The Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona is alerting people to a new scam connected to the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of ‘Today’ host Savannah Guthrie.
Scam Warning
The sheriff’s department posted a statement about the scam on X on Tuesday, July 14, stating that the department ‘will never ask for money related to this case, or any investigation.’ The statement warned people not to send money to unknown individuals or scan QR codes requesting payment.
The scam warning comes as Guthrie’s disappearance stretches into five months. Guthrie was last seen entering her Tucson, Arizona home at 9:48 p.m. on January 31. Authorities later found dried blood droplets at the entrance to her home that matched the elderly woman’s DNA.
The FBI and sheriff’s department promptly launched a search for Nancy Guthrie, who they believed to be the victim of a kidnapping-for-ransom case. Authorities have still been unable to locate her body, though several ransom notes have been distributed to media outlets.
In an update earlier this month, the FBI’s Phoenix office stated it had not fully dismissed the validity of all the notes. ‘Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such,’ the update stated.
The Guthrie family is offering up to a $1 million reward in addition to a $100,000 reward from the FBI and a $102,500 reward from the Tucson Crime Stoppers hotline for any information leading to her recovery.
Original reporting: Las Cruces Sun News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
