Savannah Guthrie Says Ransom Notes Were Likely Authentic, Search for Nancy Guthrie Continues

“Today” show host Savannah Guthrie says that two ransom notes following Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping were likely authentic.

In an interview Thursday with “Today” show colleague Hoda Kotb, Savannah stated that although she’s unclear on why someone took her mother, she believes that the abductor(s) sent two ransom notes to news outlets, demanding millions in Bitcoin.

Family members posted responses to the demands on Instagram, offering payment as long as they were given proof that the 84-year-old was still alive.

One note reportedly claimed that Nancy had died, but the family stated that they were still willing to pay her recovery.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31 after family members dropped her off at her Catalina Foothills home after dinner.

They reported her missing the following day after she failed to show up for church.

Savannah said she now feels a sense of guilt that her status as a television show host may have led to her mother’s abduction, although at this point, it’s just a theory.

“To think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me, I’d just say: ‘I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry,’” Savannah said.

Savannah added that police found the back door of the home propped open, with Nancy’s phone, purse, medication and cell phone left behind.

The three-part interview is available on the ‘Today” show’s YouTube page.

Meanwhile, the search for Nancy Guthrie continues.

FBI agents are still investigating Nancy’s Nest doorbell cam footage that shows someone at her front door on at least two different occasions.

It’s unclear at this point whether the man seen both times is the same person.

It also unclear when the suspect(s) were specifically at her door, but Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told 13 News that footage from one date showed a man removing Guthrie’s doorbell cam, which would be the “only way” authorities would know it happened on the night of the abduction.

Nanos also stated that authorities also “believe that something occurred on Jan. 11 and that’s with the FBI’s analysis of the equipment and digital stuff they’ve done.”

Images of suspect in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance appear to come from two separate visits to her home/FBI

Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security, Brian Fitzgibbons, told “Crime Stories” host Nancy Grace Thursday that that the abduction may have involved more than one person, given the new information about the back door.

“What we’re seeing on that video is probably some type of logistics activity. They’re preparing that door…Ms. Guthrie may have already encountered another perpetrator and this is a second person now preparing to exit her from the house.”

“We know she went out the front door, almost as a fact,” he said, adding that Nancy’s blood had been found on the front porch.

“We know that that was not the front door that was propped open. That’s likely where they gained entry.

“What you’re seeing on the porch….in that video, that Ms. Guthrie already had an encounter with a second subject here and that this person on the porch is preparing for the exit, removing the camera is one of those pieces, those tasks he was assigned. ”