The FBI has ruled that three ransom notes and messages concerning the Nancy Guthrie abduction case were fake.
Guthrie is the mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie. The 84-year-old was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early hours of Feb. 1. In the months since her disappearance, no official suspects have been identified.
Reuters was the first to report that federal investigators ruled the messages related to her case to be fake communications. These fake messages include two ransom notes received shortly after Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance in February, as well as a recent note claiming to know the kidnappers’ identities.
“None of the ransom notes are believed to be genuine,” an FBI official told Reuters. The official was not publicly identified amid the ongoing investigation.
FBI Director Kash Patel was asked about Reuters’ report on the messages at an unrelated press conference on Wednesday. The director declined to comment, saying the investigation was led by state authorities and the FBI was in an assisting role, per People.
The FBI official said the first two ransom notes came from the same sender. The first was sent to TMZ demanding millions in cryptocurrency and the letter claimed that Nancy had died soon after being abducted.
Federal investigators did deposit a small amount of cryptocurrency into the account to verify the authenticity of the notes, per People. The money was never touched, which led to the conclusion that the account was fake.
The official didn’t explain how investigators determined that the third note that claimed to know the identity of the abductors was fake, per the New York Post.