TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities have concluded a possible ransom note that surfaced over the weekend in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie wasn't credible, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.
In a statement Tuesday, the agency said anyone who receives messages about Guthrie should report them to law enforcement and be on the lookout for scammers who want to take advantage of the situation.
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A Tucson woman said in a social media post that she was contacted early Sunday by someone who claimed Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was alive and sought a ransom for her return. According to the post, the woman, who reported to investigators that someone had made a ransom attempt, didn’t believe that the person who contacted her was involved in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.
The sheriff’s department declined to say whether the woman’s encounter was the basis for a statement it issued Monday about the possible ransom note. The Associated Press has reached out to the woman via social media messaging.
Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home just outside Tucson on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will.
In July, authorities released two ransom notes initially sent to a Tucson television station days after Guthrie went missing. The first note, sent Feb. 2, said she was safe but scared and would be released unharmed once her captors received $4 million in cryptocurrency. The second note, sent Feb. 6, said Guthrie died shortly after she was kidnapped. Authorities have not said whether she is still alive.
No suspects have been arrested in Guthrie's disappearance. The investigation is dogged by unanswered questions, such as how many people are believed to have taken part in her abduction and whether she was taken by someone who knew her.
The FBI also released surveillance videos of a masked person who authorities said appeared to tamper with a camera on her front porch and block it with a plant.
Guthrie's family has shared their pleas for information in videos posted to social media.
Authorities have discounted other ransom notes that surfaced in the Guthrie investigation as nothing more than extortion attempts.
A man from Hawthorne, California, pleaded guilty in early July to federal harassment charges for texting a ransom demand to Nancy Guthrie’s oldest daughter, Annie Guthrie, and her husband. He was sentenced to probation.
