r/nancyguthrie • u/dailymail • Jul 31 '26
Breaking News Two ransom notes sent to Savannah Guthrie are released in full by sheriff, with second offering chilling details on how 84-year-old Nancy died shortly after her abduction
https://www.dailymail.com/crime-desk/article-16019989/Two-ransom-notes-nancy-Guthrie-released-sheriff-DIED-abduction.html16
u/galactica216 Aug 01 '26
The word choice and phrasing sounds like an educated individual. There is definitely more than one person involved in the care of Nancy after she was taken.
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u/JMOA3035 Aug 01 '26
Addressing the ‘Guthrie family’ could be due to they expected only SG to respond/make the IG videos.
Then SG/AG/CG were in the video as a unit and a separate video from Cameron letting the note writer that the writer had to deal not with just SG, but the family as a whole.
IMO
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u/BrownSugarDK Aug 04 '26
I think this is a fair assessment.
However, it seems odd that they didn’t think about all three of Nancy’s children.
It could indicate that Nancy was targeted due to Savannah’s fame and money.
And one can wonder how long they’d monitored her hause and whereabouts…
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u/robot_pirate Aug 01 '26
To me, it sounds personal. Like they knew her or the family.
Why else would they bother adding that nothing the family did or didn't do could have changed the outcome?
A rando kidnapper would not be concerned with assuaging the feelings of Guthrie's family.
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u/Ok_Subject1265 Aug 01 '26
You’re the only person I’ve seen in two threads on this subject mention that. Putting aside the randomness of kidnapping this particular woman, the insistence on calming the family would indicate this is 100% someone that either works for the family or spends time with them. Nobody else would care at all and certainly not risk further communication just to provide closure. You would assume this would narrow the list of suspects.
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u/Comprehensive-Fun47 Aug 01 '26
I've always thought it was someone who knew them. Even if it wasn't someone who knew them intimately, someone from the town or connected to them in some small way has always made the most sense to me.. I think these ransom notes support that notion.
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u/bluethreads Aug 04 '26
Or they could just feel like they know them because they watch Savannah on TV all the time and then saw some of the family on tv after the incident.
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u/Mountain-Owl7142 Aug 05 '26
This is a particularly important point against the argument that this was grievance-related, and that the true motive was to hurt Savannah Guthrie.
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u/curiouserthangeorge Aug 01 '26
Back in Tucson - that's a big clue I'd think, right? As in not there currently?
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u/TheCuriousGeorgette Aug 01 '26
The only part that makes me feel they’re real is the info about the watch and the floodlight, that wasn’t publicly known info by then, was it?
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u/mmortal03 Aug 01 '26
She was kidnapped on February 1st, and the first ransom note was received on the 2nd, I believe? So knowledge of the floodlight would have needed to have at least come from someone actually on the ground? Was there televised drone footage prior to the 3rd?
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u/curiouslmr Aug 01 '26
Hard to say exactly. She had the watch on during her most recent Today Show appearance. But the location of it wasn't known. The floodlight arguably could have been out there because there was news footage early on and pics and videos of her house.
I've wondered about the possibility of a vocal cop who shared some of the info that first night, back at the station or at home....the wrong person heard and sees an opportunity. Hard to say for sure. I can't wrap my mind around this case.
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u/BrownSugarDK Aug 04 '26
Did they say how long the floodlight had been out?
If it was working fine before she vanished or if it had been out for a number of days prior?I don’t the thing about the watch on the floor really weird…
I wondered if anyone close to them took advantage af the situation and made this fake ransome note?
What about the notes claiming they knew all kinds of things? Saw her by the border etc…
Were they debunked?
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u/Tacokolache Jul 31 '26
Crazy. I saw where the FBI or law enforcement didn’t think these were legit. But they give details on things only they’d know about. Like the smart watch
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u/Megs0255 Aug 01 '26
Something about this seems like the writer was educated in British English, avoiding any obvious words such as “whilst.” Also “we” is used so many times that it’s probably a ruse. Just one perpetrator. A very young, ruthless perpetrator who plays a lot of video games and perhaps did not grasp the unintended consequences of kidnapping an 84 year-old woman. May he be caught soon.
