Nearly six months after Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home, investigators still don't know where she is. But this week, the public learned more than it ever has before, and the new details have only made the case more unsettling.
© Tribune Content Agency LLCThe first ransom note is finally revealed
© GettyThe biggest revelation came this week when crime journalist Briana Whitney joined Ashley Flowers on the Crime Junkie podcast and publicly read what investigators believe was the first ransom note sent to Savannah Guthrie.
"Hello, Savannah. We have your mother, Nancy. She is safe but scared," the letter began before demanding millions of dollars in Bitcoin. “She will be held for ransom, and once payment is received, she will be released unharmed. We will be holding her for a maximum of seven days.”
"Once payment is received to the Bitcoin address below, she will be released within 12 hours of deposit to a safe drop-off location back in Tucson,” Whitney continued. “If the payment is not received by the last deadline on Monday the 9th at 5 p.m., she will be killed."
The writer warned there would be no negotiations and ended with a chilling line, "Your mother is aware of this and her life is in your hands. It is in the best interest of everyone to have this completed as soon as possible. You will not be able to contact me from here on out. There will be no negotiation. Do not play games. Law enforcement will not be able to help you."
What makes the note especially disturbing isn't just the threat. It's the details. Whoever wrote it appeared to know intimate information about Nancy's home, mentioning a white smartwatch left on the floor near her bed and even referencing a damaged backyard floodlight - details investigators have never fully explained publicly.
© ZUMA PressThe FBI slams the investigation
© Getty / The Grosby GroupThis week, controversial FBI Director Kash Patel publicly criticized the early stages of the investigation, arguing that federal agents were effectively kept out during the critical first four days after Nancy disappeared.
Patel said one of the FBI's biggest breakthroughs came after investigators worked with Google to recover cached footage from Guthrie's Nest doorbell camera, video that was never intended to be stored long-term and was reportedly on the verge of being permanently deleted because there was no paid cloud subscription.
"We were looking for the needle of all needles in all haystacks," Patel said. "Because she didn't pay for it, they didn't record that data. But there was a chance that it was located in their cache just before it was being deleted."
Although the FBI was able to recover some footage, Patel said investigators still don't know whether additional videos once existed or whether potentially valuable evidence was lost before federal agents became involved. He has suggested that earlier FBI involvement could have preserved more evidence. The Pima County Sheriff's Department continues to lead the investigation.
Another violent invasion
As investigators continue searching for answers, another violent home invasion this week shook residents in the Tucson area. In the early morning hours of July 21, a woman was assaulted after an unknown man entered her home through an unlocked door, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department. Before fleeing, the suspect also attempted to burglarize the residence
Although it happened roughly 30 miles from Nancy's home, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said there is currently nothing connecting the two incidents. But the attack has heightened the fear in the community.
