- Second ransom note reveals Arizona resident Nancy Guthrie likely died shortly after abduction.
- Authorities are still searching for information linked to the kidnapping case.
- Savannah Guthrie expressed deep agony and urgency for anyone with information to come forward.
- The Guthrie family is still offering a $1 million reward for helpful information regarding the case.
- FBI continues its investigation alongside Pima County detectives, seeking details and leads on the case.
A ransom note sent to media outlets in February concerning the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie indicated the 84-year-old had died, CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources.
Shortly following the disappearance of Guthrie — mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie — in early February, the family received two alleged ransom notes.
The first note demanded millions in bitcoin for Nancy Guthrie’s release. In the second note, sent a few days later, the abductors revealed she had died. According to sources that reviewed the notes, the writing indicated the abductors did not intend for her to die and made no further requests for money.
In a March interview with NBC, Savannah Guthrie said the family believes the two notes are authentic.
“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 at the time. “But I believe the two notes that we received, that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real.”
Following the release of the second note earlier this year, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings addressed their mother’s kidnappers in an Instagram video.
“We received your message and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so we can celebrate with her,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video. “This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”
While the terms of the first note have previously been reported, the contents of the second note were not made public until now.
It remains unknown who sent the two notes, and authorities have yet to identify a masked man seen on Nancy Guthrie’s home security camera footage released after her abduction. Despite the release of the new information to the public, there has been no major break in the case.
Following the report on the notes’ contents on the “Today” show, Savannah Guthrie made another plea for information while on the air.
“This is unprecedented, to say the least, to be sitting here,” she said Tuesday. “But I don’t have any comment on this story and I’m not involved in our coverage.”
“I want to take the opportunity to ask people — to really beg people — to come forward. Somebody knows something,” she continued. “We are in agony and we cannot be at peace. ... We need your help. We are begging for your help.”
“Please do the right thing for us, for our family, for our children,” she added.
The Guthrie family is offering a $1 million reward for information, in addition to the FBI reward of up to $100,000.
The FBI and Pima County sheriff’s detectives continue to investigate Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping and search for her and her abductors.