Newly Revealed Notes in Nancy Guthrie Case May Reignite Public Interest—Here's the Latest
Nearly five months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in Arizona’s Catalina Foothills, newly disclosed details from one of two notes sent to news outlets could breathe fresh life into a search that once captivated the nation. The second note, whose full contents were initially withheld at the request of law enforcement and the Guthrie family, claims that the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie died soon after being taken.
Authorities now hope that revealing the note’s previously unreported language—first shared with CNN and other outlets in February but kept under wraps to preserve the integrity of any future communications with kidnappers or potential suspects—will generate new tips in a case that has yielded few solid leads.
The abduction occurred on February 1, when Nancy Guthrie was removed from her Tucson-area home. Within days, two messages purportedly sent by the kidnappers landed at several media organizations, including CNN affiliate KOLD-TV. The first note demanded millions of dollars in Bitcoin for her release, a detail that was widely reported at the time. The second, more chilling note stated that Guthrie was dead—though law enforcement sources told CNN that the kidnappers claimed they had not intended to kill her.
CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller explained that both CNN and local stations agreed to a family and law enforcement request not to report the full content of either note. The reasoning: holding back key details would allow investigators to verify the authenticity of any subsequent messages from the kidnappers. Officials have said little publicly about whether the notes are genuine, and efforts to confirm Guthrie’s death have so far proved inconclusive.
The case drew renewed attention this week after TMZ founder Harvey Levin posted a video on X addressing speculation about a separate letter sent to his outlet early in the investigation. Levin denied rumors that TMZ had received a ransom note apologizing for Guthrie’s death. He did say, however, that someone claiming to know the kidnappers emailed TMZ seeking roughly $100,000 in exchange for information. One email reportedly included the line, “Time is no longer of the essence,” which Levin interpreted as implying Guthrie was already dead.
Meanwhile, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which leads the investigation alongside the FBI, told CNN the case remains “active and ongoing.” Law enforcement sources say the number of public tips has slowed, but the investigative work has not stopped. Authorities have reviewed thousands of hours of surveillance video from the Tucson area, analyzed DNA found at Guthrie’s home, and tracked clues from a doorbell camera that captured a masked man carrying a handgun and wearing a black 25-liter Ozark Trail backpack.
Still, no main suspect or person of interest has been identified. As CNN senior correspondent Josh Campbell noted in a recent analysis, solving the case at this stage may depend on continued persistence by investigators, fresh perspectives on existing evidence, a tip from the public—or, as Campbell put it, “pure luck.”
The Guthrie family, including Savannah and her siblings Annie and Camron, have issued emotional public pleas. In a video posted February 7, Savannah stared into the camera alongside her siblings and said directly to the kidnappers: “We got your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace.”
For now, the family and investigators wait—and hope—that the newly revealed contents of that second note will finally break the case open.
CNN’s Holly Yan contributed to this report.