Nancy Guthrie Ransom Notes Explained: Which Is Real & Which Isn’t?

Almost five months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared there is confusion about a series of ransom notes sent to news outlets and whether they’re legitimate.

Nancy, the 84-year-old mother of Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, went missing on February 1, when police believe she was abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona. Investigators have released doorbell camera footage of a masked suspect and sent DNA for testing at the FBI lab in Quantico, but no suspects have been named.

Early in the investigation, a ransom note was sent to TMZ and other outlets, demanding that the Guthrie family pay upwards of $4 million to a Bitcoin wallet address in exchange for Nancy, who the letter claimed was “safe but scared.”

This past weekend, Air Mail reported that a second message was sent on February 6, which allegedly included an “apology,” suggesting Nancy had died. The message reportedly went on to say that Nancy’s body could be returned for the same amount of $4 million.

However, the legitimacy of this second note has now been thrown into question after TMZ claimed on Monday (June 21) that the notes they received made no mention of Nancy’s death.

According to NewsNation’s Brian Entin, who has been closely following the case from the start, a source told him that “The second ransom note said [Nancy] died and was ‘buried with nature now.'” The note, which was sent to a local Arizona TV station, also “indicated Nancy’s death was not intentional, but did not offer a direct apology.”

ABC News reported on Monday that the Arizona TV station confirmed it received the “buried in nature” note. The TV station kept tight-lipped about the second note at the time it was received.

Authorities also believe the two notes were likely sent by the same person or group of people, per CBS News. The outlet reports that investigators familiar with the case believe that both were likely sent from the same computer IP address, and it is thought likely that they are from the actual perpetrator(s).

Indeed, just days after the second letter was sent, Savannah shared an emotional video on Instagram addressing the alleged abductors. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

Savannah also said in a March interview with NBC News that she believed at least two of the notes were real. “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 stated. “But I believe the two notes that we received, that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real.”

Meanwhile, TMZ also said it received notes for a man claiming to know the kidnappers. These notes offered information about the case but said, “time is of the essence.” Another note from the same sender later said: “Time is no longer of the essence.”

That same sender then claimed to have information about Nancy’s whereabouts, saying she had been buried in Mexico. They offered to reveal the location in exchange for a single Bitcoin. The legitimacy of these notes was not confirmed by law enforcement.