FBI: Ransom Letters in Nancy Guthrie Disappearance Are Fake
Federal investigators have determined that three letters sent to the family of missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, demanding ransom and claiming knowledge of her kidnappers, are fraudulent.
FBI: Ransom Letters in Nancy Guthrie Disappearance Are Fake
Federal investigators have concluded that three letters received by the family of missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie — allegedly sent by her kidnappers — are completely fabricated. The announcement comes five months after the mother of television personality Savannah Guthrie vanished.
The first two letters arrived in February. One, addressed to the Today show host, was delivered to the tabloid TMZ. That message demanded a multi-million dollar ransom payment in cryptocurrency. The second letter claimed that Nancy had died shortly after being abducted. A third letter arrived more recently, with its sender asserting they knew the identities of the people responsible for the disappearance.
An FBI official, speaking anonymously due to the ongoing investigation, told Reuters that none of the correspondence is genuine. Investigators determined the first two letters were fraudulent by transferring a small sum of money to an account listed in the messages. When no one collected the funds, authorities concluded the account was bogus. The method used to expose the third letter as fake has not been disclosed.
The same individual wrote the initial pair of letters, according to federal sources. A separate person authored the third.
The case first drew public attention when details of the second letter became known. Savannah Guthrie used her platform on the Today program to renew pleas for anyone with information about her mother's whereabouts to contact authorities. In a March interview with People, she revealed the family had received several phony ransom demands, though she had never personally seen the letters. At that time, she indicated a belief that two of the messages were authentic, but declined to discuss their contents in depth.
The Pima County Sheriff's Office, which launched the initial probe, confirmed to People that the FBI has taken over matters involving the ransom demands. The whereabouts of Nancy Guthrie remain unknown, and the investigation continues.
Source: 24ur.com
Source: 24ur