Chris Nanos of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office has spoken out after releasing the Nancy Guthrie ransom notes.
On Friday, the sheriff’s office shared with the public the shocking ransom notes addressed to the Guthrie family in the days after Nancy’s abduction. The first, sent on February 2, reads:
“Hello Savannah, we have your mother Nancy. She is safe but scared. 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 7 days. You will need to send bitcoin in the amount of $4 million USD before 5PM on Thursday the 5th. If payment is not received, the ransom will be increased to 6 million USD which will need to be paid by 5PM on Monday the 9th. 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. If payment is not received by the last deadline on Monday the 9th at 5PM, she will be killed. 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. She had a white smart watch on the floor of the foot of her bed and the white flood light in backyard was destroyed.”
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The second, sent on February 6, claims Nancy “perished shortly after she was taken” as her captors “did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition.”
“Guthrie Family, we did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition. We never intended to hurt her, that was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart related. She is buried in nature now. Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome. We want your family to know this and hope you all can find peace. We are truly sorry.”
Nancy notably required daily medication, which was an important aspect of the search for her in its early days.
So, so heartbreaking.
The PCSO revealed in a statement they hope that by releasing the ransom notes, someone will recognize the “unique linguistic style” and come forward. And now Chris Nanos has his own thoughts.
In a video shared on X (Twitter) on Saturday, which marked six months since Nancy was taken, the sheriff assured the public the investigation remains “very active” as “DNA,” “forensic analysis,” photos, videos, and “tens of thousands of tips” are all being combed through. As for why the department released the ransom notes, Chris revealed:
“We just saw what was being said, and we felt like we needed to put something out that’s really accurate, and this was the time. Investigators felt like there’s a number of pieces of information in these notes that it just might jog someone to say, ‘I’ve heard that,’ or [recognize] the wording, the style of the writing. It might jog somebody to think about who would’ve written this, how was this done?”
He continued:
“My investigators, we look at it, and clearly there’s things in there that are very concerning to our investigative team. So we hope that by releasing the actual note we’ll get some response from the community.”
The sheriff confirmed the Guthrie family was aware the notes were being released and noted the department continues to work with the FBI. Chris went on to offer the following message to the community:
“We think somebody knows something. We hope that by releasing some of this information, it will jog somebody to think about — a lot of people have called us with information, but we also know a lot of people have been hesitant to do so. And so I hope that by constantly reminding the public we’re here, we’re not going anywhere, if you have information, someone knows who this person is, someone knows something, we want that person to call us. We need that phone call.”
You can hear more from the update (below):
On Saturday, Savannah shared a six-month update of her own on Instagram. Read (below):
Our hearts continue to be with the Guthrie family.
[Images via Pima County Sheriff’s Department/YouTube & Savannah Guthrie/Instagram]