A ransom note sent days after Nancy Guthrie’s Jan. 31 abduction from her home near Tucson, Arizona, said she had died, U.S. law enforcement sources and media reports said.
Investigators familiar with the case said two notes were sent; the first demanded millions in bitcoin while the second used similar language but apologised and said Guthrie's death was inadvertent.
Savannah Guthrie appeared on NBC's Today show and pleaded for anyone with information to come forward, saying, "Somebody knows something." "We are in agony."
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on the notes' contents but said the investigation "remains active and ongoing" and that it has been working closely with the FBI.
Nancy Guthrie vanished after being dropped off at her home on Jan. 31; authorities found blood near her front doorstep, released surveillance images showing a masked person on the porch, and the family had offered a $1 million reward in addition to $100,000 pledged by the FBI.
Some media outlets agreed to withhold publishing the notes so investigators could authenticate any future communications, volunteers searched desert terrain and near the Arizona-Mexico border without finding Guthrie, and authorities warned she was in poor health and without critical medication.