Pima County investigators have ruled a new possible ransom note in the Nancy Guthrie case not credible, as the unsolved disappearance nears eight months and scammers keep circling the family.
Arizona authorities announced Tuesday that a fresh text message tied to the missing-person probe does not hold up under review. The New York Post reported the Pima County Sheriff’s Department’s finding one day after the agency said it had received a “new, possible ransom note.”
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, vanished in February from her secluded desert home in the Tucson suburbs. The latest note brought no breakthrough. Investigators still have no suspect in custody from this lead, and the case remains open.
The department posted the determination on X after further review of the message. It did not say when the text was sent, who received it, or what it said.
The sheriff’s office was blunt about the result.
Pima County Sheriff’s Department wrote:
“After further review, investigators determined the text message is not credible,”
It also stated:
“The Nancy Guthrie investigation remains active and ongoing,”
Officials warned the public about “scammers” seeking to “take advantage of the situation.” That warning fits a pattern already seen in this case. Fake notes and hoax contacts have burned time and attention while an elderly woman is still missing.
Former FBI abduction expert Jason Pack, who specialized in crisis negotiation, told The Post that every communication still has to be checked. “You have to take every communication like this seriously until you have a good reason not to,” Pack said. “Investigators can’t afford to brush something aside just because an earlier note may have turned out to be bogus.” He added: “The first question is simple: Who sent it? Then you start pulling the string.”
Digital trails on emails, devices, and crypto wallets can sometimes expose a sender. In this instance, the review ended with a not-credible call. No new suspect emerged from the text.
The first ransom note arrived Feb. 2. It claimed Guthrie would be “released unharmed” if $4 million in Bitcoin was paid before 5 p.m. on Feb. 5. The message also referenced a broken flood light and a white Apple Watch near the bed.
A few days later, a second note struck a darker tone. It said: “We did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition.... She is buried in nature now,” and closed with “We are truly sorry.” Authorities have not confirmed that the same person sent both February messages.
Around the time she disappeared, doorbell camera footage showed a masked man with a gun at her doorstep. Early detentions and interrogations produced no suspects. Apparent DNA evidence at the scene has not identified a culprit either.
In July, a California man pleaded guilty to harassment for one fake note in the case. That plea showed how outsiders have tried to insert themselves into a high-profile vanishing. It also showed why every new message has to be run down, even when prior notes proved empty.
The Guthrie family is still offering a $1 million reward for information that leads to the matriarch being recovered. The FBI is offering a separate $100,000 reward. Both remain active.
Sheriff Chris Nanos has faced harsh criticism and an attempted ouster from his post as the investigation has stretched on without an arrest. The department’s latest public move closed one lead and left the core mystery untouched: an 84-year-old woman gone from a quiet desert home, with months of work still yielding no public resolution.
Nearly eight months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared, the newest ransom text is off the board as a real demand. The scams keep coming. The search does not stop. And a family is still waiting for answers that only hard evidence, and honest follow-through, can deliver.
