Alleged Bitcoin Ransom Deepens Nancy Guthrie Abduction

The disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mom of Right this moment present co-host Savannah Guthrie, has taken a dramatic flip after what seems to be a bitcoin ransom demand surfaced amid a widespread and intensifying investigation into her attainable kidnapping.

Late Tuesday, leisure information website TMZ reported it had obtained an alleged ransom notice demanding a selected, substantial fee in Bitcoin — reportedly within the tens of millions — in change for Guthrie’s protected return. 

The notice included a deadline for fee and a risk of hurt if the demand was not met, and was despatched with a Bitcoin pockets deal with that TMZ verified as an actual on-chain account. 

The alleged ransom notice additionally referenced particular particulars about Nancy Guthrie’s clothes and harm to her Tucson-area house.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed regulation enforcement is conscious of studies about attainable ransom notes circulating within the investigation, however emphasised that the authenticity of those notes has not been verified. 

Authorities harassed that they’re taking all ideas and leads critically and are coordinating with the FBI on the case.

The Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation

Nancy Guthrie was reported lacking on February 1, after failing to indicate up at church in her Catalina Foothills neighborhood. 

Authorities imagine she was taken from her house someday late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning. Proof collected on the scene has raised severe considerations: indicators of compelled entry, a blood path exterior the house, and private results left behind counsel foul play moderately than a voluntary disappearance.

Sheriff Nanos, whereas declining to reveal the variety of attainable suspects or additional particulars in regards to the investigation, has mentioned that the absence of life-sustaining treatment and Guthrie’s restricted mobility make her protected return a precedence.

 The FBI is aiding native authorities, and investigators are interviewing associates, neighbors, and members of the family as a part of a broad search effort.

Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah, has taken a right away go away from Right this moment present duties and canceled scheduled appearances, together with journey for the 2026 Winter Olympics broadcast, to deal with her household’s search. 

Regardless of the viral nature of the ransom demand, regulation enforcement sources have been cautious: no official affirmation has been made that the ransom notice got here from the precise kidnappers. 

Some investigators and analysts have famous that opportunistic hoaxes can happen in high-profile circumstances, and that media retailers receiving such notes ought to deal with them skeptically till corroborated by police.