Why law enforcement wanted to keep details private in Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping notes

By John Miller, CNN

(CNN) — Within a week of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance earlier this year, two notes purportedly written by the 84-year-old’s abductors were sent to local news outlets.

The first note demanded a ransom of millions of dollars for her return.

The second note said Guthrie was dead – though the culprit did not mean to kill her, according to law enforcement sources.

Some of the contents of that first note were reported publicly at the time, but the contents of the second note were only revealed in the last few days, nearly five months since Guthrie was taken from her home in Arizona’s Catalina Foothills on February 1.

Evidence at the crime scene, including her blood on the front steps, her health issues and her disappearance without her daily medications gave the family reason to worry that she had resisted and was injured. Now, the revelation that the second note said she died adds further context to the Guthrie family’s emotional video on February 7 in which NBC “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie directly addressed the note-writer.

“We received your message and we understand,” she said. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace.”

The contents of the second note were previously known to CNN, as well as to a local news station in Tucson that received both notes. CNN and the news station agreed to a request from law enforcement and the family to hold off on reporting the contents of both notes.

Law enforcement made that request as part of their efforts to solve the case.

Both notes were sent within the first week of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. At that time, investigators were still determining whether the notes were authentic and sent by the actual kidnappers, according to law enforcement sources.

After the second note arrived – from the same electronic source – investigators wanted to be able to authenticate whether or not it was true that Nancy Guthrie was dead. They were ultimately unable to verify that, the sources said.

Authorities also believed the public interest in Guthrie would wane and investigators would receive fewer tips if they released information that said she had died.

Most importantly, investigators were thinking more long term, the sources said. If they did zero in on a suspect or suspects, they would be able to question them on the details of the note. If the information in the notes was publicized, it would have compromised one of the few pieces of information only the kidnappers would know.

The contents of that second note were revealed nearly five months after Guthrie was last seen on January 31. Security camera footage from her home shows a masked, armed man tampering with the camera at her front door on the morning of her disappearance.

Law enforcement officials – both local and federal – still have no main suspect, nor any particular person of interest. Investigators do have material they are still looking through including video collection, cellular analysis and DNA testing, the sources said.

The work on the case has not slowed or stopped although the number of public tips has slowed, the sources said.

The investigation remains “active and ongoing,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, the leading investigative body, told CNN on Monday.

On “Today” Tuesday morning, Savannah Guthrie urged anyone with information about her mother’s disappearance to come forward, even if anonymously. The FBI hotline is 1-800-CALL-FBI.

“This is a moment to tell you we need your help,” Guthrie said. “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. Never.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

John Miller is the Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst for CNN.