Sheriff Probes Ransom Note in Nancy Guthrie's Disappearance

Arizoa investigators are analyzing what appears to be a ransom note linked to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, who vanished from her Tucson home over the weekend, CBS News reports. The note was sent Monday to a local TV station and included details about the house, including a description of a broken item inside, and what Nancy Guthrie was reportedly wearing that night, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told CBS. He would not say whether those specifics are accurate or whether the note is authentic, but said it is being treated like any other lead. Nanos said the FBI has reviewed the note and chose to brief Savannah Guthrie on it.

Authorities had hoped to keep the existence of the message under wraps—the news station that received it agreed not to report on it—but TMZ obtained and published it before contacting the sheriff's office, Nanos said. (The gossip site says the ransom note demands millions in bitcoin.) Earlier, the department acknowledged online that it was aware of talk about possible ransom notes and that any such material was being routed directly to detectives working with federal agents. A source tells the AP investigators also found signs of forced entry at Nancy Guthrie's home, as well as unspecified evidence that indicates she was abducted overnight. Her phone, wallet, and car were still at her home after she vanished, the source says. Sources tell Page Six her electronic devices stopped communicating with her pacemaker around 2am Sunday, indicating she was taken around that time.

Investigators believe Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home overnight sometime after she was last seen Saturday evening; her absence was noticed when she missed church Sunday. Nanos has said she could not have simply wandered off because she has serious mobility issues but no cognitive impairment, and she relies on daily medication that he warned she cannot safely miss. A small amount of blood was found inside the home, as well as what looked like dried blood outside the front door, a law enforcement source told CBS. Surveillance cameras at the property have so far yielded nothing; detectives think footage may have been overwritten due to an "automatic delete" setting, and are trying to recover it forensically.