Chilling Second Ransom Note Claimed Savannah Guthrie’s Mother Died ‘By Accident’

A ransom note sent days after the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, claimed she had died unintentionally shortly after her abduction—a revelation that has reignited public interest in the case nearly five months later. According to multiple law enforcement sources, the second note, sent on February 6 to media outlets including CNN and a Tucson television station, adopted a strikingly different tone from the first. While the initial ransom demand had requested $4 million in Bitcoin for Guthrie’s safe return, the follow-up communication contained no financial demand but instead offered an apology, stating that the kidnappers “did not mean to kill her.” The contents of this note had been withheld from public reporting at the request of law enforcement and the Guthrie family to preserve the integrity of the investigation and authenticate any future communications. The disclosure has prompted an emotional response from Savannah Guthrie, who delivered a tearful plea on the “Today” show, begging anyone with information to come forward. “We are in agony. We cannot be at peace,” she said, flanked by her colleagues. “Somebody knows something. Please do the right thing for us, for our family, for our children. We love our mom, and we’ll never stop looking for her, ever.”

However, the authenticity of the second note remains a point of contention. Harvey Levin of TMZ, which also received ransom communications, publicly pushed back on reports that the note sent to his outlet contained an apology or confirmation of death. Levin stated that the ransom note TMZ received indicated Guthrie was “scared but OK” and made no mention of her dying. He suggested confusion may have arisen from a separate individual who sent TMZ multiple emails claiming knowledge of Guthrie’s whereabouts, initially demanding $100,000 for information and later implying she was no longer alive. The investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance from her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson remains “active and ongoing,” according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which continues to work closely with the FBI. The only publicly released lead remains doorbell camera footage showing an armed, masked man on Guthrie’s porch the night she vanished. Meanwhile, a California man, Derrick Callella, 42, who was charged with sending ransom-related text messages to Guthrie’s family, is scheduled to change his plea on July 2 in federal court in Tucson. The Guthrie family continues to offer a $1 million reward for information leading to Nancy’s return.