Whoa. Nancy Guthrie‘s alleged kidnapper(s) got incredibly — and heartbreakingly — candid in their last ransom note.
This week, new claims about ransom notes sent to media outlets after the 84-year-old went missing have come to light. We’ve already learned a lot more about what was said in ransom notes from someone claiming to know information about the criminals. Now, we’re hearing from the criminals.
Related: Savannah Says She Breaks Down ‘Crying’ Every Day Since Mom’s Disappearance
Briana Whitney, a former reporter for Arizona’s Family TV who covered this missing person case for months, told Us Weekly on Tuesday that she saw the ransom notes IRL:
“I’ve seen them with my own eyes, so I want to actually provide more context as to what that second note said.”
As Perezcious readers know, a first ransom note allegedly demanded $4 million in Bitcoin. But quickly, the tone shifted:
“In the [second] note it says she’s ‘buried in nature’ and that’s what I read. [I found it] interesting they used that specific phrasing and also referred to the fact that she [Nancy] ‘perished’ shortly after she was taken.”
AWFUL. Reports have also claimed the note said the death was “unintentional” and that Nancy was “buried with nature now.”
If you remember, the Guthrie family did urge the importance of Nancy’s swift return due to a need for daily medication. Is that what happened? She didn’t get her medication in time? Or did something else occur? We know she was likely injured when leaving the home. Hmm.
The journalist, who now works for the Crime Junkie podcast, said the second note’s “verbiage” was odd to her:
“I thought it was interesting that the term ‘we’ was used, and that it could be somebody trying to fool people that it’s more than one person. But that’s how it was written. It [was] kind of offbeat and odd … not a way that we would typically write something. That stuck out.”
She added that the note said nobody could’ve done anything to have “changed the outcome,” and that the writer (or writers) was “truly” sorry for what happened.
“That stood out to me because it seemed so final. It almost felt like that was the end of it all, and even though we know that it continues to unfold, and … everything kept going on, especially in that heightened sense of that first month, the investigation was ongoing. Really, when it comes to anything more from whoever potentially did this, it felt like it all ended after that second note.”
She went on:
“If you look at the notes, and especially the way that the second note was written, and we know that there was Bitcoin demanded in the first one from reading the notes, you can look at this and theorize that they didn’t expect Nancy Guthrie to pass away, or that her death was not planned. So there was no proof of life to be had to prove to the Guthrie family that they had Nancy to then pay the money.”
Ultimately, no large amount of money was exchanged — and even the little that the FBI sent didn’t help them narrow in on a suspect:
“We know that there was one Bitcoin transaction, a very low amount in the Bitcoin wallet [as] seemingly testing to see if they could communicate with whoever this person is, but that didn’t seem to come to fruition. When there was no proof of life ever given of Nancy, it feels that the second note was kind of like, ‘Well, we didn’t plan for this to happen, and you couldn’t do anything, and this is it, and we’re sorry.’ I think that’s where the financial part of this ended.”
It’s interesting to hear this letter claimed Nancy was buried in nature. A group down in Mexico was recently tipped off that Nancy was laid to rest in a remote area near a stream. They weren’t able to find her after an initial search, though.
Savannah hasn’t confirmed or denied any of the new reporting, though she has continued to beg for those who have information to speak up. We sure hope the authorities will find whoever did this. If these details are true, it’s so, so awful.
[Image via Savannah Guthrie/Instagram]