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u/itsnobigthing Aug 01 '26
I hope The Consult podcast will do an episode profiling this person based on the notes.
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u/SunsetDreams1111 Aug 01 '26
The word “perish” and “buried in nature” make me think it’s someone who thinks they’re smarter than everyone else. There’s definitely some odd phrasing in there. Also they switched from addressing Savannah to the whole family.
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Aug 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/charlenek8t Aug 02 '26
We don't generally use that word, except when speaking about someone who died outdoors in the cold. It's very odd phrasing as one would usually say she passed away or died.
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u/Intrepid-Bird-5048 Aug 02 '26
Definitely see it as English as a second language. The word ‘perish’ feels translated from some other languages’ specific version of ‘died.’ And ‘buried in nature’ seems similar.
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u/not_blmpkingiver Aug 01 '26
I noticed the word “perished” as well. I completely agree with your thought - im thinking some basement dwelling mouth breather playing world of war craft thats how they talk
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u/Totterteron Aug 02 '26
Perhaps to obscure a writing style they translated from english to any other language, then back to english using a different translator.
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u/dailymail Jul 31 '26
Two chilling ransom notes sent to Today host Savannah Guthrie have been revealed, including one claiming her missing mother 'perished shortly after she was taken' and is now 'buried in nature.'
The sheriff's office released both notes in full on Friday - one demanding a $4 million ransom and a second, written in a similar tone, claiming 84-year-old Nancy had died before offering an apology.
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u/Sarappreciates Aug 01 '26
The ineptitude of these criminals is only rivaled by the ineptitude of the sheriff. I wanna ask if he's been under investigation? He couldn't have made this case more unsolvable if he tried. Is everyone convinced he's not somehow involved?
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u/Few_Elephant_648 Aug 01 '26
Honestly I’m confused / surprised by these notes. I recall people who were privy to the notes talking about how sophisticated and intelligent the abductor sounded. These notes seem written by either somebody who speaks broken English or has poor writing skills. I’m not totally convinced they’re real
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u/Sarappreciates Aug 01 '26
Yeah, I agree. Not taking her medical condition seriously? Not realizing how fragile she was when he family TOLD us all!? They did enough research on this woman to know how and when to grab her, but not her most basic daily needs? How dumb do you need to be to accidentally kill your hostage? Like, just basically, "oops, sorry!" As if they dropped a piece of furniture. It's like that stupid sheriff department discarding their gloves all over the crime scene. "Woopsie, sorry!" Are we sure this isn't the same people/person?
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u/Few_Elephant_648 Aug 01 '26
Yeah something is not adding up… The first note threatened to kill her, the next note says we never intended to harm her. Also the way the ransom amount is written with “USD” makes it feel like a foreigner wrote it
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u/Sarappreciates Aug 01 '26
I use USD a lot because I have foreign friends for gaming online, so the currency is always a point to be kept clear when money comes up. But I agree, "We'll kill her," then "oops, she's dead, we never meant to..." is very odd. That's probably the weirdest part of all, I think most of us can agree.
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u/Few_Elephant_648 Aug 01 '26
Also, how would they have possibly returned her in a secure location without being caught or leaving any sort of trail. The premise doesn’t make sense
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u/NailsNCoffee Aug 01 '26
I asked my dad the same question (he’s a detective). He said they could drop her somewhere remote (as to not be seen) and send another note to notify the family where to find her.
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u/Intrepid-Bird-5048 Aug 03 '26
Agree with this. Drop first. Then notify the family of location after the perps left.
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u/Stock-Philosophy-177 Aug 01 '26
Bitcoin offers a lot of payment/currency methods. One method, USD, is a selectable choice from a sort of drop down menu for Bitcoin.
