US TV news host Savannah Guthrie has told the potential kidnappers of her 84-year-old mother that her family “will pay” for her safe return.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her own home near Tucson, Arizona, on the evening of 31 January, and was reported missing the next day after she did not turn up at church.
Law enforcement officials have concluded that she was kidnapped, but the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it has not identified any suspects or people of interest in the case.
On Saturday, a week after her mother’s disappearance, the NBC News Today co-anchor posted a video on Instagram where she urged those believed to be holding Ms Guthrie to return her.
“We received your message and we understand,” she said, joined by her siblings Cameron and Annie. “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,” she added. “This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Savannah Guthrie was referring to a message sent to the Tucson-based television station KOLD on Friday, according to Kevin Smith, a spokesperson for the FBI office in Phoenix.
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KOLD said it received an email related to the Guthrie case on social media that day but declined to share details about its contents as the FBI conducted its review.
The station was one of several news outlets, including Sky’s US partner network NBC News, that received alleged ransom letters during the week.
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NBC News confirmed it had reviewed a copy of the note, however, no law enforcement agency has so far substantiated it.
Sky’s US correspondent Martha Kelner said that “this is obviously a huge mystery still”, noting that there are “no suspects and no persons of interest in this case”.
While it’s still unclear who the sender is, she added it appears they “used the same secure server to hide their IP address” and that the new note “the senders believe will indicate to investigators that they are the same person or people that sent the original note”.
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It comes after it emerged that police investigating Ms Guthrie’s disappearance were searching for a vehicle or vehicles that may be connected to her case.
A spokesperson for the convenience store chain Circle K told NBC News on Friday that officers visited one of their stores after “receiving a tip regarding a vehicle of interest, and our team has provided them access to the store’s surveillance video”.
Sky News has contacted the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for comment.
