The shocking disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84 year-old mother of ‘Today’ show host Savannah Guthrie, took a new twist on Tuesday as TMZ reported receiving a ransom letter. Later in the day, Arizona CBS-affiliate KOLD reported receiving a similar letter. The senders demanded millions of dollars to be paid in Bitcoin.
While the letters have not been verified, the sheriff of Arizona’s Pima County said that he was “absolutely not” dismissing these claims. The sheriff’s office also said via X they were aware of reports about the ransom notes, and were taking all leads very seriously.
In the case of the TMZ letter, the outlet did not reveal the Bitcoin address—a term that describes a long string of random letters and numbers similar to a bank account—but confirmed it was a genuine address on the blockchain. The outlet said that the note had a deadline for the ransom, as well as details of an item damaged at the victim’s Tucson-area home.
The blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis did not speculate on the legitimacy of the letters. It did, however, mention that physical crimes involving crypto have gone up. “There has been a disturbing rise in physical coercion attacks and kidnapping, in which criminals use violence to force victims or their families to transfer assets,” said a Chainalysis spokesperson in a note to Fortune.
Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on Sunday and is believed to have been taken from her home against her will. There was blood inside the home, according to the Los Angeles Times, and there were signs of forced entry at the home, according to the Associated Press. The 84 year-old was last seen on Saturday night after family members dropped her off at home following a dinner. Her relatives checked her home the following day after being told that she did not arrive at church.
Nancy Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah, is a co-anchor of the popular NBC News morning show ‘Today’. She was preparing to host coverage of the Winter Olympics from Milan, Italy, but rushed to Arizona to be with family following her mother’s disappearance.
The demand for Bitcoin in Guthrie’s kidnapping comes amid an uptick of violent incidents in which criminals have targeted crypto owners, including notable cases occurring recently in Paris and New York. These attacks, known as “wrench attacks”, typically target people who have publicly revealed they own a sizable stash of crypto. There is no evidence Nancy Guthrie is a crypto owner and, if the random note is genuine, the kidnappers appear to be relying on the partial anonymity offered by Bitcoin.
