This video can not be played
"We're begging" - Savannah Guthrie pleads for help as details of her mother’s case emerge
A ransom note sent days after the 84-year-old mother of US presenter Savannah Guthrie was abducted from her home claimed she had died. according to investigators.
The note was one of two addressed to Nancy Guthrie's family. sent to news media in the days after her January kidnapping.
The first demanded millions in bitcoin for her release,. the second stated that she had died, according to sources cited by US media.
The note from the possible kidnappers reportedly stated they did not mean for her to die. included an apology to the family. The Pima County Sheriff's Department declined to comment on the contents of the notes, but said the investigation "remains active. ongoing".
Tearful Savannah Guthrie blames herself for mother's kidnapping
On Tuesday morning. during her first appearance on NBC's Today show since news of the second ransom note dropped, Savannah Guthrie addressed the news as tears fell from her face.
The longtime television presenter again begged people with information to come forward: "Somebody knows something," she said. "We are in agony."
"This is a new story today that is on your radar,. this is the life we live every day," Guthrie added.
When asked about the case by reporters on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that he hopes they find her. that the Guthrie family "has gone through hell".
The FBI and Pima County have spentmonths investigatingthe elder Guthrie's mysterious abduction from her home near Tucson, Arizona.
"The Pima County Sheriff's Department continues to work closely with the FBI as investigators follow up on leads, review information,. pursue the facts surrounding this case," a spokesperson for the sheriff's department said.
The FBI declined to comment on the contents of the ransom notes or whether investigators had found any evidence. Guthrie had died.
The BBC's US partner CBS. other outlets reported on Monday that law enforcement had requested that media hold off publishing details of the notes while they investigated Guthrie's disappearance.
"CBS News was aware of that second note,. was aware of the contents of the second note, but there was a real concern about messing up an investigation that was at a very sensitive time," journalist Anna Schecter said on CBS's streaming platform on Tuesday.
Schecter noted concerns. putting out the information could slow the momentum of the public's help - searching through their security videos or looking for anything suspicious in their neighbourhoods.
"That was really the reason why those of us journalists who were following this very closely did not report this at the time," she said.
Nancy Guthrie vanished after being dropped off at her home by relatives on 31 January. Concern grew when she did not go to a friend's house to watch a virtual Sunday church service the next morning.
An initial ransom note was sent the day after she went missing and demanded millions in bitcoin for her release.
It gave specific details about her home, as well as details about her bedroom. the home's surroundings, investigators told CBS.
The note was reportedly addressed to Savannah Guthrie. It was sent to multiple media outlets. including a local TV station which reportedly adhered to a police request not to disclose its contents.
It has only now emerged that a second note - sent on 6 February - used language similar to that of the first one, but did not include any demands, instead apologising for her death. stating it was inadvertent.
After the two notes, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings released a video addressed to the kidnappers.
"We received your message, and we understand," the NBC host said. "We beg you now to return our mother to us." She said the family "would pay".
This video can not be played
Watch: A video released by authorities in February shows a masked person outside Nancy Guthrie's home
Authorities. Guthrie's family repeatedly issued public warnings that the elderly victim was in poor health and was without critical medication.
As the search continued. authorities released images of a masked person who was seen in security camera footage outside her home.
The Guthrie family had been offering a $1m (£760,000) reward. in addition to $100,000 pledged by the FBI, for information leading to Nancy Guthrie's return.
On 24 February. Savannah Guthrie said they would keep hoping, even though they "know that she may be lost, she may already be gone".
In a March interview with NBC, Guthrie said several ransom notes were sent,. she believed some of them were bogus. She also told the network her family believed the two initial notes were authentic.
Guthrie stepped away from NBC's Today show for more than two months while the investigation was underway. Shereturned to the programmein early April as the search continued.
Discussion
Sign in to join the thread, react, and share images.