Sheriff and FBI Assess New Possible Ransom Note in Guthrie Case

Nearly eight months after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and FBI are assessing the credibility of a newly reported possible ransom note and related social media claims. Online claims, attributed to commentator Jonathan Lee Riches, that a family friend received a bitcoin demand and that Guthrie was alive in Mexico have not been verified by authorities and do not establish her whereabouts or condition. Guthrie was last seen on Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day; investigators believe she was taken against her will, and security-camera images showed a masked person near her home, but no suspect has been publicly identified. Earlier communications included a $4 million ransom demand and a separate note claiming she had died; the FBI has said some ransom messages were illegitimate extortion attempts. Her family and the FBI are offering a reward for information. A retired FBI agent suggested a Savannah Guthrie television segment filmed in Tucson before the disappearance could be relevant, but acknowledged the timing may be coincidental, and no role for the segment has been established.