Guthrie Case: Abduction Notes Surface

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, remains missing from her Tucson home after an abduction in early February, with the case centering on a series of ransom notes. The first note publicly read on the Crime Junkie podcast allegedly claimed Guthrie was safe but scared and demanded multi-million-dollar Bitcoin payments with two escalating deadlines and threats of killing if deadlines were missed, while also mentioning Guthrie’s personal home details to bolster credibility. Subsequent notes carried similar threats and claimed Guthrie had died, and investigators note details such as a white smartwatch and a damaged backyard floodlight that appeared known to the sender. Authorities have not named a suspect and have debated the legitimacy of the notes, with Reuters and FBI officials indicating some messages may not be genuine, though other notes appeared tied to the same IP address in some reports. The FBI, Pima County Sheriff’s Office, and other investigators continue to pursue tips and evidence in what has become a months-long missing-person investigation, with public appeals for information. Details about the notes and the case have been repeatedly discussed on Crime Junkie and reported by multiple outlets, reflecting evolving perspectives on which communications are authentic and what they reveal about the abduction.