Nancy Guthrie ransom note demanded $6 million by 5 p.m. Monday. The deadline looms
The ransom note regarding the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie demanded $6 million in Bitcoin by 5 p.m. on Monday, sources told The Times.
The looming deadline comes as both law enforcement officials and Guthrie’s family have expressed concerns about the 84-year-old’s health. Authorities say she was kidnapped from her home in Tucson nine days before she had the medication she needed to survive.
“Today” host Nancy’s daughter, Savannah Guthrie, said the family will pay for her safe return.
“We got your message and we understand,” Guthrie said in a new video posted to social media Saturday afternoon. He sat next to his brother and sister. “We now ask you to return our mother to us, so we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we can have peace. It is very dear to us, and we will pay the price.”
Sources told The Times that the ransom note appeared credible because it included details about a specific piece of damaged property and the placement of an accessory in the home. The Times did not review the memo, but sources with knowledge of the investigation said it asked for $6 million.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The FBI said the ransom note contained an initial deadline of last Thursday at 5 p.m. and a second demand by a Monday deadline.
Harvey Levin, founder of celebrity news site TMZ, reviewed one of three identical letters sent to media outlets and told CNN on Thursday that “the Monday deadline is much more important.” TMZ reported He received the note via email earlier this week and said the letter demanded millions in cryptocurrency for Guthrie’s release. Levin said Thursday night that TMZ confirmed the bitcoin address was real.
“They went to great lengths in sending us this email to ensure that it remained anonymous,” he said. “It’s a carefully crafted letter, and this isn’t something someone put together in five minutes.”
No one has been named as a suspect or suspect.
Guthrie was last seen by his family just after 9.45pm on Saturday; This matched the opening and closing of the garage door that night, authorities said.
About four hours later, at 1:47 a.m., authorities said the doorbell camera was disconnected. An empty frame for a camera had previously attracted attention in his home.
Then at 2:12 a.m., security camera software at Guthrie’s home detected a person or an animal on one of the home’s cameras, but Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said they were unable to recover that footage and did not know which camera recorded the movement.
About 15 minutes later, at 2:28 a.m., Nancy’s pacemaker app showed that it had been disconnected from the phone, Nanos said. Apparently this was exactly when he left his house, because his phone was left behind.
Just before noon on Sunday, his family went to check on him when he didn’t show up for church. They located him missing and called 911, Nanos said.
Although Nancy Guthrie was sane, her family said she had physical ailments and used a pacemaker. Authorities said last week that the kidnappers did not provide any “proof of life.”
“He lives in constant pain. He has no medicine,” said Savannah Guthrie in the video she shared on social media last week. “He needs it to survive, and he needs it to avoid pain.”
