Investigators said Friday they were reviewing what they described as a new message related to the disappearance of 84‑year‑old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, but offered few details about its contents or provenance.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI said they are “actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity.” Law enforcement previously disclosed that an unverified ransom note demanding bitcoin had been received; that note set an initial deadline that passed and a second deadline that fell on Monday. The Guthrie family has continued to plead publicly for communication with whoever is holding Nancy.
Sheriff Chris Nanos told reporters he and agents are being cautious about releasing details about the home’s entry and key parts of the timeline. According to an updated law enforcement timeline, there was about a 41‑minute window between the time a doorbell camera disconnected and when Nancy’s pacemaker app disconnected from her phone, which was left at the house. Software detected movement at 2:12 a.m. during that window, but the activity was not recorded.
Investigators highlighted a frustrating technology gap: cameras at the residence captured motion the night she vanished, but Guthrie did not have a subscription to the camera service, and the company said it could not recover the missing footage. “We thought it was this. And so now we have to go back and confirm what they’re telling us,” the sheriff said, noting that digital data can be inconsistent and that expectations that technology will immediately produce a clear image or suspect are not always realistic.
Former FBI supervisory special agent Doug Kouns, founder and CEO of Veracity, said any new message must undergo verification and authentication. Analysts will examine how the message arrived, whether it passed through intermediaries, whether a VPN was used and what metadata might be available. Kouns said experts will look for consistency with prior communications and try to determine whether the message is a legitimate ransom note or a hoax. He noted that some hoaxers have been identified and apprehended in recent days.
Kouns cautioned that people attempting to message investigators or the family — including those behind a ransom demand — face risk when they communicate, and that bad actors sometimes limit contact because messages can expose them. “There has to be a dialogue for this to work out the way they want it to,” he said.
Law enforcement has not publicly identified a suspect or ruled anyone out. The sheriff said the family is “devastated” and that detectives are proceeding cautiously but persistently. Authorities have returned to the Guthrie home for follow‑up searches, and Kouns advised investigators to revisit the scene with fresh eyes and to re‑examine trash, ditches and retention ponds, and to search for trace evidence, footprints and any items that may have been discarded. He also urged renewed canvasses for video from nearby businesses and residents, noting that people may be on vacation or otherwise slow to check personal cameras such as Ring devices.
Investigators have emphasized that they have received a mix of information, including credible leads and hoax messages, and that technological limits can complicate what appears on paper as straightforward evidence. They continue to appeal for anyone with relevant video or information — no matter how small — to contact the FBI or the Pima County Sheriff’s Office.