New details emerging in the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mother have added a devastating twist to one of the year’s most closely watched missing persons cases. According to the BBC, a second ransom note sent days after Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Arizona home claimed the 84-year-old had died following her alleged kidnapping and included an apology from those behind the abduction.
The newly revealed letter, reportedly mailed on February 6, did not demand money. Instead, reports said it used language similar to an earlier note that sought millions in Bitcoin and claimed Nancy’s death had been unintentional. Authorities have not verified the claims contained in either message, and the Pima County Sheriff's Department has declined to discuss the contents publicly.
In a statement, officials said the case “remains active and ongoing,” adding that investigators and the FBI continue to “follow up on leads, review information, and pursue the facts surrounding this case.”
Sheriff Chris Nanos later acknowledged that investigators were intentionally withholding certain details “to protect our case,” insisting he still believed arrests would eventually be made.
Savannah and her family had previously hinted that they considered at least some of the messages authentic. In a March interview with NBC, the Today anchor revealed that multiple ransom notes had surfaced and said she believed some were fake.
However, the family viewed the first two letters differently. Shortly after receiving them, Savannah and her siblings released an emotional video addressed directly to the kidnappers. “We received your message, and we understand,” she said. “We beg you now to return our mother to us.” She added that the family “would pay.”
Nancy disappeared after being dropped off at her Tucson-area home on Jan. 31. When she failed to show up for her regular church gathering the next morning, loved ones discovered she was gone. Security systems had been disabled overnight, and surveillance footage later showed a masked individual outside the residence.
DNA evidence recovered from the home has since become a major focus of the FBI-led investigation, though forensic analysis has been slowed by the complexity of mixed samples.
