“She’s dead now,” claimed an anonymous note provided to TMZ about Nancy Guthrie, the missing 84-year-old mother of “Today” morning show host Savannah Guthrie.
TMZ reported Monday – the same day that Savannah returned to work on “Today” – that it had received “new notes” pertaining to the case. Nancy Guthrie was last seen on Jan. 31 and it appears that she was taken from her home in the Tucson, Ariz., area.
Early on in the search for Nancy, TMZ reported that it received a note demanding bitcoin for information. According to the outlet, they received the first of two new notes from “the person who has been offering to rat out the kidnappers for nearly two months now,” on Monday morning.
That first note claimed Nancy had died. After TMZ talked about the note on “TMZ Live”, another note came in. In the second one, the writer claimed to have seen Nancy alive with her kidnappers in the state of Sonora, Mexico, which borders Arizona. Nancy’s home is located around 70 miles from the border.
Regarding TMZ’s alleged tipster, the outlet said the person claims to have been out of the U.S. for five years and to have nothing to do with the “horrific crime.”
“They say their demand for 1 bitcoin to ‘deliver them on a silver platter’ still stands,” if the crypto funds are sent to an account created in February, TMZ said. It also said this is the first time the individual revealed an exact location.
As of Tuesday, one bitcoin was worth close to $68,000, slightly down from past weeks, per MarketWatch. TMZ’s note-sender has also offered to provide information for half a bitcoin and to accept the rest after a public arrest.
Meanwhile, Nancy Guthrie’s family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to her whereabouts.
TMZ said it sent the first note to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the outlet noted that “it seems the feds aren’t convinced it’s legit.” It also said the author of the notes “clearly senses the FBI’s disbelief.”
Here’s what they wrote in that first letter: “I am disregarded as a scam... they are free and the case is frozen but the ego’s remain hot when it comes to me. Arrogance at it’s finest.” In the second, the person claims that they “just want whats fair and to live peacefully with enough to start my life again quietly with out having to join a witness protection program.”
Already, one person has been arrested for an alleged hoax ransom note related to the Nancy Guthrie case, as reported by Arizona’s Family.
Since Nancy’s disappearance, local and federal investigators have been combing through evidence, from discarded gloves, to doorbell camera footage and even blood. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has been leading the local effort, but Fox 10 in Phoenix, Ariz., reported on some drama surrounding the sheriff this month.
“An independent firm working for Pima County released its findings into a workplace harassment complaint against Sheriff Chris Nanos, Fox News reported on April 3,” said the outlet. “The complaint was brought by a former sheriff's department lieutenant who lost to Nanos in the 2024 election.”
It also said the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to question Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos about his work history and management of the department. Another Fox report said that Nanos initially pulled his most experienced investigators off the case and that the sergeant in charge of the unit had never worked a homicide case.
