Pima County Sheriff’s missing person notice for Nancy Guthrie
A missing person notice issued by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department includes Nancy Guthrie’s photograph and basic identifying details as the search continues. Pima County Sheriff's Department

Federal investigators have dismantled the central piece of evidence driving public belief that Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped for money.

The FBI has told Reuters that all three ransom notes tied to the disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of NBC 'Today' anchor Savannah Guthrie are fabricated. The assessment covers two notes reported in early February, days after Guthrie vanished, and a third, more recent message sent to the celebrity gossip outlet TMZ. The finding does not confirm whether Guthrie was abducted for ransom at all, and it arrives five months into an unsolved case that has gripped American television audiences.

FBI Rules Out All Three Notes

An FBI official told Reuters that none of the ransom notes are believed to be genuine, in a report published on 30 June 2026. Reuters said the bureau did not disclose precisely how investigators reached that conclusion.

Investigators pointed to one detail undermining the notes' credibility: the sender or senders never followed up to claim a cryptocurrency payment that had been demanded. The first note, received a day after Guthrie's disappearance, had demanded roughly $4 million (£2.96 million) for her safe return, with two payment deadlines that both passed by 9 February without any contact from whoever sent it.

A second note, sent four days later, claimed Guthrie had died and been buried 'in nature'. Both were among the notes forwarded to Tucson media outlets in the case's opening days.

A Third Note and a Sceptical Sheriff

The third debunked message was emailed to TMZ last week by someone claiming to know the identities of Guthrie's alleged abductors and to hold proof of who they are. The celebrity gossip portal said it had received more than a dozen emails from the same individual over recent months, who first offered to divulge information in exchange for one bitcoin days after the abduction.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had already voiced doubts before the FBI's findings became public. Speaking on Tucson radio station KVOI AM 1030, Nanos said intense media attention on the case had encouraged people to send false tips and fake ransom notes, tying up his investigators' time.

The FBI's findings appear to support Nanos's scepticism, though the sheriff's office has not issued its own public statement addressing the FBI's determination directly.

Case Timeline Since February

Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson, Arizona, on the evening of 31 January 2026 and was reported missing the following day, 1 February, after failing to appear at church. Doorbell camera footage recovered from her property showed a masked, armed man at her door, and bloodstains found at the scene were later confirmed through DNA testing to be hers.

FBI Director Kash Patel released images of the masked suspect on 10 February, and President Donald Trump telephoned Savannah Guthrie on 4 February, offering additional federal resources; he later threatened capital punishment for the kidnappers on 16 February. The family has offered a reward exceeding $1 million (£740,000) and separately donated $500,000 (£370,000) to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Savannah Guthrie has repeatedly used her national television platform to appeal directly to the public. On 23 June, days before the FBI's ransom-note findings emerged, she told viewers, 'We're begging for your help,' insisting that even anonymous tips could make a difference.

No suspect has been named, and as of the FBI's latest disclosure, Nancy Guthrie has not yet been located.

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