Almost five months have passed since the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, yet a series of puzzling notes continues to baffle her family, taking them on an emotional roller coaster of hope and despair.
Savannah Guthrie, co-host of the Today show, last saw her mother on January 31, when family members left her at her residence in Tucson, Arizona. The following day, Nancy was reported missing after vanishing overnight under mysterious circumstances.
Shortly afterwards, security footage from Nancy’s home surfaced, revealing a masked and armed figure interfering with her camera system. Investigators discovered that the doorbell camera had been disconnected around 2 a.m., and a short while later, communication from her pacemaker app also ceased.
In February, striking new development occurred: two notes, allegedly from those involved in Nancy’s disappearance, were sent to media outlets. Sources informed NBC News that the first note demanded a ransom, while the second ominously claimed Nancy had died.
Law enforcement has scrutinized both notes and, according to reports, deemed them “potentially credible,” fueling ongoing investigations into this perplexing case.
Here’s what to know about Nancy’s case and the notes.
Nancy Guthrie First Ransom Note Demanded Millions
On Feb. 2, several media outlets received a note demanding money for Nancy’s return, which were forwarded to the authorities.
KOLD News 13 anchor Mary Coleman told CNN the letter included a dollar amount and a deadline along with personal and sensitive information ”that only someone who is holding her for ransom would know.”
TMZ also received a note on Feb. 3, claiming the sender had demanded millions in cryptocurrency to be sent to a verified Bitcoin address.
Meanwhile, in response to the letter, Savannah and her siblings Annie Guthrie and Camron Guthrie begged their mom’s alleged captor to come forward.
“We need to know, without a doubt, that she is alive and that you have her,” Savannah said in a Feb. 4 Instagram video. “We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.”
A Second Note Claims Nancy Guthrie Was Dead
A second note was sent to Tucson news outlet KOLD on Feb. 6, according to NBC News.
The following day, Savannah and her siblings vowed to pay an unspecified amount for her return.
“We received your message and we understand,” Savannah said in a Feb. 7 Instagram video. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”
Months later, it was revealed what was in that letter, with NBC News reporting June 22 that the note claimed Nancy was dead. The sender also indicated regret over her passing, the outlet reported.
“The second note said, basically, it wasn’t intended to work this way but in the course of the kidnapping some things happened and Nancy Guthrie is dead,” CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller told AC360. “The thing that makes the note significant is it came from the same electronic source as the first note, which demanded the ransom.”
Miller added the second note had “a very different tone [from] that note the week before.”
Hours later, Savannah spoke out about the devastating revelation.
“I want to just take the opportunity to ask people, to really beg people to come forward,” she said on the June 23 episode of Today. “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. And we are in agony. We cannot be at peace.”
A spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Office told Oxygen that the investigation “remains active and ongoing,” adding, “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 spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment when asked by Oxygen.