The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has taken a new turn as two outlets have competing narratives about what was actually written in purported ransom notes from her captor.
Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today anchor Savannah Guthrie, went missing from her Tucson, Arizona, home on Feb. 1. Despite multiple ransom notes and the high-profile nature of the matter, authorities have not been able to produce any consequential leads into her disappearance.
Her apparent abductor sent TMZ several ransom notes, which the outlet says the FBI believed were authentic.
But now, NBC News, Savannah’s employer, is reporting that a second ransom note claimed that Nancy was dead. The outlet reported that the existence of the note had been known, but its specific contents, specifically that Guthrie had died, had not been reported.
Three sources told the publication that the second note also contained no apology or request for payment for the release of Guthrie’s body.
CNN also reported that the second note said that Guthrie had died, citing multiple law enforcement sources. Her abductors said that she had died shortly after the kidnapping, though they said it was unintentional, according to the sources.
TMZ, however, has shot back, saying it received “close to a dozen emails from a man claiming he knew both the identity of the kidnappers and the location of Nancy,” but that none of them contained “a revelation she was dead.”
The celebrity news outlet said that the man who had emailed them “was not a kidnapper,” but sought to provide information about Guthrie’s whereabouts and the identity of the kidnappers for the price of one bitcoin.
However, the man reportedly said in a follow-up email that “time is no longer of the essence,” which the outlet understood to mean that Guthrie “was no longer alive.”
TMZ said it then contacted the FBI about making a documentary on the case, and asked whether paying the bitcoin would interfere with the investigation. The tabloid said the agency called the idea “interesting” and would get back to them.
“We have tried contacting the FBI a half dozen times since, and they have ghosted us,” the outlet said. “The FBI has always been responsive and they genuinely want to solve this case, but for some reason this struck a nerve and we don’t know why.”
After the second ransom note was sent, Savannah addressed her mother’s disappearance in a video, saying her family would “pay” for her return.
“We received your message, and we understand,” Savannah said, seated alongside her brother, Camron, and sister, Annie. “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.”
