‘We are truly sorry’: Sheriff releases notes from Nancy Guthrie’s alleged kidnappers as case goes cold
Authorities in Arizona released two ransom notes Friday that they say were written by people who have knowledge about the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC News “Today” host Savannah Guthrie.
In a series of posts on X, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office published the two notes in the hope that making them public might help identify a suspect.
The notes were sent to television stations in Tucson, Arizona, the sheriff’s office said. The first was sent on Feb. 2 and the second four days later.
The second note, addressed to the Guthrie family, said that the 84-year-old Guthrie “perished” shortly after her kidnapping — a detail contained in news reports by CNN and others in June.
“We did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition,” the alleged kidnappers wrote.
“We believe it was heart related,” the note added. “She is buried in nature now. Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome. We want your family to know this and hope you all can find peace. We are truly sorry.”
Authorities say the notes reveal specific writing patterns and could provide the public with valuable insight “into the person’s mindset, motives, and the evolution of their tone over time.”
“We believe these distinctive linguistic characteristics may be recognizable to someone who knows or has interacted with the notes’ writer,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a press release. “A friend, family member, coworker, classmate, or acquaintance may recognize these patterns of expression and possess information that could help identify the individual responsible.”
What’s the latest on the case?
On Thursday, the sheriff’s office had confirmed that investigators weren’t able to identify a suspect through DNA analysis of hair found at Guthrie’s home after her disappearance on Feb. 1.
But Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said his department is preserving the sample, which could be used in a later analysis.
“But does that mean the hair isn’t that of the suspect?” Nanos said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “We won’t know that till we have the suspect’s hair. You don’t just destroy it.”
Investigators also found a mixed sample of DNA at Guthrie’s home that has not been linked to any potential suspect. Nanos said multiple labs across the nation are working to separate the sample.
“My understanding is there are at least five, maybe six, labs across the country that are working on all of this,” Nanos said. “We have some of the brightest minds in the nation, if not the world, working on this.”
Civil cases likely
Nanos and a detective investigating Guthrie’s kidnapping have landed in a legal battle with two men who were detained during the search. Lawyers representing the two men each filed a notice of claim on Monday, the first step before filing a lawsuit.
One of the men, Carlos Palazuelos, claims that officers held him at gunpoint for hours 10 days after Guthrie’s disappearance. They later released him without filing charges.
The notice of claim alleges that investigators never publicly cleared Palazuelos, causing him to live under what his attorneys called a cloud of suspicion.
The other man, Daniel Maddox, alleges that authorities handcuffed him for several hours as they searched his residence for evidence. He is also seeking compensation for his mother, who owns the home and alleges that investigators damaged the property.
Disappearance timeline
Guthrie was last seen returning to her home the night of Jan. 31. Her family reported her missing the next morning after Guthrie didn’t go to a friend’s house to watch a church service online.
On Feb. 2, Nanos confirmed they were investigating the disappearance as a crime. Nanos later told NBC News that Guthrie “was taken out of the home against her will.”
The next day, Nanos said that a local station had received the first ransom note, saying it “contained specific details about the home and what Nancy Guthrie was wearing that night.”
In that note, released Friday, the alleged kidnappers told Savannah Guthrie that her mother was “safe but scared.” They asked for $4 million in bitcoin by Feb. 5.
“She will be held for ransom and once payment is received she will be released unharmed,” the note said. “We will be holding her for a maximum of 7 days.”
If the ransom was not paid, the note said, “she will be killed. Your mother is aware of this and her life is in your hands.”
On Feb. 4, Savannah Guthrie posted a video on Instagram in which she and her siblings confirmed they had heard the reports of the ransom note and were “ready to talk” and asked for proof she was still alive.
The second ransom note, two days after the family’s video was released, indicated that Guthrie had died.
The FBI released images on Feb. 10, showing an armed individual wearing a ski mask that Guthrie’s doorbell camera had captured. The images also appeared to show the person tampering with the doorbell.
That same day, authorities detained Palazuelos for several hours before releasing him.
On March 26, Savannah Guthrie confirmed that the two ransom notes received by the news stations were authentic in an interview with her longtime co-host Hoda Kotb.
Since then, little new information has emerged about the case. Multiple groups, including the FBI and Guthrie’s family, are offering a $1.2 million reward for information on the case.
Earlier this week, Savannah Guthrie posted a video on Instagram in which she pleaded with kidnappers to let the family find her mother’s remains.
“Our family is in agony,” she said. “We are in a nightmare that will not end. Nothing about our situation has changed. We have done our part, and we will never stop looking for her. We will always ache for her and feel that hole in our hearts. The world can be a cruel and unforgiving place, and I know that you have tried to do things the right way. So I’m asking you, begging you, to do the right thing now.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
