A former FBI agent says the latest ransom note tied to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance may indicate that her kidnapper is trying to lay the groundwork to avoid a death sentence if arrested.
The message, which claimed that Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother died soon after she was abducted in February, read less like a traditional ransom demand and more like an attempt at self-protection, former agent Jennifer Coffindaffer said.
“They have a murder on their hands as opposed to a kidnapping, and that is punishable by the death penalty in Arizona, and they well know this,” Coffindaffer told Hena Doba on “NewsNation Prime” Sunday.
Coffindaffer said the wording appeared designed to suggest the death was unintended. “This is some sort of pretext to kind of say, ‘Listen, we didn’t mean for this to happen.’ …You know, mea culpa, if you will, for the event that they are caught,” she added.
The former agent also suggested the most recent note was sent to TMZ last week because of renewed public attention around details from earlier messages in the case.
In the email, the anonymous sender claimed to possess video showing Guthrie with her alleged abductor on the day she died.
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The sender demanded one Bitcoin — valued at nearly $60,000 — in exchange for the location of a cellphone they claimed contained footage of the suspects and information that could identify them.
“It’s about attention. It’s about control. And he hopes he can get a Bitcoin out of it, too, but it’s mainly about controlling this narrative at this point,” Coffindaffer said.
Last week, it was revealed that the second ransom note claimed Guthrie died and was “buried with nature,” which Coffindaffer believes is accurate.
“They didn’t want her to die before they could make the claim and send proof of life and get their ransom, so this went horribly wrong for them. So I do really believe that, unfortunately, Nancy Guthrie is not with us,” she said.
So far, no arrests have been made, but Coffindaffer said she believes investigators are closing in on the kidnapper or kidnappers.
“Behind the scenes, it’s red hot. We just can’t see everything going on by these investigators… There is so much,” she said.
Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since Feb. 2 when she was abducted from her home near Tucson, Arizona.
The FBI is now leading the investigation, although Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has been criticized for his handling of the case.
