned himself in after an intense manhunt.
The &#8220;world is going to see what the state has,&#8221; the source familiar with the proceedings told The Daily Wire.
Often called a &#8220;mini trial,&#8221; this week is the first time the public will see what evidence the prosecution plans to use to convict him of murder.
The state will call witnesses and present evidence and the defense will cross examine. The state is under no obligation to present all evidence, just as Robinson&#8217;s team isn’t required to present all of its findings to the judge.
The judge will look at the evidence through a lens favorable to the state, per law.
It’s expected the state will play a video of a recorded statement from Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s roommate and lover, during the hearing. It will be the first public statement from Twiggs, who was on the receiving end of Robinson&#8217;s confession through text messages and a hand-written letter, per authorities.
This hearing was originally scheduled for May, but the defense successfully delayed by filing pre-trial motions.
The legal back and forth leading up to Monday’s hearing mainly revolved around the argument of cameras in the courtroom. Judge Graf sided with the state and cameras will be allowed in the courtroom, but electronic devices won’t be permitted.

Credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Erika Kirk And Charlie Kirk’s Parents Say Assassination Hearing Is ‘Painful Reminder Of His Death’

Charlie Kirk

Tyler Robinson

Utah

After months of silence, the FBI said Wednesday that some ransom notes sent during the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation may &#8220;potentially&#8221; be legitimate, while others appear to be bogus.
&#8220;Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such,&#8221; the FBI posted on X. &#8220;This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Statement on Guthrie Investigation <a href="https://t.co/zTUKcjPfsv">pic.twitter.com/zTUKcjPfsv</a>
— FBI Phoenix (@FBIPhoenix) <a href="https://x.com/FBIPhoenix/status/2072451468766941575?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2026</a></blockquote>
The statement appears to contradict a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/fbi-determines-nancy-guthrie-kidnapping-notes-be-fakes-source-says-2026-07-01/">Reuters</a> report citing an FBI official who said none of the ransom notes were believed to be genuine.
The FBI added that it continues to provide resources to assist in the investigation to find the mother of &#8220;Today&#8221; host Savannah Guthrie, but made it clear the probe is being led by local authorities in Pima County, Arizona.
This is the latest back-and-forth in the case of the missing 84-year-old who was abducted from her home on February 1.
During the first week of the search, multiple ransom notes were sent to several outlets demanding money in the form of bitcoin, while describing disturbing details about Guthrie&#8217;s condition.
Last month, NewsNation&#8217;s Brian Entin reported that sources told him the second ransom note alluded to Guthrie being dead.
The note indicated her death was unintentional and said that Guthrie was &#8220;buried with nature now,&#8221; per Entin.
Savannah Guthrie addressed the report last month on the &#8220;Today&#8221; show alongside co-anchor Craig Melvin and Carson Daly.
&#8220;Somebody knows something, and this is a new story today that is on your radar, but this is the life that my sister lives, that I live, that my brother lives, that our extended families live, that our children live, every day,&#8221; Savannah said. &#8220;And we are in agony. We cannot be at peace.&#8221;
Shortly after Savannah&#8217;s plea, <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/06/26/new-nancy-guthrie-demand-letter-claims-video-evidence/">TMZ</a> reported that it had received another email containing a bombshell claim about the investigation.
The note contained a password to a phone in a &#8220;secure location&#8221; that had information on Guthrie&#8217;s disappearance. The sender of the note said they would provide the password in exchange for bitcoin, per TMZ.
TMZ has received numerous emails over the past several months, but the latest had the same bitcoin address as the sender who emailed the outlet in February.
The more than $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of Guthrie is still available.
The number for tips is 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC/Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

The FBI Isn’t Ready To Dismiss The Nancy Guthrie Ransom Notes

U.S.

