Three notes thought to have come from the kidnappers of Savannah Guthrie's mom have been deemed to be fake.

July 1 2026, Published 4:45 p.m. ET

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Nancy Guthrie, here with daughter Savannah, has been missing since early February.

Searchers had been deciphering a trio of notes thought to come from someone connected to Nancy's kidnapper or kidnappers.

Two of the notes were reported in early February, days after 84-year-old Nancy vanished. A third ‌message, from someone claiming to know the kidnappers' identities, was received within the past few days.

However, at least two people involved in the search have now confirmed that the letters are fake.

"None of the ransom notes are believed to be genuine," one FBI official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. A second law enforcement source familiar with the matter confirmed the FBI's assessment of the ransom notes.

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Authorities, including Sheriff Chris Nanos, searching for her are stumped.

The FBI official also revealed that early in the investigation, when the alleged kidnapper demanded one singular Bitcoin for Nancy's return, they were willing to pay.

Authorities reportedly deposited a small amount of the cryptocurrency into an account as instructed, but the money was left untouched and never taken, the official said.

The FBI concluded that the two ransom notes were ultimately ​sent by a person or persons not actually connected ​with Guthrie's disappearance, according to the official.

The ⁠FBI has additionally discounted the authenticity of a third note received last week, but the organization did not ​reveal how investigators ruled it out as fake.

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A suspect was allegedly caught on camera outside the home.

For months, it was believed an email sent to two local Tucson TV news stations and TMZ contained details only someone familiar with the crime would know.

The first note described what Nancy was wearing when she vanished from her home in the early morning hours of February 1 and referenced a damaged floodlight in the backyard.

Although authorities never released details about how the frail grandmother was taken from the back of her house, Savannah revealed in an April 6 interview that the back door was already propped open when her sister, Annie, first discovered their mom was missing.

The sender claimed Nancy was alive and "safe but scared," agreeing to her return if the family paid the ransom by the February 5 deadline.

A follow-up message warned that the amount would rise to $6million in Bitcoin with a final deadline of February 9. The note ended with the ominous threat, "or else," if the demand was not met.

Savannah Guthrie's family has pleaded for her safe return.

As the days without Nancy dragged on, Savannah appeared in a video along with her siblings, Camron and Annie, to plead for their mother's safe return. But at this point, they seem not to know what to believe.

In a March interview with NBC, the Today co-anchor said her family had received several ransom notes, though they thought only the first two messages were authentic.

"There are a lot of different notes, I think, that came, and I think most of them – it's my understanding – are not real, and I didn't see them," she told Hoda Kotb. "But, you know, a person that would send a fake ransom note really has to look deeply at themselves, to a family in pain.

"But I believe the two notes that we received, that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real."

With the notes now apparently debunked, investigators could be back to square one.