Sheriff Calls Latest Nancy Guthrie Ransom Letter Fake as Savannah Guthrie Pleads for Help Finding Her Mother

TUCSON, Ariz. — Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos dismissed the most recent alleged ransom communication in the Nancy Guthrie case as fraudulent, even as new details continue to surface in the nearly five-month search for the missing 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie.

After TMZ reported receiving an email from someone claiming to know the identities of those responsible for Guthrie’s disappearance, Nanos addressed the letter’s credibility during a June 26 appearance on Tucson radio station 1030 KVOI AM’s “The Buckmaster Show.”

“I think the FBI has done a number of arrests for false or fake ransom notes,” Nanos told host Bill Buckmaster.

Nanos said he believed investigators were likely looking at another fraudulent submission, though he noted the FBI would continue its own review of the claim. The sheriff, whose department has worked alongside the FBI since Guthrie was reported missing in February, expressed frustration at how public attention surrounding the case has occasionally been exploited by people sending false information.

“It is a shame that these types of events occur,” Nanos said. “People have great interest and that’s good because it helps us but then it gets really abused.”

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment further on the latest letter, citing the active nature of the investigation, and the FBI similarly declined to comment. The newest email arrives just days after NBC News reported that a second, separate note sent earlier to media outlets indicated Guthrie had died. According to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to NBC News, that second letter, unlike an earlier one that requested cryptocurrency in exchange for her safe return, contained no apology and made no financial demand. Both of those earlier letters were sent to Jessica Bobula, news director for NBC News’ Arizona affiliate KOLD, and were reviewed by investigators, who considered them potentially credible.

Savannah Guthrie addressed the unfolding situation during the June 23 broadcast of “Today,” choosing her words carefully given her position as both a journalist and a family member directly affected by the case.

“I don’t have any comment on this story and I’m not involved in our coverage—but I can’t pretend I’m not here,” Guthrie said. She went on to describe the toll the disappearance has taken on her family. “This is the life that my sister lives, I live, that my brother lives, that our extended family lives, that our children live every day and we are in agony,” she said.

The case began the night of Jan. 31, when Nancy Guthrie was last seen by family at her Tucson home around 9:30 p.m. She was reported missing the next day after failing to attend a scheduled church service, prompting her children to search the property before calling authorities around noon. Sheriff Nanos arrived personally at the scene, an unusual step he later explained was driven by what investigators found at the house.

“You don’t typically get the sheriff out at a scene like this, but it’s very concerning what we’re learning from the house,” Nanos told reporters at a Feb. 2 press conference.

Authorities soon confirmed they believed a crime had occurred inside the home, citing Guthrie’s limited mobility as evidence she did not leave voluntarily. Officials have also stressed that despite her physical limitations, Guthrie remains mentally sharp, ruling out any concern that she may have simply wandered off due to confusion or memory loss. Investigators have repeatedly emphasized the urgency of locating her given her dependence on daily medication, warning that going without it for even 24 hours could prove fatal.

A timeline released by Nanos in early February detailed a sequence of disconnections and irregularities the night Guthrie disappeared: her doorbell camera went offline at 1:47 a.m., her pacemaker app showed a disconnection from her phone at 2:28 a.m., and family members did not discover she was missing until nearly 12 hours later, prompting a 911 call shortly after noon. Investigators later released surveillance images recovered from corrupted camera data showing a masked, armed individual approaching Guthrie’s home and appearing to strike the doorbell camera with a fist. The FBI’s Phoenix office subsequently described the suspect as a man standing roughly 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-10 with an average build, wearing a black 25-liter backpack, and increased its reward for information leading to Guthrie’s location or the arrest of those responsible from $50,000 to $100,000.

Investigators have since cleared all of Guthrie’s children and their spouses as possible suspects, describing the family as fully cooperative throughout the case. Several pieces of evidence that initially drew public speculation, including a pair of gloves found roughly two miles from the home and a human bone discovered about seven miles away in May, were ultimately ruled unrelated to the investigation, with the gloves traced to a nearby restaurant worker and the bone determined to be part of an unrelated prehistoric anthropological find.

Throughout the ordeal, Guthrie’s “Today” colleagues have publicly rallied around her, with co-anchors including Jenna Bush Hager, Sheinelle Jones, Hoda Kotb and Willie Geist offering messages of support and urging viewers to come forward with any information. Savannah, Camron and Annie Guthrie have also released several emotional video appeals directly addressed to their mother’s possible captors, pleading for proof of life and a path toward her safe return.

As the case nears the five-month mark without a confirmed suspect or resolution, authorities continue to caution the public against drawing conclusions from any of the various unverified letters and claims that have surfaced. For Savannah Guthrie, the message has remained consistent even as the investigation grinds on without answers.

“We’re begging for your help,” she said during her June 23 appeal. “We love our mom and we’ll never stop looking for her, ever.”