The disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mom of In the present day present co-host Savannah Guthrie, has taken a dramatic flip after what seems to be a bitcoin ransom demand surfaced amid a widespread and intensifying investigation into her attainable kidnapping.
Late Tuesday, leisure information website TMZ reported it had obtained an alleged ransom notice demanding a selected, substantial payment in Bitcoin — reportedly within the thousands and thousands — in trade for Guthrie’s secure return.
The notice included a deadline for cost and a menace of hurt if the demand was not met, and was despatched with a Bitcoin pockets tackle that TMZ verified as an actual on-chain account.
The alleged ransom notice additionally referenced particular particulars about Nancy Guthrie’s clothes and harm to her Tucson-area house.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed legislation enforcement is conscious of stories about attainable ransom notes circulating within the investigation, however emphasised that the authenticity of those notes has not been verified.
Authorities burdened that they’re taking all ideas and leads severely and are coordinating with the FBI on the case.
The Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation
Nancy Guthrie was reported lacking on February 1, after failing to point out up at church in her Catalina Foothills neighborhood.
Authorities imagine she was taken from her house someday late Saturday night time or early Sunday morning. Proof collected on the scene has raised severe issues: indicators of compelled entry, a blood path outdoors the house, and private results left behind recommend foul play slightly than a voluntary disappearance.
Sheriff Nanos, whereas declining to reveal the variety of attainable suspects or additional particulars in regards to the investigation, has said that the absence of life-sustaining treatment and Guthrie’s restricted mobility make her secure return a precedence.
The FBI is aiding native authorities, and investigators are interviewing mates, neighbors, and members of the family as a part of a broad search effort.
Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah, has taken a direct go away from In the present day present duties and canceled scheduled appearances, together with journey for the 2026 Winter Olympics broadcast, to deal with her household’s search.
Regardless of the viral nature of the ransom demand, legislation enforcement sources have been cautious: no official affirmation has been made that the ransom notice got here from the precise kidnappers.
Some investigators and analysts have famous that opportunistic hoaxes can happen in high-profile instances, and that media retailers receiving such notes ought to deal with them skeptically till corroborated by police.
