Federal investigators have concluded that all ransom notes circulated after the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie were not authentic, a senior FBI official said, with a second official confirming the assessment. Guthrie, the mother of a well-known television presenter, has been missing from her Arizona residence since the beginning of February. The initial wave of publicity around her disappearance included a series of chilling messages sent to U.S. media outlets that demanded cryptocurrency in exchange for information about her whereabouts; investigators now say those notes do not represent credible communication from any person holding knowledge of her location.
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A large memorial banner bearing a woman’s photograph, handwritten messages and flowers attached to a fence outside a neighborhood, displayed amid the FBI probe into ransom-note claims in the missing-person case.
Investigators identified three separate notes that demanded payment in cryptocurrency. The FBI says the first two of those messages were sent by the same individual. The initial note demanded a sum described as being “in the millions” and set two deadlines in early February; another note, transmitted soon after the first, asserted that Guthrie was dead. Because of the potential for real-time harm, investigators took the extra step of placing a small cryptocurrency deposit into the account identified in the first message to test whether the funds would be claimed. No withdrawals were made from that account, a development law enforcement officials say undercut the credibility of both the first note and the second, linked message and contributed to the determination that they were hoaxes.
A third ransom-style communication, also revealed publicly in recent days, claimed to know the identity of Guthrie’s alleged kidnappers and even asserted possession of video showing a so-called "main guy" involved in the incident. FBI officials have judged that message to be fake as well. The bureau has not provided a detailed public accounting of the methods used to reach the conclusion about the third note, and officials declined to outline in public what specific investigative steps were taken to determine its inauthenticity.
The family of the missing woman has maintained a high public profile while investigators work. The television host whose mother has vanished paused her national morning show to make a direct appeal for information and to urge anyone with relevant details to come forward. The family has offered a $1 million reward for information that will lead to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery, and the reward reminder was reiterated during the on-air appeal. Authorities have circulated official missing-person materials and set up tip lines to gather any leads from the public.
An official missing-person poster from local authorities, showing a photo, case details and a tipline QR code for the vulnerable adult at the center of the investigation into fake ransom notes.
Investigators have also released surveillance video and other material to the public in hopes of generating tips. In February, authorities made public disturbing doorbell-camera footage that appears to show an individual wearing a ski mask outside Guthrie’s home. That footage was circulated with the aim of identifying the person captured on camera. In addition, law enforcement recovered a glove near the Tucson, Arizona, residence that they hoped would yield DNA evidence to help identify a suspect. Samples taken from that glove were tested and run through existing DNA databases, but investigators reported that the results did not produce a match for anyone already in those systems.
The FBI’s formal characterization of the ransom notes as fake shifts part of the investigative focus away from the demands and toward other forensic and fieldwork avenues. Officials have said the first two notes were traced to a single source, but the bureau has not publicly named or charged anyone in connection with those messages. In the case of the glove and the doorbell footage, investigators continue to analyze available evidence and follow up on leads provided by the public. The bureau’s statements make clear that the investigation remains active and that law enforcement is continuing to seek information that could clarify what happened in the early February disappearance from the woman’s Arizona home.
As the probe continues, federal and local authorities are urging anyone with new information—no matter how small—to contact the established tip lines. The family’s reward offer remains in place, and the television host who has kept her public platform is continuing to use it to draw attention to her mother’s case. Meanwhile, the FBI’s finding that the cryptocurrency ransom notes were fabricated adds a new layer to the ongoing investigation, which still seeks definitive answers about who was at the residence the night of the disappearance and what became of Nancy Guthrie.
In a public statement, the FBI's Phoenix office clarified that while some ransom notes were extortion attempts without legitimacy, other demands may potentially be legitimate and the case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom. Separately, California resident Derrick Callella pleaded guilty to federal harassment charges for sending fake ransom communications tied to Guthrie's disappearance.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona said in a July 2, 2026 press release that Derrick Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California, pleaded guilty that day to two counts of Harassment Using a Telecommunication Device after admitting he called and texted the Guthrie family on Feb. 4, 2026 asking about a bitcoin transfer; sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 10, 2026.
A volunteer search group, Buscando Corazones Nogales, reported conducting searches in the Mariposa area south of the Arizona border on May 16 and again on June 10–11 after receiving an anonymous tip that Guthrie had been buried there; volunteers said those searches turned up no remains or other evidence linking her to the specified sites.