The disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mom of As we speak 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 attainable kidnapping.
Late Tuesday, leisure information web site TMZ reported it had obtained an alleged ransom be aware demanding a selected, substantial cost in Bitcoin — reportedly within the hundreds of thousands — in trade for Guthrie’s secure return.
The be aware 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 be aware additionally referenced particular particulars about Nancy Guthrie’s clothes and injury to her Tucson-area residence.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed legislation enforcement is conscious of reviews about attainable ransom notes circulating within the investigation, however emphasised that the authenticity of those notes has not been verified.
Authorities pressured that they’re taking all ideas 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 indicate up at church in her Catalina Foothills neighborhood.
Authorities consider she was taken from her residence someday late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning. Proof collected on the scene has raised critical considerations: indicators of pressured entry, a blood path exterior the house, and private results left behind recommend foul play moderately than a voluntary disappearance.
Sheriff Nanos, whereas declining to reveal the variety of attainable suspects or additional particulars concerning the investigation, has mentioned that the absence of life-sustaining remedy and Guthrie’s restricted mobility make her secure return a precedence.
The FBI is aiding native authorities, and investigators are interviewing mates, neighbors, and relations as a part of a broad search effort.
Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah, has taken a direct depart from As we speak present duties and canceled scheduled appearances, together with journey for the 2026 Winter Olympics broadcast, to give attention to her household’s search.
Regardless of the viral nature of the ransom demand, legislation enforcement sources have been cautious: no official affirmation has been made that the ransom be aware 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.