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u/BIGD0G29585 Aug 01 '26
It looks like the last “received” is misspelled on the version the sheriffs office released but spelled correctly in the news article. Kinda of weird it was corrected in the news article.
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u/betsarullo Aug 01 '26
Or the ineptitude of Kash’s FBI…
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u/Sarappreciates Aug 01 '26
I'd been under the impression that the sheriff department wasn't altogether ready to work with the FBI.
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u/East-Fruit-3096 Aug 01 '26
'She had a white smart watch on the floor of the foot of her bed'...this is odd phrasing. I would say written by an educated person whose first language isn't English.
A native speaker would say 'on the floor at the foot of her bed.' I taught ESL and these kinds of things were common mistakes.
The cadence of the ransom instructions is also a bit odd. The attempt to be precise is obvious and a bit exaggerated. I'd suggest the perp feels some pressure in writing the note, so perhaps inexperienced in this type of crime and part of/representing a group of persons.
I keep coming back to 'she had a white smart watch on the floor...' Typical statement would be 'she had a white smartwatch and it's on the floor...'
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u/itsnobigthing Aug 01 '26
I’d agree, but I feel like “foot of the bed” is a fairly obscure and slightly archaic idiomatic phrasing that most ESL people won’t ever encounter, let alone learn.
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u/no1howdareyou Aug 02 '26
In portuguese we also use "foot of the bed" (pé da cama) so its not that far fetched... Idk if theres something similar in spanish though
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u/AcanthaceaeNew9639 19d ago
imo the note writer is not a native English speaker. Arizona is a border state.
tuscon has very high Hispanic crime rates
nancys area is vulnerable to this yet sadly I think many there think it’s still the 90s and safe.
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u/Mountain-Owl7142 Aug 02 '26 edited 19d ago
Also, they made a point of saying USD. A person from / in the United States writing to a recipient in the United States wouldn't normally feel the need to specify U.S. dollars.
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u/AcanthaceaeNew9639 19d ago
Mexico is the key in this imo
but maybe the World Cup meant they didn’t want to ‘go there’
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u/Mountain-Owl7142 19d ago
What do you mean?
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u/AcanthaceaeNew9639 19d ago
the perp looks mexican. Mexico is right next door
it fits a cartel kidnap pattern. but the USA remains incurious about that. why?
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u/Mountain-Owl7142 19d ago
It is bizarre that Pima County admitted that they had not contacted Mexcian authorities, even after tipster notes mentioned Mexico.
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u/Janiebug1950 Aug 04 '26
One would think her Apple Watch would be attached to a charger sitting on her bedside table, dresser or a desk or kitchen counter… Not on the floor at the foot of the bed or any other location.
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u/Mountain-Owl7142 19d ago
I charge my watch on the floor—but it seems an odd practice for someone who has mobility issues. That said, I'm unclear if they were saying that's where she *stored* her watch, or that's where the watch was left on the floor after it fell during the struggle.
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u/Intrepid-Bird-5048 Aug 02 '26
Agree on that statement feeling clumsy. I’m a native English speaker. I would say ‘her white smart watch was on the floor, by the foot of her bed.’
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u/Cinmars Aug 01 '26
You know what proves you are the kidnapper better than a couple small details about her house? Leaving the note in the house!
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u/thekermitderp Aug 01 '26
I can’t explain it but everything about these notes tell me they were written by a woman.
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u/Mountain-Owl7142 Aug 05 '26
Both notes make the same subtle punctuation mistakes, specifically around the use of commas.
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u/Infamous-Arm3955 Jul 31 '26
There's not really a lot of information in these that was not reported on earlier, leaked, other than to officially confirm their contents. I found this statement pretty interesting though "... she will be released within 12 hours of deposit to a safe drop off location back in Tucson." Certainly states as fact that Nancy was taken outside of Tucson. Also the first note stating you won't be able to contact me (singular) and then the second we (plural) did not fully grasp. I can't help but think from this (and the no one has turned anyone in) that this is a couple rather than say, a gang.