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Investigators say the alleged ransom note received by a media outlet contains a specific reference to missing Nancy Guthrie’s floodlights, one of which is broken.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her Tucson, Arizona home at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
Officials didn’t initially comment on the circumstances of her disappearance, but Sheriff Chris Nanos later said on Monday that “we do, in fact, have a crime.” A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital that it’s believed Nancy Guthrie was either kidnapped or abducted.
The FBI said that a possible ransom note in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance sent to a news outlet mentioned a “floodlight.” Fox News Digital found two possible floodlights outside her house, and the Fox Flight team also found another two floodlights in Nancy Guthrie’s backyard, one of which is broken.
EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT NANCY GUTHRIE’S RANSOM NOTE AS SHERIFF SAYS SHE WAS ABDUCTED
Two broken floodlights could be seen dangling off of a wire in the back of the house. During a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Heith Janke, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix field office, said the possible ransom note contained the mention of a floodlight at Nancy Guthrie’s house. “Yeah, the ransom itself. One talked about an Apple Watch and one talked about a floodlight,” he said. “And we’re not going to go into specifics. It’s very important that we keep this investigation moving forward.”
In a Thursday interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on “Hannity,” TMZ’s Harvey Levin spoke about the possible ransom note his outlet received.
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A map indicating various floodlights that are broken and were left intact at Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Ariz. (Google Earth and Fox News)
“The letter begins by saying she is safe, but scared, and they go on to say she knows exactly what the demand is,” he said. “And so they are, you know, through us, telling the family and obviously the sheriff’s department gave the family the letter we received, exactly what they’re demanding, and they’re saying that Nancy is aware of it.”
He believes the person who wrote the note is in the Tucson, Arizona, area.
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An undated photo of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie was provided by NBC in response to the disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of the “Today” show host. (Courtesy of NBC)
“There is a phrase in this email that absolutely makes me believe this person who wrote this, and if they’re telling the truth, that Nancy is within a radius of the Tucson area — not in Tucson right now, but in a radius. It could be New Mexico. I don’t know how far, but I think at least what the authorities have is they’ve got a radius, and that’s something,” Levin said.
The TMZ host said there was a demand for payment in the form of Bitcoin in the note.