Nancy Guthrie's disappearance from her Tucson home on 1 February has taken on an even stranger dimension, after a former FBI agent suggested that whoever sent the alleged ransom notes may have tried to 'weaponise' religion by quoting the Bible.
The theory, centred on the language used in the ransom notes linked to the missing 84‑year‑old and to her daughter, Today co‑host Savannah Guthrie, has added a troubling new layer to a case that is now in its third month with no confirmed trace of the Arizona matriarch.
Ex‑FBI Agent Floats 'Religious' Ransom Note Theory
In the days after Nancy's disappearance, several US media outlets, including TMZ, reported receiving emails and letters purporting to offer information about her whereabouts in exchange for money, often in cryptocurrency. Authorities have not said which, if any, of those messages they consider genuine.
Into that vacuum stepped Jennifer Coffindaffer, a retired FBI special agent who has been commenting on the case. Posting on X on 13 April, she drew attention to how Savannah Guthrie has addressed the supposed kidnappers in public appeals.
'Savannah's outreach to the ransom note writer(s) has been religious,' Coffindaffer wrote. 'Initially, I thought it was because Savannah was religious. But what if the decision was made to use religion because Scripture was in the note?'
Nancy Guthrie
— Jennifer Coffindaffer (@CoffindafferFBI) April 13, 2026
Thought...
Savannah's outreach to the ransom note writer(s) has been religious.
Initially, I thought it was because Savannah was religious. But what if the decision was made to use religion because scripture was in the note?
What if the notes were from someone… pic.twitter.com/m8IW0730rR
She pushed the idea further, asking whether the author might be 'someone quoting Scripture or referencing Scripture? Someone who sees themselves as holy?'
In her view, the language Savannah chose — notably in a video plea she posted on Instagram on 16 February — might have been tailored to meet the sender on their own terms.
'You're not lost or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing. We are here. And we believe. And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being,' Savannah said.
Coffindaffer suggested that this was not simply vague spirituality but an attempt to 'connect with the place the ransom note writer is coming from, not the lens of the respondent.'
As of this reporting, nothing in the publicly available source confirms that the notes contained Bible verses, and investigators have not released their contents.
The Notes And A Trail Of Claims
Savannah Guthrie herself has spoken about the flurry of messages sent to her family. In a Today interview last month, she said she understood that many of the supposed ransom notes were hoaxes.
'There are a lot of different notes, I think, that came,' she told co‑host Hoda Kotb. 'And I think most of them, it's my understanding, are not real.'
She admitted she had not personally seen all of them, but reserved particular contempt for the people behind the fakes.
'A person that would send a fake ransom note really has to look deeply at themselves. To a family in pain,' she said.
Even so, she believes that at least two notes — the ones that prompted those video appeals — were genuine. 'I believe the two notes that we received that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real,' she added.
Those notes were followed by more messages, including two emails TMZ reported receiving on 6 April, the day Savannah returned to work after a two‑month break. The sender, apparently the same person behind earlier correspondence, demanded payment in Bitcoin in exchange for information.
'I know where her body is, and who the kidnapper is. Give me half a bitcoin and I'll tell you,' one email read, also claiming that Nancy was 'dead.'
The writer complained that authorities were dismissing them as a fraud.
'It's unbelievable that millions have been wasted and yet here I am willing to deliver them on a silver platter since the 11th of February for a Bitcoin but 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,' the message said.
In a follow‑up email, the same person insisted they had 'nothing to do with the horrific crime', claiming to have been outside the United States for more than five years. They also asserted, 'I saw her alive with them in the state of Sonora, Mexico,' and said they wanted 'what's fair' so they could live quietly 'without having to join a witness protection program.'
Coffindaffer has previously argued that later letters and emails looked more like attempts to 'torment' the family or cash in on the case than genuine communications from a kidnapper. She has repeatedly described the people behind them as likely 'scammers.'
Savannah Guthrie's Anguish Over Possible Motive
Savannah has said on air that she believes her mother may have been targeted for ransom, possibly because of the family's public profile. She recalled asking her brother, in an early phone call, whether he thought their mother's abduction might be linked to her own fame — and being told yes.
'I hope not. I mean, we still don't know. Honestly, we don't know anything,' she said. 'So I don't know that it's because she's my mum and somebody thought, "Oh, that lady has money, we can make a quick buck." I mean, that would make sense, but we don't know.'
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has hinted that detectives are working with a clear idea of why Nancy was taken, but has refused to share details.
'From day one, we had strong beliefs about what happened and those beliefs haven't diminished,' he told NBC News, while a departmental spokesperson later said investigators 'have theories about why the incident happened, but would not go into details as this is an active investigation.'
Coffindaffer has interpreted those comments as further evidence that kidnapping for ransom is the primary hypothesis. She notes that the family's early media pleas and heavy emphasis on public appeals fit that pattern.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her home on 31 January and reported missing the following day. Pima County sheriff's deputies have said they believe she was kidnapped, pointing to drops of blood found on her front porch.
In February, the FBI released doorbell camera footage showing a masked man at her door on the night she vanished, describing him as a suspect. Despite what investigators call a large‑scale search, no arrest has been made and no major breakthrough has been announced publicly.
