A disturbing ransom note sent to Nancy Guthrie’s family reportedly included a grim apology, claiming she had been killed by accident.
The unusual blackmail message, sent on February 6, offered to return the 84-year-old’s body in exchange for payment, a source familiar with the investigation told Air Mail.
That letter came after an earlier message from the same sender that appeared to contain specific details about the case, including an accurate description of what Guthrie was wearing the night she was abducted and a reference to a damaged floodlight in her backyard.
Guthrie, the mother of NBC News “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie, was kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on the night of February 1.
According to Air Mail, the initial communications claimed Guthrie was “safe but scared” and said she would be released if the family paid $4 million in Bitcoin by 5 p.m. on February 5.
The sender allegedly warned that if the ransom was not paid by February 9, the demand would rise to $6 million, adding the threat “or else,” the outlet reported.
The later “apology” note, which Air Mail said originated from the same IP address as the earlier messages that initially appeared credible, was delivered to the Guthrie family’s home on February 6.
In it, the sender claimed Guthrie had been accidentally killed and offered to return her body to the family for $4 million.
Guthrie’s mother, Nancy, was kidnapped from her $1 million Tucson-area home on February 1
The FBI uncovered doorbell camera footage of a masked individual on Guthrie’s doorstep
The following day, Savannah posted a heartbreaking clip on Instagram, sitting next to her brother, Camron, and sister, Annie.
‘We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her,’ the TV host pleaded in the video posted to her Instagram page.
‘This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.’
Savannah has since said she believes those ransom notes were real.
As the investigation into Nancy’s disappearance now continues, federal authorities are also re-examining the letters for any clues about the captor’s identity, according to Air Mail.
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They note that the ransom letters show that the captor is articulate and knowledgeable about the intricacies of cryptocurrency.
The fact that they apologized also suggests the kidnapper is not a cold-hearted cartel member as they had originally feared, but was rather a local opportunist.
Authorities are also probing the possibility the abductor may have had an accomplice – a masked man who was seen trying to remove Nancy’s Nest doorbell camera on the night of her disappearance, according to Air Mail.
Guthrie was last seen on January 31, when she was dropped off at her home after dinner
Federal investigators say the masked man’s bumbling attempt to remove or cover up the doorbell camera does not seem to align with their profile of the articulate and cunning suspect, the outlet reports.
No suspects have been publicly identified in the case.
According to reports from Page Six, investigators have uncovered only limited physical evidence, including a single strand of hair and a glove found near Nancy’s home.
The DNA evidence recovered near the scene has since undergone extensive testing at an FBI crime lab after initially being processed by a private laboratory in Florida.
But Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said ‘the testing moves at a snail’s pace.’
He noted in an interview with People that local authorities have already combed through ‘thousands and thousands’ of hours of video footage gathered from traffic intersections and Ring doorbell cameras across the Tucson area.
A masked man was caught on camera on April 29 driving up to a home in the Catalina Foothills in Arizona, the same neighborhood where Nancy Guthrie was abducted, pictured above
In an earlier interview with KOLD, the sheriff also revealed investigators possess information they are deliberately withholding.
‘It’s not done because we got to keep it secret,’ Nanos explained. ‘It’s done because we got to protect our case.’
The sheriff then maintained that he remains convinced detectives will eventually identify the masked suspect seen on surveillance footage tampering with Nancy’s doorbell camera.
‘I believe at some point in time, we will make an arrest in this case,’ he said. ‘And whoever that individual is, that individual will have a right to a fair and impartial trial.’
