Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the Nancy Guthrie investigation remains very active five months after she disappeared from her Catalina Foothills home. He said investigators still have notes to review, while Savannah Guthrie said the family has spent five months trying to find their mom.
The FBI said its task force partners have received several ransom notes over the course of the investigation. The bureau said some were extortion attempts without legitimacy, while other ransom demands may still be legitimate and remain under investigation as part of a kidnapping for ransom case.
Chris Nanos on the notes
Nanos pushed back on any claim that the FBI or the sheriff dismissed the notes. “I guess there’s something out now that says the FBI or the sheriff dismissed notes - that is not the truth. What we know is we have a number of notes that we are going to continue to investigate,” he said.
He also said the case involves analysis that can widen the field of suspects. “Especially when you throw in genealogy - now, you’ve got... this may not be the bad guy, but this person might be the bad guy’s relative three times over,” Nanos said in the interview with Brooke Wagner.
FBI Phoenix on ransom demands
FBI Phoenix said local authorities remain the lead and that the bureau will continue to assist. Its statement said the investigation continues as a kidnapping for ransom case, and that some ransom demands still may be legitimate even as others have been ruled extortion attempts without legitimacy.
That split leaves investigators sorting each note on its own terms. A note can be dismissed if it is judged to be an extortion attempt, but a separate demand can stay active if it still fits the ransom case and has not been ruled out.
Savannah Guthrie’s appeal
Savannah Guthrie said the family has lived through “five months of agony and unending trauma.” She said, “There is not a moment that goes by that we aren’t actively trying to find our mom.”
She thanked the people of Tucson, the FBI, and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office for their work, then asked, “Bring her home.” The case now turns on which ransom notes investigators keep treating as potentially legitimate, because those are the leads still being worked in the open.
