Alleged new ransom notes released in Nancy Guthrie investigation
The case surrounding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, is still active as investigators continue searching for answers. Authorities have been examining newly surfaced ransom messages and related evidence after alleged abductors reportedly demanded $4 million in Bitcoin and later claimed she had “perished” following her kidnapping.
NBC has tightened security around its “Today” show studio in Manhattan, according to a new report, following an incident in which co-host Craig Melvin was confronted in a vestibule and months after Savannah Guthrie’s mother was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona, home in a case that remains unsolved.
“It was much-needed and took longer than people would have liked, but it does feel a lot better now,” an unnamed insider told Page Six.
Even if the new procedures add extra steps to the daily routine, another unidentified source told the outlet that “Today” employees are not objecting to the added precautions.
A man who appears to resemble the suspect accused in the racial attack on “Today” co-host Craig Melvin is seen in the background of the broadcast on the morning of the July 16, 2026, incident at Rockefeller Center in New York. (“Today”/NBC)
NBC has not publicly detailed the exact security changes now in place.
“We are reviewing the incident and our security protocols and remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for everyone who works at and visits our studios,” an NBC spokesperson said in July, after police arrested an intruder accused of entering a restricted area.
The network’s plans for enhanced security were first disclosed later that month in an internal memo obtained by Variety, with NBC sources subsequently confirming that the memo was authentic.
Among the changes described in the memo: guests appearing at the studio may now bring no more than two accompanying people, including stylists, publicists, social media assistants or other support staff.
Savannah Guthrie pictured with her mother, Nancy Guthrie. (Instagram/Savannah Guthrie)
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was taken from her home in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills on Feb. 1. Her location is still unknown, no suspects have been publicly named, and authorities have announced no arrests.
As Savannah Guthrie and her colleagues continued to process the shock of the kidnapping, 41-year-old Andrew Truelove, described as homeless, allegedly slipped onto the “Today” set while looking for Al Roker.
Andrew Truelove was arrested after allegedly entering NBC’s Rockefeller Center studios during a live broadcast of the Today show and shouting racist slurs at co-host Craig Melvin. Authorities initially said he was looking for Al Roker. Security personnel intervened and police took him into custody. (Kevin C. Downs/Redux)
He found Melvin instead in a vestibule inside a secure area of the studio and allegedly accosted him with a racial slur.
A review of footage from the “Today” show that morning reveals a man resembling Truelove and wearing the same clothing was pictured in the background repeatedly in the 8 a.m. hour.
Australian-born presenter Savannah Guthrie poses alongside her mother Nancy Guthrie during a production break while hosting NBC’s “Today Show” live from Australia at Sydney Opera House on May 4, 2015, in Sydney, Australia. (Don Arnold / Wireimage)
Truelove has a criminal record going back decades and in 2007 was convicted of trying to abduct an 8-year-old from a school in Norfolk, Virginia.
He faces hate crime charges of burglary, a felony, and menacing, a misdemeanor, in connection with the Melvin incident.
Court records in New York show a man with the same name and age as Truelove has additional pending cases in connection with an alleged assault in the NYPD’s 5th Precinct in January, trespassing and reckless endangerment charges on the city’s transit system from May — and a 12-count criminal mischief indictment from last year.
