Nancy Guthrie died within a few days of her kidnapping, according to purported ransom notes released Friday by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
The notes were sent to local news station KOLD in the days after Guthrie went missing from her home in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills in late January. Investigators consider the notes legitimate.
The 84-year-old is the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie.
Guthrie was last seen by her family at her home on Saturday, Jan. 31. She was reported missing on Sunday, Feb. 1.
The ransom notes were sent to local and national media outlets.
In the first note, received by Tucson news station KOLD TV-13 on Monday, Feb. 2, the kidnappers demand $4 million in bitcoin and threaten to kill Nancy if payment is not received by a final deadline of Monday, Feb. 9.
The second note addresses the Guthrie family, and claims that Nancy died shortly after being taken, presumably due to a heart attack.
The abductors apologize and say Nancy is “buried in nature now.”
“Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome,” they write.
The Sheriff’s Department states in a press release that the “distinctive linguistic characteristics” in the notes may help the public identify the writer.
The case remains active and the Sheriff’s Department encourages individuals with information to come forward.
Last week, details of the ransom notes were revealed to the public by former Arizona Family reporter Briana Whitney on the true-crime podcast Crime Junkie
At the time, the FBI declined to comment on whether the release of those details would affect the ongoing investigation or future prosecution.
Tension between local and federal investigators
Last week, the Sheriff’s Department also disputed claims from FBI Director Kash Patel that the agency was initially kept out of the Guthrie investigation.
Patel told Fox News that the delay may have resulted in the loss of crucial video evidence from Guthrie’s Google Nest doorbell camera.
Investigators were able to recover some footage that were released to the public on Feb. 10 showing a masked suspect at Guthrie’s door.
In a statement, the Sheriff’s Department told AZPM that the FBI was “plugged in” to the investigation beginning the night of her disappearance.
On Friday, the Sheriff’s Department stated that the two videos recovered from Guthrie’s doorbell camera may have been from separate days.
“These videos are critical to our understanding of the unidentified male’s behaviors and choices,” the press release stated.
The Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s continued assistance and believes that there are individuals familiar with the unidentified male in the surveillance video. Guthrie has been missing for six months.
On Monday, Savannah Guthrie took to Instagram to plead with the unknown kidnappers for information about her missing mother.
Nanos sued
On Thursday, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told CBS News that tests on a hair sample found at Guthrie’s home have come back inconclusive. Blood and other DNA found at the scene being processed have not yielded any results, he said.
Nanos also told CBS that he believes the suspects could be local to the Tucson area.
NBC News also reported Thursday that a man from Rio Rico was detained for questioning in connection with Guthrie’s disappearance in February has filed a notice of claim against Nanos and a detective.
Carlos Palazuelos is seeking $2.5 million over alleged damages to his reputation.
Nogales International reported that Palazuelos was arrested at gunpoint on the side of the road on Feb. 10.He was taken to Tucson and questioned for up to eight hours.
Palazuelos lives in a home owned by his mother-in-law, Josefina Maddox.
His brother-in-law, Daniel Maddox, who also lives at the residence, was there when officers arrived to search the home.
Both of Palazuelos’ family members are also seeking an additional $750,000 for physical and emotional damages and damages caused to the home.
By Katya Mendoza, Leila Fadel
