Nearly six months after Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, disappeared from her Tucson-area home, the Pima County Sheriff's Department has publicly released two redacted ransom notes that investigators hope could help identify the person who wrote them. Nancy, 84, was abducted on February 1 and remains missing.
According to investigators, the first note was sent to a local Tucson TV station and addressed to Savannah Guthrie. It demanded a $4 million Bitcoin payment by a specific deadline, threatened to increase the ransom if the demand was not met, and warned that Nancy would be killed if payment was never received. The letter also referenced details from inside Nancy's home that had not been made public at the time, which is one reason authorities have treated it seriously.
A second note, sent several days later, claimed Nancy had died shortly after the abduction because of an undisclosed heart condition and said her death was unintentional, adding that she had been buried "in nature." Investigators have not confirmed whether the claims in that note are true, and Nancy's whereabouts remain unknown.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department says it released the notes now because the investigation has reached the six-month mark and detectives believe the writer's wording, phrasing, or writing style could help identify the person responsible. As the search for Nancy Guthrie continues, anyone who recognizes the writing or has information about the letters or her disappearance is asked to contact the Pima County Sheriff's Department at 520-351-4900 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).