Two new alleged ransom notes have added a new twist to the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping row. The 84-year-old mother of ‘Today’ show host Savannah Guthrie went missing from her Tucson home on February 1. No suspects have been identified yet.
Two ransom notes, similar claims
On April 6, the same day when Savannah made a return to the ‘Today’ show, TMZ reported about receiving two ransom notes from an unknown sender. As per the outlet, the notes claimed to know the whereabouts of Nancy Guthrie's body, indicating she is dead, and further demanding half a Bitcoin.
The latest email, received Monday morning, claimed direct knowledge of the alleged kidnapper. According to Harvey Levin, the message read: “I know where her body is and who the kidnapper is. Give me half a Bitcoin and I’ll tell you.” The demand amounts to roughly $70,000 based on current cryptocurrency values.
Levin said the sender has repeatedly contacted him and the outlet in recent weeks, describing the communication pattern as unusually consistent.
{{/usCountry}}Levin said the sender has repeatedly contacted him and the outlet in recent weeks, describing the communication pattern as unusually consistent.
{{/usCountry}}“I’ll tell you what, my spidey senses tell me that there’s something about this guy because one of the emails he sent said early on, ‘Time is of the essence to do this,’ and then the next day he said, ‘Time is no longer of the essence,'” Levin said. “If he was pulling a scam, why would you say time is no longer of the essence? You want to keep the value high. And the fact that he’s said this made me think this guy knows something.”
Read More: Is Nancy Guthrie dead or alive? A look at contradictory claims made by chilling notes
Ex-FBI agent weighs in
A former FBI agent said that the ransom notes are only intended to ‘torment’ Savannah Guthrie and her family. Jennifer Coffindaffer told Newsweek: "They sent these right when Savannah Guthrie went back to work. That was by no mistake, that was absolutely meant to further torment her and her family. I think it speaks to the fact that there is at least someone out there that is still willing to torture this family by sending these continued communications with no proof of life."
She dismissed the sender’s intent, arguing that the demand itself raises red flags. “The reason this makes sense to me, that they don’t have that knowledge, is because they’re not seeking the $1 million. Instead, they’re trying to subvert it with this … quickly paid, no hoops to jump through, just get the money. But I think that these people are scammers."
The FBI is yet to confirm the authenticity of the latest ransom notes.
Savannah Guthrie on ransom notes
However, Savannah Guthrie has offered a more nuanced perspective. In a late-March interview on the ‘Today’ show, she acknowledged that while many ransom notes have surfaced, she believes at least some may be genuine.
“There are a lot of different notes, I think, that came. And I think most of them, it’s my understanding, are not real. And I didn’t see them,” she said. “But, you know, a person that would send a fake ransom note really has to look deeply at themselves, to a family in pain. But I believe the two notes that we received that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real.”
Guthrie also reflected on the moment her family first confronted the possibility of an abduction. Recalling a call with her brother Cameron, she said: “Even on the phone when I called [Cameron], he knew. He said, ‘I think she’s been kidnapped for ransom.’ And I said, ‘What? Well, why? What?’
“It sounds so, like, how dumb could I be? But I just—I didn’t wanna believe. I just said, ‘Do you think because of me?’ And he said, ‘I’m sorry, sweetie, but yeah, maybe.’ But I knew that.”
In an emotional moment, she also expressed guilt over whether her public profile may have played a role in her mother’s disappearance. “I’d just say, ‘I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry.’ I’m sorry to my sister and my brother and my kids and my nephew and Tommy, my brother-in-law.
“If it is me, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”