One of Nancy Guthrie’s potential captors appeared to have apologized for playing a role in her death days after she was abducted from her home.
Guthrie’s family, including “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, initially received a ransom note on Feb. 2 demanding $4 million in Bitcoin, according to the digital weekly newsletter Air Mail, citing two unnamed sources close to the team investigating Guthrie’s disappearance.
The email demanded the $4 million payment by 5 p.m. Feb. 5 but threatened to increase the demand to $6 million if the payment wasn’t received by Feb. 9, and it declared the terms “non-negotiable,” according to the outlet.
Reports: 2nd email suggests Guthrie died inadvertently
But a Feb. 6 email sent from the same IP address as the first adopted a different tone, apologizing for Guthrie’s accidental death before suggesting a monetary transaction of some kind in exchange for her body, Air Mail reported.
Concerns over Guthrie’s health arose immediately after family members learned of her suspected abduction, as vital medication she took to treat a heart condition remained at her home.
Air Mail went on to report that investigators suspected the armed, masked man captured on Guthrie’s Google Nest doorbell camera the night of her disappearance might not have authored the ransom notes but rather was working with a co-conspirator.
But Harvey Levin of TMZ, which also received ransom notes, pushed back on reports that a ransom note indicated Guthrie was dead or offered an apology.
"That was not in the ransom note that we received," Levin said in a video posted on Facebook.
Levin confirmed the note stated Guthrie was "scared but OK."
It was not immediately clear whether TMZ received the second note, which Tucson CBS affiliate KOLD reported receiving on Feb. 6.
Levin said TMZ received multiple emails from someone claiming Guthrie was dead in Mexico and would disclose who was responsible in exchange for one bitcoin.
The doorbell camera video remains the biggest lead investigators have shared. The FBI estimated the man is 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall with an average build. He was wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack, which is sold new exclusively at Walmart.
While the Pima County Sheriff’s Department has previously maintained the investigation into Guthrie’s disappearance remains ongoing with DNA evidence being processed, updates on the investigation have all but ceased.
“The investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie remains active and ongoing,” Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Kevin Adger told The Arizona Republic in a written statement on June 22. “The Pima County Sheriff’s Department continues to work closely with the FBI as investigators follow up on leads, review information, and pursue the facts surrounding this case.”
The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ransom note details and other updates on the case overall.
Family took initial ransom notes seriously despite others being fake
After news broke about the email apologizing for Nancy Guthrie's accidental death, Savannah Guthrie resurfaced a Feb. 24 post on Instagram asking people to come forth with any information and detailing a $1 million family reward.
During an interview with former "Today" co-host Hoda Kotb that aired before her return to the show, Savannah Guthrie said she and her siblings treated two ransom notes that demanded millions in Bitcoin in exchange for their mother's safe return very seriously.
"I tend to believe those are real," she told Kotb at the time.
Savannah Guthrie previously told her mother's captors that the family was willing to pay a ransom in a video posted to social media on Feb. 7.
"We've received your message and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace," she said flanked by her siblings. "This is very valuable to us, and we will pay."
After initially stepping away from the "Today" show after her mom's disappearance, Guthrie returned to the NBC morning program in early April. In May, she paid tribute to her mom in an emotional Mother's Day post on Instagram, in which she shared home video footage of Nancy Guthrie.
Man accused of sending fake ransom poised to change plea
While investigators haven’t disclosed the number of fake ransom notes sent to the family, only one man has been formally charged on suspicion of doing so.
Federal prosecutors charged Derrick Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California, after he told FBI agents that he sent two text messages from a voice-over-internet (VOIP) account and made a brief phone call to a member of Guthrie’s family to see whether they would respond, according to a criminal complaint.
Investigators traced the messages to an account registered to Callella and to an IP address linked to his California home, the filing states.
Prosecutors charged Callella with transmitting ransom-related communications in interstate commerce and with making anonymous harassing telecommunications calls, according to federal court records
Callella has a change of plea hearing scheduled on the morning of July 2 in Tucson.
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect