Overview
- Nancy Guthrie, 84, vanished from her Tucson home on Feb. 1 and investigators believe she was abducted.
- TMZ told federal agents it received an anonymous June 26 email saying a phone with video and IDs exists and that the sender would sell the password for one Bitcoin; TMZ forwarded the message to the FBI and asked for proof but the claim has not been authenticated.
- Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos publicly expressed skepticism about the new note, saying false ransom communications are common and the FBI is handling the correspondence.
- Investigators continue forensic and technical work including testing blood and a hair strand, reviewing doorbell and neighborhood CCTV that shows a masked person, analyzing pacemaker data that stopped about 2:28 a.m., and tracing named Bitcoin wallets on the blockchain.
- Former agents offered differing views: Jennifer Coffindaffer suggested a ‘mea culpa’ note could be an attempt to avoid Arizona’s death penalty and said she fears Guthrie may be dead, while Jason Pack urged whoever has information to contact the FBI directly; no arrests or publicly named suspects have been announced and authorities ask that tips go to investigators.