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Nancy Guthrie update: Cole Allen was Savannah Guthrie's driver? Fact-checking wild claim about WHCD shooter
Viral claims have been made that Cole Tomas Allen, the WHCD shooter, used to work as a driver for Savannah Guthrie, whose mother Nancy has been kidnapped.
Cole Tomas Allen was identified as the shooter at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The 31-year-old from Torrance, Los Angeles, has now been charged with attempting to assassinate the president after his attack at Washington Hilton, where President Donald Trump and top ranking members of his administration were present.
Amid this, an alleged photo of Allen standing next to TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie has gone viral. The post claims that Allen used to work as a driver for Savannah, and claims that his wife works as her assistant. Notably, Savannah has been in the news due to the kidnapping of her 84-year-old mother Nancy Guthrie. She was reported missing from her home on February 1 and is yet to be found.
“Cole Allen's wife currently works as Savannah Guthrie's assistant. Small world,” one person wrote on X. Another added “I guess now you know what happened to Nancy Guthrie”.
Yet another person remarked “Well, Well, Well....WTF is this??”.
Cole Tomas Allen worked for Savannah Guthrie? Fact check
The claim about Allen having worked for Savannah comes from unverified profiles. There is nothing to confirm that the two have crossed paths.
Grok fact-checked the viral claims saying “The shooter at the April 25, 2026 WHCD was indeed 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance, CA. He's a teacher, mechanical engineer, and game developer—not a former driver for Savannah Guthrie, and no reports indicate his wife works as her assistant.”
“That specific claim (and the photo pairing) comes from a fake-news blog pushing clickbait. Credible sources (CNN, CBS, LA Times, NPR, BBC) confirm only the basic ID and background,” the AI chatbot added.
Notably, there is also no indication of Allen having been married. Reports have indicated that he lived with his parents in California. Many users were quick to point to this, while slamming the wild claims made about Savannah and Allen. “This is most likely trash. Cole Allen is not married, and there’s no evidence he was ever a driver for Savannah Guthrie,” one wrote.
Another added “This is Fake News. Cole Allen doesn't have a wife or girlfriend and has No Connection to Savannah Guthrie.”
Savannah, for her part, was in Tucson, Arizona when her mother was reported missing. However, she has since returned to New York and resumed her job as the TODAY show host. Authorities are yet to release the name of any suspect in the Guthrie case, and currently DNA evidence is being examined by the FBI with the hopes of narrowing down who might have taken the octogenarian from her home.
