The sheriff leading the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s vanishing explained why authorities chose to release the two ransom notes as the case reached the six-month mark.
“There are a number of pieces of information in these notes that just might jar someone to say, ‘You know, I’ve heard that,’ or the wording, the style of the writing,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos shared in an interview Saturday.
“We hope that by releasing the actual note, we’ll get some response from the community.”
Nanos also explained that since the notes were already “out there” and being covered by the media, authorities wanted to ensure the information being reported was correct.
Additionally, he said law enforcement officers are committed to solving the ongoing case, with Nanos insisting, “We’re still here. We are not going away.”
“If you could just see the team working, you would see the energy, the concern,” he said. “They’re fired up, and we’ll continue to work this case hard.”
Authorities recently released the full alleged ransom notes — sent to Arizona outlet KOLD-13 on Feb. 2 and Feb. 6 — in full. They’re believed to have been sent by the perpetrators responsible for abducting Guthrie from her Arizona home in the early morning of Feb. 1.
One note was penned to the 84-year-old’s daughter Savannah Guthrie that read, “Hello Savannah, We have your mother Nancy.”
The note read that Nancy was “safe but scared” and would be held ransom “for a maximum of 7 days,” with the authors initially demanding $4 million by Feb. 5 and $6 million by Feb. 9 via Bitcoin.
They said if payment wasn’t received “by the last deadline … [Nancy] will be killed.”
“Your mother is aware of this and her life is in your hands,” they added, concluding the letter with chilling details that seemingly they’d kidnapped Nancy, describing how she “had a white smart watch on the floor at the foot of her bed” and that “the white flood light in backyard was destroyed.”
The second note alleged that Nancy had passed after her abductors failed to “fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition,” referring to how the matriarch had a pacemaker and cardiac issues.
“We never intended to hurt her, that was not our intention,” the note stated. “She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart related. She is buried in nature now.”
“Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome,” it continued. “We want your family to know this and hope you all can find peace. We are truly sorry.”
Despite the alleged kidnappers insisting that Nancy had passed, Savannah has continued to emotionally beg the public for answers, believing that “someone knows something” or “suspects something.”
“We have lived every moment, every breath, and every heartbeat in agony and despair ever since,” the “Today” show host wrote via an Instagram statement Saturday, six months to the day her mother was reported missing.
“There is a determination in us that cannot be quenched — to find out what happened to her, so that we can give her the dignity of a proper goodbye — a celebration of her remarkable life that she so deserves,” she continued.
Savannah took a brief hiatus from “Today” when her mom was abducted. Since returning to TV in April, the news anchor revealed she’s been “trying so hard to hold it together.”
To date, authorities have only released surveillance footage captured of a masked suspect disarming Nancy’s front door camera the night she disappeared.
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