New ransom note detail raises alarm over Nancy Guthrie's fate, claims she has 'gone to be with God'

TUCSON, ARIZONA: Nearly eight weeks into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the case has taken another uneasy turn due to a troubling claim buried inside one of several ransom notes.

Nancy, the mother of 'Today' anchor Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her Tucson, Arizona home on February 1. Since then, her family has put up a $1 million reward for any information leading to her recovery.

In the days after she disappeared, multiple ransom notes began surfacing. Savannah later revealed in an interview with Hoda Kotb on 'Today' that two of them were believed to be legitimate. One reportedly landed at KOLD News 13, while another was sent to TMZ, demanding a hefty Bitcoin payout.

During a March 28 appearance on 'The Megyn Kelly Show', former FBI agents James Hamilton and Maureen O’Connell weighed in after host Megyn Kelly cited an X post claiming one note “allegedly states the sender apologized, claiming they did not realize how serious her heart condition was and that she had ‘gone to be with God.’”

Nancy, who relies on daily medication and wears a pacemaker, was known to have ongoing heart issues.

Ex-FBI agents question ransom logic

Kelly wondered why the family didn't pay up if they believed the notes were real. “Why didn't the Guthrie family ever pay a ransom if they believed, as Savannah told us yesterday, that two of those ransom notes they received were authentic?” she asked. “Was there something in the second note that made them believe it was fruitless to pay money to the kidnapper?”

O’Connell suggested federal authorities likely stepped in with a familiar warning. “I think that the FBI was probably telling her, 'Without proof of life, do not pay these people. It will never end,'” she said. “And if they can't provide proof of life, then we could very well be dealing with the wrong people.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton pointed to the notes’ lack of personal detail, which he thought was a glaring red flag.

“So if you're going to apologize and I'm going to take it seriously, I would have liked to have seen something like, you know, 'I apologize for knocking over the picture in the room,' or more specificity…Something not released to the public,” he said, noting that one message appeared to rely on details already publicly known.

He concluded that the notes had the feel of “scam artists” who “prey upon grief [and] prey upon your vulnerability.”

“They're saying anything they can to get paid. It really doesn't move the needle a lot for me," he added.

Nancy Grace chimes in

Legal analyst Nancy Grace also offered her two cents during an appearance on the 'Hang Out with Sean Hannity' podcast.

“[There’s] a lot of people attacking Savannah—’Why did you pay the ransom? Why didn’t you pay sooner? Why didn’t you this, that?’ There’s no script for what you’re supposed to do. I think Savannah and her brother and sister, Annie and Camron, did everything they were physically able to do at that moment. Savannah, in her interview [on Today], stated that they got many, many quite fake ransoms, but that she believes those two to which she responded—she believes they were real,” Grace said.

“I know Savannah well enough that when she gave a response—twice, she responded—she would not have done that if she did not believe the ransom notes were real,” she added.

Still, Grace doesn’t believe any money changed hands.

“I think the reason they didn’t pay—if, in fact, they didn’t, and I don’t believe they did—is because they never got proof of life. I mean, you and I knew at the beginning something was off, in that the ransom was not requested immediately. You take somebody—you want to feed them for a week and then ask for the money? No. You want the money, then you want it to be over with—you want to get the hell out of town," she said.