An alleged ransom note demanding millions in Bitcoin has been sent to TMZ, as investigators search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today host Savannah Guthrie, who is believed to have been abducted from her Arizona home.
TMZ reports the note arrived on February 3 (US time) and “demands a specific substantial amount of Bitcoin … the amount is in the millions, and the note demands the cryptocurrency be sent to a specific Bitcoin address”.
TMZ says it has confirmed the Bitcoin address is real, and that “there is a deadline connected to the alleged ransom … and an element of ‘or else’.”
The US outlet has forwarded the alleged ransom demand to the Pima County Sheriff.
The outlet also notes that the message references items linked to Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson-area home, including one said to have been damaged, but neither TMZ nor authorities have verified whether the note itself is genuine or a hoax.
How authorities are responding
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office has acknowledged the reports without giving away much more. In a statement shared on its X account, it said: “We are aware of reports circulating about possible ransom note(s) regarding the investigation into Nancy Guthrie. We are taking all tips and leads very seriously. Anything that comes in, goes directly to our detectives who are coordinating with the FBI.”
Variety reports that representatives for Savannah Guthrie have declined to comment on the note, and investigators have not named any suspects or outlined a motive.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen on the evening of January 31 at her house in the Catalina Foothills, near Tucson, and was first listed as a “missing vulnerable adult” because of her age, before the case was upgraded after “very concerning” evidence was found inside the home.
Sheriff Chris Nanos told CBS News, “I believe she was abducted, yes. She didn’t walk from there. She didn’t go willingly”, and has emphasised that she had “no signs of cognitive issues” and is “very alert” and of “very sound mind”, saying, “This is not dementia-related; she is as sharp as a tack. The family wants everybody to know this isn’t somebody who just wandered off”.
What we know about the search
Investigators reportedly found signs of forced entry and blood inside the house, while her phone, wallet and car were still there.
Nanos has said, “We saw some things at the home that were concerning to us. We believe now, after we process that crime scene, that we do in fact have a crime scene. And we’re asking for the community’s help,” adding that DNA samples have been taken and some results returned, but “nothing to indicate any suspects”.
Investigators are reviewing nearby surveillance footage, checking mobile phone tower data and examining licence plate camera records. Currently the motive remains unclear and investigators do not believe it is linked to a robbery, home invasion or traditional kidnapping-for-ransom plot at the moment.
Family members reported Nancy missing after someone from her church called to say she had not arrived. Nanos has said she has limited mobility and needs daily medication “that she could die without”, and when asked if officials were searching for her alive, he replied, “We hope we are”.
Savannah Guthrie’s message
From New York, Savannah Guthrie has turned to her audience and followers for support as she remains off the Today anchor desk.
“We believe in prayer. We believe in voices raised in unison, in love, in hope. We believe in goodness. We believe in humanity. Above all, we believe in Him,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mum, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant. Raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment. We need you.”
Savannah has often spoken about how her mother held the family together after her father died when she was 16, saying on Today in 2017, “When my dad died, our family just hung onto each other for dear life because it was such a shock. We were just trying to figure out how to become a family of four when we’d always been a family of five.”
Marking Nancy’s 80th birthday in 2022, she told viewers that her mum “has met unthinkable challenges in her life with grit, without self-pity, with determination and always, always with unshakeable faith”, and that she “loves us, her family, fiercely, and her selflessness and sacrifice for us, her steadfastness and her unmovable confidence, is the reason any of us grew up to do anything”.
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