Five months after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of prominent *Today Show* co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was abducted from her Arizona home in the middle of the night, new details have emerged about two ransom notes sent to the victim’s family and major news outlets in the weeks following the kidnapping.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen alive at her residence near Tucson, Arizona, on January 31. According to senior law enforcement sources cited by CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. news partner, the first ransom note arrived just one day after she was taken from her bed in the dark of night. Addressed directly to Savannah Guthrie, the note demanded a multi-million-dollar ransom payment in bitcoin, and included specific, accurate details about Guthrie’s home layout, her bedroom, and the surrounding neighborhood — details that led investigators to believe the sender had direct knowledge of the abduction.
A second, follow-up note was mailed on February 6. It used matching phrasing and handwriting styling consistent with the first communication, but abandoned all ransom demands. In this second message, the senders claimed Nancy Guthrie had died while in their custody, adding that the death was unintended and extending an apology to the Guthrie family for the tragedy.
While authorities have not publicly confirmed whether they consider the two notes authentic, Savannah Guthrie and her family have stated publicly that they believe the communications are genuine. The notes were sent both to local Arizona news outlets and national U.S. media organizations including TMZ, and multiple news outlets confirmed that law enforcement requested they withhold detailed contents of the notes while the investigation moves forward.
In a video statement released shortly after the second note was received, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings addressed the kidnappers directly. “We received your message, and we understand,” the NBC News host said. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. We would pay.”
From the earliest days of the investigation, authorities and the Guthrie family repeatedly warned the public that Nancy Guthrie lived with chronic poor health and required ongoing critical medication that she would not have access to after being abducted. To date, no trace of the 84-year-old has been found.
A combined reward of $1.1 million has been posted for information that leads to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery: the Guthrie family put forward $1 million, while the FBI added an additional $100,000 reward. In a public update on February 24, Savannah Guthrie acknowledged the family holds out hope but is prepared for the worst: “We know that she may be lost, she may already be gone, but we will keep hoping.”
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which is leading the investigation alongside the FBI, has declined to confirm or comment on the contents of the ransom notes, but confirmed in a statement that the probe “remains active and ongoing.” “The Pima County Sheriff’s Department continues to work closely with the FBI as investigators follow up on leads, review information, and pursue the facts surrounding this case,” a department spokesperson said. The BBC has reached out to the FBI for additional comment on the investigation, and no new suspects have been publicly named as of this reporting.