Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of US TV journalist Savannah Guthrie, remains missing after vanishing from her home in Arizona five months ago.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI are investigating her disappearance, which is believed to be a targeted crime. Despite a huge manhunt and a $1 million reward for information, her whereabouts remain unknown.
A series of ransom notes demanding millions of dollars in cryptocurrency have been sent to a US outlet, but the FBI now believes some of these notes are fake. The Phoenix FBI has issued a statement clarifying that while some of the notes are deemed extortion attempts without legitimacy, others may potentially be legitimate.
Private investigator Dan Ribacoff, who founded the International Investigative Group, has suggested that if Nancy died during the abduction, the situation would have played out differently. He claims that a ransom would have been paid, and she probably would have been released, generating additional leads through IP addresses or telephone records.
Ribacoff believes that the case would have turned from "just" a kidnapping into a murder probe, which would have driven those behind it "underground." He suggests that the perpetrator would not want to reveal where Nancy's body is buried, as this would expose themselves.
Nancy, who has limited mobility and relies on medication to manage her health conditions, vanished from her home in the Catalina Foothills outside Tucson, Arizona, in the early hours of February 1. Doorbell footage captured a masked individual carrying a backpack approaching her porch shortly before the camera was disconnected.
Savannah Guthrie, 54, has made several emotional public pleas to try and get her mother back safely. In a direct appeal to the abductors, she said, "We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay."
The investigation remains active and ongoing, with the Pima County Sheriff's Department continuing to work closely with the FBI as investigators follow up on leads, review information, and pursue the facts surrounding this case.
