It has been six months since 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home, and authorities remain at the same investigative stage as they were when her abduction began. On Friday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department released two complete ransom notes sent by her alleged abductor—a detail previously described in news reports but never fully disclosed to the public.
The first note, addressed directly to Nancy Guthrie’s daughter, TODAY anchor Savannah Guthrie, read: “Hello Savannah, We have your mother Nancy. She is safe but scared. She will be held for ransom and once payment is received she will be released unharmed. We will be holding her for a maximum of 7 days. You will need to send bitcoin in the amount of $4 million USD before 5PM on Thursday the 5th. If payment is not received, the ransom will be increased to 6 million USD which will need to be paid by 5PM on Monday the 9th.”
The note continued: “Once payment is received to the bitcoin address below she will be released within 12 hours of deposit to a safe drop off location back in Tucson. If payment is not received by the last deadline on Monday the 9th at 5PM, she will be killed. Your mother is aware of this and her life is in your hands. It is in the best interest of everyone to have this completed as soon as possible. You will not be able to contact me here from here on out, there will be no negotiation. Do not play games, law enforcement will not be able to help you.”
A redacted line followed by: “She had a white smartwatch on the floor at the foot of her bed and the white floodlight in the backyard was destroyed.”
The second note, sent to the Guthrie family, claimed Nancy had died unintentionally: “We did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition. We never intended to hurt her, that was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart related. She is buried in nature now. Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome. We want your family to know this and hope you all can find peace. We are truly sorry.”
Savannah Guthrie, who posted a desperate plea on social media Saturday morning exactly six months after her mother’s disappearance, wrote: “This is our beautiful Mom. Six months ago, someone took her out of her bed in the dead of night… Every day, we wake up and try to be strong and go on—because that’s what our joyful and resilient Mom taught us to do. There is a hole inside us that can never be filled… We need someone to come forward. Someone knows something.”
The sheriff’s department stated the notes were sent to news outlets, including KOLD-TV 13 News, on February 2—the day after Guthrie was abducted—and again on February 6. The release coincided with efforts to identify potential recognition of the ransom documents’ “unique linguistic style” by those who might have seen or interacted with the abductor.