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A flurry of patently fake ransom notes claiming to have information about Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother are bogging down the desperate, days-long search for the “Today” show host’s kin.
At least three ransom messages have been reported to Arizona and federal authorities in the five days since Nancy Guthrie, 84, was disappeared from her million-dollar Tucson home around noon on Sunday.
Only one of them is being taken seriously so far, law enforcement sources said.
Law enforcement officials in Pima County confirmed at a press conference that at least one twisted letter “made a demand” for payment by 5 p.m. local time on Thursday, as well as a “second demand” set for Feb. 9.
Although authorities didn’t specifically say they were referencing the purported ransom note sent to TMZ this week, the outlet reported that the time elements and other details outlined at the presser matched those of a letter sent to their newsroom on Tuesday.
That note demanded millions of dollars in Bitcoin for Nancy’s safe return – and if the sender’s first deadline on Thursday was missed, the “demand” would change, TMZ reported.
And if the supposed ransom isn’t fulfilled by Feb. 9, there would be “a more serious consequence,” the outlet wrote, citing the letter.
The note also highlighted insider details about Nancy’s suspected abduction, including about her Apple watch and a floodlight at her one-million home, according to law enforcement officials.
Although it didn’t list any means of contact with its authors, it did include a real address where the ransom could be deposited, according to authorities and TMZ.
It isn’t clear whether it was the same note that was sent to CBS News affiliate KOLD 13 on Monday.
A station anchor who saw the possible ransom note, which was sent to the outlet via email, later said it contained “a dollar amount, a deadline, and…other specifics that only Guthrie’s abductor might know,” in an interview with CNN.
“A lot of it is information that only someone who was holding her for ransom would know,” said the anchor, Mary Coleman, who believed the message “might not be a hoax.”
The outlet has not reported on the exact contents of the letter they received, but like TMZ, it reported that law enforcement had been notified and was looking into the note sent to their newsroom.
Police have admitted that they have not confirmed the notes are real. During the Thursday presser, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos admitted there’s an “absolute possibility” that they have nothing to do with Nancy’s disappearance.
But that ransom demand has allowed other scumbags to attempt to take advantage of Nancy Guthrie’s high profile plight.
One alleged imposter, California resident Derrick Callella, was arrested after authorities say he sent sick messages to Guthrie’s daughter, Annie, and son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, about their missing family member on Wednesday.
“Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction,” his texts to Annie and Cioni allegedly read.
Minutes after sending the texts, data obtained by cops showed Callella also made a nine-second-long phone call to an unidentified family member of Nancy, according to the court docs, which didn’t name the relative he allegedly called.
The relatives reported the chilling messages to police, who tracked the number to Callella’s California residence – where he allegedly confessed to officers that he had been following along with the case on TV, and he sent the texts after finding the Guthries’ contact information from a website, the court docs state.
“He said…he was trying to see if the family would respond,” the complaint said.
He was charged with two counts of transmitting communications containing a demand for ransom in exchange for the release of a kidnapped person, according to the docs.
Callella’s not the only alleged sicko that the Guthries have had to deal with in the midst of their mother’s disappearance.
On Wednesday, The Post exclusively revealed that the FBI was investigating a slew of letters from sick trolls menacing the “Today” show co-host with threats about her missing mother.
One letter sent to Guthrie, whose annual income reportedly hovers around $8 million, was from a nutcase who said he had knowledge of the abduction – but also included numerous slurs. The writer also made reference to accused murderer Luigi Mangione and the Jan. 6 US Capitol riot, according to law enforcement sources.
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