Nearly eight months into Nancy Guthrie's alleged kidnapping case, law enforcement is assessing the credibility of an alleged new ransom note.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department and FBI's "Guthrie task force was recently made aware of a new possible ransom note in the Nancy Guthrie investigation," the sheriff’s office said in a statement to USA TODAY on Monday, Sept. 28. "Investigators are also aware of social media comments being made regarding this note and are looking further into this and working to determine credibility."
USA TODAY has reached out to the FBI for comment. TheWrap was first to report the development.
Nancy Guthrie's family reported her missing from her home in the Catalina Foothills community just north of Tucson on Sunday,
Feb. 1. She was last seen the prior evening, around 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31.
Aside from various DNA evidence and images of a male suspect seen in home surveillance footage, updates from local and federal authorities have been scant in recent months.
Before the Sept. 28 statement, officials' most recent update came Aug. 17, when the sheriff's department announced that human remains found in a desert area outside Tucson were not connected to Nancy Guthrie's case.
Prior to this, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said on July 28 that investigators "have so much DNA to sort through. We have so much in terms of video evidence to look at."
Multiple unconfirmed ransom notes have emerged in Nancy Guthrie investigation
The FBI's office in Phoenix revealed on July 1 that "Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. The social media post continued: "Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such."
Later that month, the sheriff's department made public the contents of two notes sent by a person claiming responsibility for Nancy Guthrie's kidnapping.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department shared the two communications sent to Tucson's KOLD-TV 13 after the 84-year-old disappeared on Feb. 1. The first, sent Feb. 2, demanded ransom in exchange for her safe return. The second, sent Feb. 6, claimed she had died.
The first note claimed the purported kidnappers are holding Nancy Guthrie hostage and demanded a ransom in Bitcoin for her safe return. It said Guthrie would be held for a maximum of seven days and released within 12 hours of payment. The note demanded $4 million if the payment was made by Feb. 5 or $6 million by Feb. 9.
"She is safe but scared," the Feb. 2 note read. "Once payment is received to the bitcoin address below she will be released within 12 hours of deposit to a safe drop off location back in Tucson. If payment is not received by the last deadline on Monday the 9th (of February) at 5PM, she will be killed."
In the second note, the purported kidnapper claimed that Nancy Guthrie is dead and buried and apologized to the Guthrie family.
"We did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition. We never intended to hurt her, that was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart related. She is buried in nature now," the Feb. 6 note claimed. "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."
"Today" show cohost Savannah Guthrie and her family have vowed to continue searching for the 84-year-old despite months of "agony" over the unresolved case.
A reward totaling more than $1.2 million has been offered for information leading to Nancy Guthrie's recovery. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov, the Pima County Sheriff's Department (520-351-4900) or 88-CRIME.
Contributing: Anthony Robledo
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nancy Guthrie investigators reviewing possible new ransom note
