The search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of ‘Today’ show host Savannah Guthrie, has entered its ninth day. With this, the final deadline to pay the ransom money, set for 5 pm (local time) on Monday, has also passed.
Investigators said that the probe is underway as authorities follow up on several details in the case. However, they have not yet named any suspect in connection with the alleged kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie.
Guthrie disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on February 1. Nancy’s family — daughters Savannah Guthrie, Annie Guthrie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni and her son, Cameron Guthrie — were alerted about her by a congregant, who informed that their mother had missed church that day.
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Following this, the Guthrie family called 911 and thus began the search for the 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.
Soon, investigators confirmed that they were probing the matter as a criminal case, stating that Nancy was taken against her will.
Meanwhile, several media outlets, including local television station KOLD-TV, received ransom notes. The purported abductors demanded $6 million, seeking the payment in cryptocurrency, and gave the Guthrie family two deadlines — 5 pm on Thursday and another at the same time, but on Monday.
TMZ had earlier reported that it also received a ransom note, in which the purported abductors stated that the demanded sum be delivered to them in cryptocurrency to a specific Bitcoin address.
The note also included an “or else” clause, a threat that could arise if the Guthrie family failed to pay the ransom money.
The bitcoin account, allegedly set up to accept the money in exchange for Nancy Guthrie, is reportedly empty, showing a balance of $0 and zero transactions, The New York Post reported.
According to support.bitcoin.com, crypto transactions take a specific amount of time to reflect in the account based on the fee setting. In the eco setting, the transaction takes less than an hour, in the fast setting, the time span is under 30 minutes, and the fastest one takes about 0-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, according to BitBO, Bitcoin transactions usually receive a confirmation within ten minutes. But it could take longer if the fee sent is too low.
Savannah said her family believes that Nancy Guthrie is feeling everyone’s prayers. We believe our mom is still out there. We need your help,” she said in a call for help.
“Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock, trying to bring her home, trying to find her. She was taken, and we don’t know where. And we need your help,” Savannah added.
She urged people to come forward with any information they have that could help investigators find Nancy. “If you see anything, you hear anything, if there’s anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement, we are at an hour of desperation. And we need your help,” Savannah said.
The ransom notes were initially delivered to news outlets, including KOLD-TV and TMZ.
However, Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni had received fake ransom text messages from an imposter, Derrick Callella, after Nancy went missing.
Callella was arrested by law enforcement on Thursday. He has been charged with “transmitting a demand for ransom in interstate commerce without disclosing his identity and utilising a telecommunications device with the intent to abuse, threaten, or harass a person.”
“We understand the significant public interest in this case; however, investigators need time and space to do their work. If and when relevant information becomes available, it will be shared,” the release said in a post on X.
It also said that investigators have “not identified any suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles connected” to the case.
The authorities also stated that law enforcement was present at the Guthrie family’s homes over the weekend, adding that it is all a part of the investigative process, “as the search for Nancy expands and new leads come in”.
“To preserve the integrity of this criminal investigation, details of that process are not being released at this time,” the sheriff’s department added.
