Nancy Guthrie kidnapping: Former FBI agent reports ransom email scams

Retired FBI special agent Jennifer Coffindaffer has revealed that she received four ransom emails in April regarding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. The messages, which demanded payments in bitcoin, included an image that Coffindaffer described as appearing to be AI-generated.

One email demanded 25 bitcoin, claiming Guthrie was alive and would be returned within 12 hours, while a subsequent message lowered the demand to 2 bitcoin and provided a QR code. Coffindaffer reported the emails to the FBI and stated she believed they were scams intended to exploit the case rather than legitimate communications from the abductors.

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, was taken from her home in the Catalina Foothills near Tucson, Arizona, in early February. While the emails contained specific details, their connection to the actual kidnapping remains unverified, and authorities have not yet identified a suspect in the case.