Guthrie Investigators Release Notes From Kidnapper

Six months after Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson-area home, investigators want to see if anyone recognizes the kidnapper's writing style. The Pima County Sheriff's Department on Friday released redacted versions of two ransom notes sent to local TV station KOLD in early February, saying the language shows distinctive quirks in word choice and structure that someone who knows the writer might recognize. The first note, addressed to Guthrie's daughter, Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, claimed Nancy was alive but frightened and demanded millions in Bitcoin, threatening she would be killed if payment didn't come through. The second one indicated that Nancy Guthrie, 84, had died shortly after being abducted, ABC News reports. The notes are posted here.

The first note referenced specific details in the home, including a smartwatch by her bed and a broken backyard floodlight. A second note, sent four days later and addressed to the family, said Guthrie had died shortly after being taken and "is buried in nature now," insisting her captors hadn't meant to harm her and urging the family to "find peace." Savannah Guthrie responded publicly on Instagram at the time, saying, "We received your message and we understand" and pleading for her mother's return. The AP points out that Ted Kaczynski, branded the Unabomber by the FBI, was caught after his brother and sister-in-law recognized the syntax and anti-technology themes in his manifesto published by the Washington Post and the New York Times in 1995.