What To Know
- The FBI confirmed that some ransom notes in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping are still being investigated as potentially legitimate.
- Nancy Guthrie, mother of Today’s Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since February 1.
- Ransom notes have made various claims, including demands for Bitcoin and information about Nancy’s fate.
The ransom notes sent in the Nancy Guthrie case continue to be a hot topic, with the FBI releasing a new statement on Wednesday (July 1) confirming they are still investigating some as “potentially legitimate.”
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that an anonymous FBI official claimed that at least three of the ransom notes were fake. The source said the FBI assessed the authenticity of two ransom notes reported to have been sent in early February, and a third note recently sent to TMZ that claimed to know the identities of Nancy’s kidnappers.
“None of the ransom notes are believed to be genuine,” the official said.
The FBIPhoenix X account released a statement on Wednesday, noting that while some notes have been deemed fake, others are still being investigated. “The FBI and its task force partners have received several ransom notes over the course of this investigation,” the statement read. “Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. ”
Statement on Guthrie Investigation pic.twitter.com/zTUKcjPfsv
— FBI Phoenix (@FBIPhoenix) July 1, 2026
“Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such,” it continued. “This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case.”
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department also put out a statement, writing, “Every tip and lead is taken seriously and is forwarded directly to our detectives, who continue to work in coordination with the FBI. Any questions regarding alleged ransom notes should be directed to the FBI.”
Statement on Guthrie Investigation – pic.twitter.com/wXvWnukWaK
— Pima County Sheriff’s Department (@PimaSheriff) July 1, 2026
Nancy, the 84-year-old mother of Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, went missing on February 1, when police believe she was abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona. Investigators have released doorbell camera footage of a masked suspect and sent DNA for testing at the FBI lab in Quantico, but no suspects have been named publicly.
The first ransom note was sent to TMZ and other media outlets in early February, demanding around $4 million in Bitcoin in exchange for Nancy’s return. A second letter, sent to a local Arizona TV station a few days later, implied that Nancy had died, noting that she was “buried with nature.”
A third letter sent to TMZ last week claimed to have video of Nancy and information about her abductors on a phone. Reuters sources claimed this was not genuine, though they did not specify how they reached that conclusion.
“There are a lot of different notes, I think, that came, and I think most of them — it’s my understanding — are not real, and I didn’t see them,” Savannah told her friend Hoda Kotb in a sit-down NBC News interview back in March. “But I believe the two notes that we received, that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real.”
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