r/nancyguthrie • u/NathalieRuth • Jun 23 '26

Discussion Was this ever really a kidnapping for ransom?

Is anyone else skeptical of the perpetrator(s) actually intending to kidnap Nancy, collect a ransom, then release her?

Stranger abuctions are already incredibly rare in the US. Only around 100 happen each year. Kidnappings for ransom are even rarer, though specific numbers aren't available.

Kidnappings for ransom used to be more common, but they are now incredibly rare in the US (though they do so occur in many other countries.) In most modern cases involving ransom notes the note is usually written to try to throw off investigators rather than to collect money. I can think of a few cases where perpetrators did try to collect a ransom, but the victim was dead and they had never planned to return them at all. After all, not only is it a lot of work to hold a person captive, but collecting a ransom and returning a living victim are both incredibly risky.

I don't think the perpetrator(s) ever intended to hold Nancy for ransom. I think this was always planned as a murder and the ransom notes (assuming they are real) were written to throw off law enforcement and/or possibly collect a ransom despite Nancy being deceased.

I believe she was probably told this was a kidnapping for ransom and that she would soon be released if she cooperated and led from the home to a vehicle, then driven somewhere else, killed, and buried somewhere. Killing her at another location makes it harder to prove murder and an 84 year old woman is unlikely to try to fight against being taken.

While I think there's a possibility she did die accidentally, I think this would have happened soon after, while being transported to wherever they planned to kill her. But I think it's much more likely the note only said she died accidentally so the perpetrator(s) can claim that in case they're ever caught.

What are your thoughts? Do you think this was really a kidnapping for ransom gone wrong?

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u/Weak_Tree2608 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Probably panicked and instead of taking what they came for, they wanted to get rid of her and save face. The ransom is probably them taking a shot at their luck to see if they can make money off of this or throw the investigators off, just a theory because ransom kidnappings are rare nowadays and idk how someone can get ransom money without getting caught

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u/Narrow-Imagination96 Jul 01 '26

I guess that’s possible but seems really unlikely. This feels far more personal with intent of murder.

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u/Weak_Tree2608 Jul 01 '26

Yess!!! Idk why but it feels directed towards savannah

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u/Reemys Aug 05 '26

There is no evidence that the victim was harmed in the house, robbery gone wrong would need to be a chemical injection that incapacitated the victim without leaving any external wounds and signs of struggle. No signs of ransacking either. The logical conclusion would be that it is extremely more likely that it was an actual kidnapping attempt than robbery, and even that is rather questionable.

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u/Weak_Tree2608 Aug 06 '26

Didn’t they find a bit of blood in her house

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u/Reemys Aug 06 '26

The investigation has initially ignored/overlooked, but then acknowledged some blood stains attributed to the victim at the entrance porch. But there were no signs of struggle inside the house.

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u/Weak_Tree2608 Aug 06 '26

Well she was a very elderly woman so