Nancy Guthrie Ransom Notes Were All Reportedly Fake

The three notes sent to media outlets involving Nancy Guthrie‘s abduction were phony and not connected to the disappearance of Today host Savannah Guthrie’s octogenarian mother, federal investigators told Reuters this week.

Two notes were sent to local media outlets and to TMZ in the days after Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her Tucson-area home on Jan. 31. The first note demanded two Bitcoin payments of millions of dollars into an anonymous account on Feb. 5 and Feb. 9; the second note, reported just last week, indicated that the 84-year-old was dead and demanded ransom funds. A third note sent to TMZ last week claimed to know the identities of Nancy Guthrie’s abductors and to have video of the “main guy” involved in the kidnapping, as well as video of the victim on the day of her death.

“None of the ransom notes are believed to be genuine,” an anonymous FBI official told Reuters. The news agency reported that it had confirmed the bureau’s conclusion with a second agent.

To test the veracity of the evidence, the FBI sent a small payment to the Bitcoin address provided. The funds have gone untouched to date, the source within the bureau told Reuters. That fact, along with “other unspecified means,” led investigators — who have taken the lead on all ransom- and suspect-related elements from local police — to conclude the notes were fraudulent.

The FBI did not reveal to Reuters how it determined that the third note, which it said originated from a different source than the first two, was fake.

The revelation that all three notes were hoaxes throws the abduction-for-ransom theory around Guthrie’s disappearance into question. Media outlets have reported widely on the notes, and Savannah Guthrie has referenced them on her show during pleas for information about her mother’s whereabouts and fate.

Nancy Guthrie was in a frail condition and taking several medications needed for her survival when she disappeared. On Jan. 31, she had spent the evening with her older daughter, Annie Guthrie, and her son-in-law.

The FBI’s Phoenix office said in a statement released Wednesday, “The FBI and its task force partners have received several ransom notes over the course of this investigation. Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such. This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case. The FBI has and will continue to offer all assistance possible in the investigation —however local authorities remain the lead.”

July 1, 4:04 pm PT This story has been updated with a statement from the FBI’s Phoenix office.