TMZ Disputes Claims That a Ransom Note Confirmed Her Death as New Letter Surfaces

A new letter obtained by TMZ has added fresh detail to the months-long investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, even as the outlet continues pushing back on separate reports claiming a different communication confirmed the 84-year-old’s death.

The latest message comes from the same individual who has been periodically emailing TMZ since shortly after Guthrie went missing from her Tucson, Arizona, home on February 1. According to the outlet, the sender now claims to possess video evidence involving one of the alleged kidnappers and Guthrie herself, stored on a hidden phone he is offering to unlock in exchange for cryptocurrency.

What the newest letter claims

TMZ reported that the sender claims to have a video showing the “main guy” and Nancy Guthrie together on the night of her disappearance, while maintaining his earlier assertion that two people were involved in the kidnapping. According to the letter, he wrote: “I have a phone stashed in a secure location guaranteeing both the information it stores and the safety of the phone. 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, addresses, and age.”

In exchange for unlocking the device, the sender is asking for one Bitcoin, sent to a newly provided address. TMZ said it has requested a screenshot of the alleged footage to verify the claim’s authenticity before any further engagement, and that it has forwarded the new correspondence to the FBI.

The letter also addressed an unrelated lead in the case, with the sender distancing himself from a tip phoned in roughly three weeks ago suggesting Guthrie’s remains were buried across the border in Mexico. “I am not the idiot who recently called in a tip about her burial site in Mexico,” the sender wrote, according to TMZ.

A possible link to the doorbell footage

Investigators have separately recovered video from Guthrie’s home security camera showing a masked figure on her porch hours before she disappeared, a person who has come to be known in coverage of the case as “porch guy.” TMZ’s reporting noted that some following the case believe this individual may be the same person the anonymous emailer refers to as the “main guy” in his letters, though that connection has not been officially confirmed by investigators.

TMZ said it has authenticated the new letter as coming from the same source behind previous correspondence by comparing Bitcoin addresses used in each communication.

A separate, disputed claim about Guthrie’s death

The new letter arrives amid an unresolved disagreement between news outlets over the contents of a different, earlier communication in the case — one that has generated confusion about whether investigators or media organizations possess direct evidence that Guthrie has died.

That dispute traces back to a report from Air Mail, which cited sources close to the investigation describing a Feb. 6 email sent to TMZ as containing what was characterized as a “bizarre, rambling apology” for Guthrie’s accidental death, along with an offer to return her body in exchange for payment. TMZ has firmly disputed that characterization. The outlet stated that the ransom note it received “did not say that Guthrie was dead or contain an apology.”

TMZ has offered its own explanation for where the death-related reporting may have originated, pointing to a separate, ongoing email exchange distinct from the verified ransom notes. According to TMZ, that separate correspondence comes from someone who “claimed to know who kidnapped Nancy and where she was” but “denied being the abductor himself.” TMZ has said this individual indicated early on that “time is of the essence,” before later writing that “time is no longer of the essence” — a shift the outlet has interpreted as the sender suggesting Guthrie was no longer alive, without explicitly stating so or apologizing for it.

A separate report from NewsNation, citing sources close to the investigation, added another layer to the dispute, indicating that a ransom note in the case said Guthrie had died and was “buried with nature now,” with her death described as unintentional, though without a direct apology — a characterization that partially overlaps with, but does not fully match, either TMZ’s or Air Mail’s account.

TMZ says the FBI has gone quiet

TMZ has maintained that it alerted federal investigators early on about the emails it considered credible. The outlet said it told the FBI roughly a month ago that it believed the person requesting Bitcoin in exchange for information was likely genuine, reasoning that a scammer attempting to maintain leverage would be unlikely to undercut their own urgency by suggesting time had run out. TMZ has also said it offered to pay the requested Bitcoin itself in order to trace where the payment led, in coordination with the FBI, but said the bureau has not followed up despite repeated attempts to reach them.

Where the investigation stands

Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home on February 1, and investigators believe she was taken against her will. Authorities recovered footage from her doorbell camera showing a masked individual near her property in the hours before she vanished, and forensic evidence collected from the scene reportedly showed signs of her blood, though no suspects have been publicly named in the case nearly five months later.

Guthrie’s daughter, “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, and her family continue to offer a $1 million reward for information leading to her mother’s safe return, with the FBI separately offering an additional reward in connection with the case. The FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department have said the investigation remains active, even as the flow of unverified tips, conflicting media reports and anonymous correspondence continues to complicate public understanding of where the case truly stands.

Anyone with information related to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-225-5324.