{"id":30923,"date":"2026-06-23T05:51:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=30923"},"modified":"2026-06-23T05:51:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:51:51","slug":"ransom-note-claims-nancy-guthrie-died-after-abduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2026\/06\/23\/ransom-note-claims-nancy-guthrie-died-after-abduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Ransom note claims Nancy Guthrie died after abduction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\" data-block=\"text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">A ransom note sent days after the 84-year-old mother of US presenter Savannah Guthrie was abducted from her home claimed she had died, according to investigators.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The note was one of two addressed to Nancy Guthrie&#8217;s family and sent to news media in the days after her January kidnapping.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The first demanded millions in bitcoin for her release, but the second stated that she had died, according to sources cited by US media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The note from the possible kidnappers reportedly stated they did not mean for her to die and included an apology to the family. The Pima County Sheriff&#8217;s Department declined to comment on the contents of the notes, but said the investigation &#8220;remains active and ongoing&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\" data-block=\"links\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<ul class=\"ssrcss-94r6ik-Stack e1y4nx260\" role=\"list\">\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-7zrqh4-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cx24jg8yrxeo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Tearful Savannah Guthrie blames herself for mother&#8217;s kidnapping<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\" data-block=\"text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;The Pima County Sheriff&#8217;s Department continues to work closely with the FBI as investigators follow up on leads, review information, and pursue the facts surrounding this case,&#8221; a spokesperson for the sheriff&#8217;s department said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The BBC has contacted the FBI, which has with Pima County spent\u00a0<a class=\"ssrcss-1e0jzsh-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cp32lwy4077o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">months investigating<\/a>\u00a0the elder Guthrie&#8217;s mysterious abduction from her home near Tucson, Arizona.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The BBC&#8217;s US partner CBS and other outlets reported on Monday that law enforcement had requested that media hold off publishing details of the notes while they investigated Guthrie&#8217;s disappearance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Nancy Guthrie vanished after being dropped off at her home by relatives on 31 January. Concern grew when she did not go to a friend&#8217;s house to watch a virtual Sunday church service the next morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">An initial ransom note was sent the day after she went missing and demanded millions in bitcoin for her release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It gave specific details about her home, as well as details about her bedroom and the home&#8217;s surroundings, investigators told CBS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The note was reportedly addressed to Savannah Guthrie, who is a co-anchor for the NBC&#8217;s Today show. It was sent to multiple media outlets, including a local TV station which reportedly adhered to a police request not to disclose its contents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It has only now emerged that a second note &#8211; sent on 6 February &#8211; used language similar to that of the first one, but did not include any demands, instead apologising for her death and stating it was inadvertent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">After the two notes, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings released a video addressed to the kidnappers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;We received your message, and we understand,&#8221; the NBC host said. &#8220;We beg you now to return our mother to us.&#8221; She said the family &#8220;would pay&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Authorities and Guthrie&#8217;s family repeatedly issued public warnings that the elderly victim was in poor health and was without critical medication.<b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\"><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">As the search continued, authorities released images of a masked person who was seen in security camera footage outside her home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Guthrie family had been offering a $1m (\u00a3760,000) reward, in addition to $100,000 pledged by the FBI, for information leading to Nancy Guthrie&#8217;s return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">On 24 February, Savannah Guthrie said they would keep hoping, even though they &#8220;know that she may be lost, she may already be gone&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In a March interview with NBC, Guthrie said several ransom notes were sent, and she believed some of them were bogus. She also told the network her family believed the two initial notes were authentic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Guthrie stepped away from NBC&#8217;s Today show for more than two months while the investigation was underway. She\u00a0<a class=\"ssrcss-1e0jzsh-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c04xqglg7xgo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">returned to the programme<\/a>\u00a0in early April as the search continued.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cvgm0mgzl33o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">A ransom note sent days after the 84-year-old mother of US presenter Savannah Guthrie was abducted from her home claimed she had died, according to investigators. The note was one of two addressed to Nancy <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2026\/06\/23\/ransom-note-claims-nancy-guthrie-died-after-abduction\/\" title=\"Ransom note claims Nancy Guthrie died after abduction\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[109,2,3],"tags":[434,1172,2635,12156,12157,8803,6289],"class_list":["post-30923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-usa","tag-arizona","tag-fbi","tag-kidnapping","tag-nancy-guthrie","tag-pima-county","tag-ransom-demand","tag-tucson","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30925,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30923\/revisions\/30925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}