Six months after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her Arizona home, law enforcement officials are taking a new step to crack the case by releasing two ransom letters sent to her family, appealing to the public to help identify the kidnapper behind her disappearance. Nancy is the mother of prominent American broadcast journalist Savannah Guthrie, one of the most recognizable on-air personalities in U.S. news media.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen alive on January 31, when relatives dropped her off at her residence located just outside Tucson. She relied on daily medication for ongoing health conditions, and when she failed to arrive at a friend’s home the next morning to attend a virtual church service, authorities were alerted immediately. Investigators have confirmed they believe the 84-year-old was taken against her will from her home, though no suspects have been arrested to date, and no clear motive for the abduction has been made public.
In the days following Nancy’s disappearance, two ransom notes addressed to Savannah Guthrie and the wider Guthrie family were sent to a local Tucson television station. The Pima County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation, confirmed Friday that the first note, received February 2, is considered apparently credible and demanded a $4 million ransom payment in Bitcoin. The letter stated that if the ransom was not transferred to the specified crypto wallet by the initial deadline, the demand would increase to $6 million, and threatened that Nancy would be killed if no payment arrived by the final cutoff. It also included specific details about items inside and outside Nancy’s home, such as a white smart watch left at the foot of her bed and a destroyed outdoor flood light.
Four days after the first ransom communication arrived, a second note was delivered to the station. This letter claimed that Nancy had died of an apparent heart-related issue shortly after her abduction, saying the kidnappers had not intended to harm her and that she had been buried in an undeveloped natural area. It ended with an apology to the Guthrie family.
To date, investigators have not been able to confirm Nancy’s death, and the case remains an open and active kidnapping investigation. By releasing the full text of the notes to the public, law enforcement is hoping that distinct writing patterns and phrasing used by the author will be recognized by someone who knows them. “A friend, family member, coworker, classmate, or acquaintance may recognise these patterns of expression and possess information that could help identify the individual responsible,” the sheriff’s office explained in an official statement.
The strategy of releasing suspect writing to the public to generate identifying tips has precedent in major U.S. criminal cases. Most famously, the Unabomber suspect Ted Kaczynski was identified and arrested after his brother recognized his distinctive writing and ideological tone when major national newspapers published his full anti-technology manifesto in 1995.
In a update to the case earlier this year, investigators released photos of a masked, armed suspect who was captured on Nancy’s home security camera shortly before the abduction, after the suspect disabled the front door camera. A glove recovered near the neighborhood in the weeks after the kidnapping did not yield usable DNA evidence, leaving investigators with few leads to pursue.
Following receipt of the second note claiming Nancy’s death, Savannah Guthrie released a public statement on Instagram on February 7, pleading with the kidnappers: “We received your message and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us… This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.” Earlier this week, the prominent host released another public video, renewing her plea for the abductors to “do the right thing” and disclose where Nancy’s remains are located if she is indeed dead.