Nancy Guthrie ransom notes released as sheriff says no one ruled out

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos Declares No Suspects Ruled Out as Authorities Reveal Full Ransom Notes

Arizona's Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos recently admitted that investigators aren't excluding anyone from the suspect list amid the latest update in Nancy Guthrie's ongoing disappearance case. NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin, who has been closely covering Guthrie's abduction since she went missing in February 2026, took to X on Friday, July 31, to reveal what he learned from Nanos, sharing that "nobody is ruled out" in the investigation as one of the men who was detained is allegedly suing.

Nancy vanished from her home near Tucson on Feb. 1, 2026. The FBI is currently investigating the case as a kidnapping for ransom.

Ransom Notes Detail Demands and a Chilling Death Claim

This Friday, the sheriff's office in Tucson, Arizona, released two ransom notes addressed entirely to the Today show, with one note demanding a ransom for the return of show star Savannah Guthrie's mother. Tucson's television station, KOLD 13 News, received each note on February 2 and February 6, alleging them to be from Guthrie's alleged abductor, which were later turned in to the Pima County Sheriff's Office and the FBI.

The first letter, sent Feb. 2 to a Tucson CBS affiliate, demanded $4 million in bitcoin. It said a white smartwatch had been left near Guthrie’s bed, and a backyard floodlight had been destroyed. The letter warned the ransom would rise to $6 million if payment was not made by 5 p.m. Feb. 9. According to The Daily Mail US, the note read, "She is safe but scared. She will be held for ransom and once payment is received she will be released unharmed. We will be holding her for a maximum of 7 days. You will need to send bitcoin in the amount of $4 million USD."

Meanwhile, the second note, delivered Feb. 6, was reported to have read:

"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. 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."

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said the notes contain a "unique linguistic style" that could be recognized by a friend, relative, coworker, or acquaintance.

Cryptocurrency Evidence and Former FBI Analysis

The dormant bitcoin ransom wallet could still lead investigators to "valuable" evidence in their search for Nancy Guthrie — even six months after she was kidnapped, according to a cryptocurrency expert. Bezalel Eithan Raviv, the CEO and founder of Lionsgate Network — a crypto recovery service with expertise in blockchain forensics, spoke with Page Six about the deposit that was made into a bitcoin wallet related to Guthrie’s ransom note in February. Several alleged ransom notes have since surfaced, including one demanding that $6 million in bitcoin be sent to a digital address in exchange for Nancy’s release. Shortly after, about $152 worth of bitcoin was deposited in the account’s publicly viewable logs, though those funds have yet to be transferred out of the account.

Raviv explained that an unused wallet can still be valuable because investigators can examine relationships between wallets, infrastructure, and actors. "In digital investigations, what did not happen can sometimes be just as significant as what did," he said, noting that an unused wallet could indicate it was generated solely for a single communication or that the demand was never intended to reach the payment stage.

Former FBI agent Richard Kolko said two ransom notes tied to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance could trigger the same recognition that helped investigators identify the Unabomber. Speaking on July 31 on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, Kolko said wording or habits in the letters may be familiar to someone who knows the writer. "If you want to go all the way back 30 years ago to Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber up in Montana, somebody may recognize his method, or the linguistics, or how this letter was written. I think that's important," the former law enforcement agent said.

Following the release of the ransom notes, Nanos shared a statement, saying, "We have gathered a lot of evidence in this case and I wish you knew it, I wish the community could know all of the evidence, but that’s just not how investigations work. Whether it’s this case or any case. We have an obligation, we have a duty and a responsibility, to protect that case and its integrity." Authorities ask anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI, and the family is offering a $1 million reward.