The disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mom of Right now present co-host Savannah Guthrie, has taken a dramatic flip after what seems to be a bitcoin ransom demand surfaced amid a widespread and intensifying investigation into her doable kidnapping.
Late Tuesday, leisure information web site TMZ reported it had acquired an alleged ransom notice demanding a selected, substantial cost in Bitcoin — reportedly within the tens of millions — in alternate for Guthrie’s secure return.
The notice included a deadline for cost and a risk of hurt if the demand was not met, and was despatched with a Bitcoin pockets tackle that TMZ verified as an actual on-chain account.
The alleged ransom notice additionally referenced particular particulars about Nancy Guthrie’s clothes and harm to her Tucson-area residence.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed regulation enforcement is conscious of experiences about doable ransom notes circulating within the investigation, however emphasised that the authenticity of those notes has not been verified.
Authorities harassed that they’re taking all suggestions and leads significantly and are coordinating with the FBI on the case.
The Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation
Nancy Guthrie was reported lacking on February 1, after failing to point out up at church in her Catalina Foothills neighborhood.
Authorities imagine she was taken from her residence someday late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning. Proof collected on the scene has raised severe issues: indicators of compelled entry, a blood path outdoors the house, and private results left behind recommend foul play reasonably than a voluntary disappearance.
Sheriff Nanos, whereas declining to reveal the variety of doable suspects or additional particulars in regards to the investigation, has stated that the absence of life-sustaining medicine and Guthrie’s restricted mobility make her secure return a precedence.
The FBI is helping native authorities, and investigators are interviewing associates, neighbors, and relations as a part of a broad search effort.
Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah, has taken a direct depart from Right now present duties and canceled scheduled appearances, together with journey for the 2026 Winter Olympics broadcast, to deal with her household’s search.
Regardless of the viral nature of the ransom demand, regulation enforcement sources have been cautious: no official affirmation has been made that the ransom notice got here from the precise kidnappers.
Some investigators and analysts have famous that opportunistic hoaxes can happen in high-profile instances, and that media shops receiving such notes ought to deal with them skeptically till corroborated by police.
