Officials respond to new Nancy Guthrie ‘ransom note’ claiming to have fresh details on identity of kidnapping suspects
Police in Arizona have dismissed a new ransom note claiming to have video footage of Nancy Guthrie on the 'last' day of her life.
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her home near Tucson, Arizona, on 1 February.
Police investigating the 84-year-old's disappearance believe she was abducted from her home.
Now, what appears to be a new ransom note has been sent to TMZ, with the sender offering the 'names and addresses' of the two main perpetrators.
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Delivered to the outlet via email, the sender starts by dismissing a previous tip regarding an alleged burial location before confirming that 'only two are directly involved'.
He then claims to have footage of Nancy alongside the 'main kidnapper' on what was most likely the final day of her life, stashed away on a phone hidden in a secure location.
"I have a phone stashed in a secure location guaranteeing both the information it stores and the safety of the phone," he writes, going on to say: "What it contains is my definition of delivering them on a silver platter, a short video of the main guy with nancy the day that was probably her last, pictures of both involved, names and addresses and age."
The sender offers the phone and the identities of the kidnappers in exchange for one Bitcoin.
Noting that the Bitcoin address and email match up with the previous two ransom notes, one of which revealed Nancy's 'accidental' death, TMZ revealed that they'd passed the details along to the FBI.
However, not everyone is convinced by the note, with Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos later dismissing the note as a hoax.
When asked about the development during an interview with local radio service KVOI AM 1030, Nanos, who is leading the investigation, said he thinks the note is most likely fake.
"I think the FBI has done a number of arrests for false or fake ransom notes," Nanos said.
"It's a shame that that happens, but I think we're looking at another one of those today."
Various notes demanding money in exchange for Nancy or information about her disappearance have been sent since February.
The first, sent on 2 February, demanded millions of dollars in Bitcoin in exchange for Nancy, while a follow-up sent on 6 February claimed that she had been accidentally killed.
Law enforcement also confirmed that a response video shared by Savannah and her siblings, Annie and Cameron, was made after receiving the second note.
Meanwhile, the newsletter Air Mail has reported that law enforcement has received numerous fake ransom letters from people posing as kidnappers for financial gain.
Brenna Cooper