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
It’s 1975. The United States is coming off the Vietnam War, which involved a heavily opposed military draft, mass casualties, and major economic distress. Watergate had just fractured the trust between the public and government. Americans needed something to believe in, something to celebrate. And a resurgence of patriotism spread across a small, secluded town in Alabama, thanks to a group of fourth graders.
Susan Holdridge was a 33-year-old teacher at Laurel Elementary School in Alexander City, Alabama. Like many teachers at the start of their career, she was eager, she was energetic, and she assigned tasks that went beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The bicentennial was still more than a year away, but preparations and excitement were already building. America was getting ready to turn 200! To honor the country’s milestone, Mrs. Holdridge tasked the nine- and 10-year-olds with writing poems about America. Then a “song committee” turned the words of the poem into a song, “My Grand American Home.”
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It came together on a single sheet of paper in cursive writing. Stanza by stanza the students put the poems together like a puzzle. It seemed to come together smoothly with barely any notes in the margins.
“I do remember telling them about the White Cliffs of Dover because we needed a place name that rhymed with over for the first verse, but everything else came directly from the students,” Mrs. Holdridge told The Daily Wire.
The chorus reads: 
“I love America so 
I will never never go 
It&#8217;s a grand old place 
You can tell by my face 
I love America so.”
The assignment that was meant to sharpen her class’s literacy skills turned out to be a pretty impressive song in Mrs. Holdridge&#8217;s eyes, but the teacher wasn’t the only one pleased with the students&#8217; work.
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<div id="attachment_1123165" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1123165" class="size-large wp-image-1123165" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-38-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-38-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-38-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-38-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-38.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Cindy Blake</div>
A few adults were called on to put the lyrics to music, and a local church agreed to provide a piano and choir loft. Just like that, “My Grand American Home” was recorded on a cassette tape.
“I still remember all these years later hearing our song on the local radio station in 1976 and thinking we were famous,” Cindy Blake, one of the fourth graders, told The Daily Wire.
But the story doesn’t end there.
As the classmates recall, the bicentennial celebration of the country was a proud time for Americans. Streets were decorated, flags flew high in the sky, and it seemed everyone wanted to celebrate the greatest country in the land. The buildup for America’s 200th birthday was years in the making, so the fourth graders had plenty of time to perform “My Grand American Home.”
It’s a shame no one really knows exactly how the next parts of the song’s journey came to be. As Mrs. Holdridge put it, word travels fast in a small town. In any case, all that mattered was that this patriotic project made its way down to Alabama’s capital city, Montgomery, and onto Governor George Wallace’s desk.
“As Governor of Alabama, I commend you for your recording of &#8216;My Grand American Home,&#8217;” Wallace sent via telegraph. “I think you are great for undertaking this project and congratulate you on your success.”
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<div id="attachment_1123175" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1123175" class="size-large wp-image-1123175" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-39-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-39-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-39-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-39-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-39.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Cindy Blake</div>
That was a token of appreciation the fourth graders would hold onto throughout their lives. The lifelong friends still often broke out in the song every time they would hang out. I know all this because my mom, Cindy Blake, is in this group of fourth graders, and she has made it her mission to give the song new life in 2026.
My mom’s best friend, David McGhee, held on to the scrapbook of memories Mrs. Holdridge made, including the telegraph from Governor Wallace, the lyrics, the printed music, and a copyright certificate at his furniture store in town.
“He got the word out to our classmates that he had it and we could drop by and see the treasure,” Blake said.
Unfortunately, McGhee died during the COVID-19 pandemic and his furniture store burned down shortly after, destroying the scrapbook of “My Grand American Home.”
That was another reason my mom wanted so badly to give this song new life.
A few phone calls were made and Facebook messages were sent, and 23 of the original group of fourth graders were around to rerecord with their teacher, 84-year-old Mrs. Holdridge, whose idea started it all.
“We gathered at First Baptist Church, on June 14, 2026, on the same stage we made the original recording by pressing the record button on a cassette player, but on this day, we pressed record on our iPhone,” Blake said. “We practiced once and were ready to go. Our voices filled the church sanctuary. There was more pride the second time.”
“Meeting back at the same church to rerecord was absolutely amazing,” Holdridge said. “Seeing my fourth-grade students from 50 years ago was so special. They were wonderful students then and are wonderful adults now. I loved them then and I love them now. Many good memories brought tears to my eyes.”
The simple song evokes American pride and reminds the group, now in their 60s, how important it is to share that feeling with the younger folks.
“What I love about America? I can freely choose who and what I want to be without limitations,” Nancy Patrick Holley told The Daily Wire. “I am free to choose the life I want to live, most of all, I can walk in my beliefs and my faith.”
The group didn’t wear their matching white shirts and red bandanas like they did in 1975, instead opting for a more personalized patriotic look. The First Baptist Church sanctuary didn’t have the same maroon carpet on the stage or pews; it’s more modern now with new floors and paint. But the feeling the class felt decades ago was the same.
“For a few minutes, we weren’t retirees, grandparents, or professionals — we were Mrs. Holdridge’s fourth graders again,” Karen Carr said.
“This time when we sang, we put the politics and opposing views, which surround us every day, aside and sang about &#8216;Our Grand American Home&#8217; with deep pride,” Blake said.
Same lyrics, remastered and renewed all for America’s 250th birthday. The class of 1983 knows that with technology, more people can hear the words that still bring them so much joy.
“We love our country even when we&#8217;re sad. 
We don&#8217;t give up when the going gets bad. 
No place on Earth is like the place of my birth. 
My Grand American Home.”
“Of course, I would love for us to perform it for the president and celebrate our 250th birthday in a grand way,” Sharon Blair said. &#8220;I know that will not happen, but it is an endearing story of a class that always comes together and loves each other!”
“We would even love to share the song with the president, at the White House,” Blake added. “I can envision my teacher, Mrs. Holdridge; my classmates; and I surrounding the president sitting at his desk in the Oval Office while he signs a proclamation declaring &#8216;My Grand American Home&#8217; a national treasure,” Blake added.
(Look, my mom shoots for the moon, okay?)
That American dream aside, what the class really wants to come from the rerecording is for today’s generation to know that with a little creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, learning is fun and lasts a lifetime. And, of course, the class wants this song to encourage others to love their country too!
“If this project inspires others to value their school memories, reconnect with old friends, or appreciate the educators who influenced them,&#8221; Carr said, &#8220;then it will have accomplished something meaningful.”

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Lynden Blake