It’s been four months since the TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie’s 84 year-old mother Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona. Sadly, no trace of Nancy has been found, and she remains missing at this time.
Now, some chilling new details have come to light about one of the ransom notes that came in for Nancy’s mom in the wake of her disappearance.
Nancy’s Ransom Notes
Nancy was kidnapped from her home in the early hours of February 1, with her last being seen the night before. Daily Mail has learned that on February 6, a blackmail letter was received by the Guthrie family. This letter reportedly included a chilling apology for accidentally killing Nancy. It also offered to return her body in exchange for a hefty sum of money.
An earlier note from the same sender included a correct description of what Nancy was wearing on the night she was abducted. It also featured correct information about a damaged floodlight in her backyard.
The initial note said that Nancy was “safe but scared,” and offered to return her if the family paid $4million in Bitcoin by 5pm on February 5. The note added that if the ransom was not paid by February 9, this would increase to $6million, “or else.”
The “apology” note,” which came from the same IP address as the previous letter, was received by the Guthrie family on February 6. This note stated that Nancy had been accidentally killed, and offered to return her body to the family for $4 million.
Savannah Responds
The next day, Savannah took to Instagram to post a heartbreaking video of herself with her older siblings, brother Camron and sister Annie.
“We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her,” Savannah, 54, pleaded in the video. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Savannah has since expressed her belief that these ransom notes were indeed real.
Investigators say that the ransom notes indicate that the kidnapper is articulate. The fact that the person apologized for Nancy’s death also suggests that the kidnapper is not a cold-hearted cartel member as they had originally feared. Instead, it indicates that he was rather a local opportunist.
Nancy’s Abduction
Nancy was last seen on the night of Saturday, January 31. That evening, she had dinner with her daughter Annie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni. They dropped her off at home afterwards at around 9:45pm, and she tragically hasn’t been seen since.
A masked intruder was captured on Nancy’s doorbell ring camera in the early hours of February 1. He managed to cover the camera with some plants before moving forward with the kidnapping.
The masked man was seen on the doorbell ring camera prior to the night Nancy was taken. This indicates that he may have been casing out her home.
No trace of Nancy has been found, and the desperate search for her continues.
Savannah Returns To TODAY
Savannah bravely returned to the TODAY show on April 6. She’d spent the previous two months in Tucson desperately trying to find her mother, to no avail. Savannah finally decided that she needed to get back to both her job and her own family, which includes her husband and two young children.
“I will not fall apart,” Savannah defiantly told her former TODAY colleague Hoda Kotb just before her return. “I will not let whoever did this take my children’s mother from them, I will not let them take my joy.”
“They will not take my sister’s joy, they will not take my brother’s joy,” she continued. “They will not take our love, they will not take our faith. But our anguish is real. We need help. We need someone to tell the truth.”
Savannah Admits ‘I Cry Every Morning’
Savannah revealed earlier this month that though she sees the TODAY show as being a “little respite” in her day, it does not lessen the agonizing pain that she feels about her mother’s disappearance.
“It’s always with me,” Savannah stated. “I cry every morning on the way to work, and I cry every morning on the way home. And I’m grateful to have good friends and to be able to come to such a beautiful and joyous and supportive place. Like so many people out there, you can hold all of these things together. I try to tell my kids that too. We can hold our sadness and we can hold our joy. And if you don’t believe it, just watch me.”
Savannah added that even when she’s smiling on TODAY, it doesn’t mean that she’s forgotten her pain.
“I know maybe people wonder, ‘Whoa, what’s going on? How’s she able to do that job? Is she not thinking about it? Did she forget?’ No, never. Never,” she insisted.
Savannah concluded by saying that when it comes to her mother’s case, “We still need everybody’s prayers. I wish someone would call and say what they know and tell the truth.”
Watch Savannah talk more about this in the video below.
This has clearly been an excruciatingly difficult time for Savannah, and for her entire family. Please join us in saying a prayer for them, and for the return of Nancy Guthrie.