NEW: Investigators Grow Skeptical Of ‘Ransom Notes’ In Nancy Guthrie Disappearance

As a possible ransom deadline loomed Monday, investigators were still trying to determine whether the demands tied to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie are coming from her real abductors or from someone exploiting a national nightmare.

In two unverified messages sent to media outlets, a person claiming to have kidnapped the 84-year-old set a 5 p.m. PT deadline for the Guthrie family to pay millions of dollars in bitcoin for her return. Law enforcement officials say the notes are being taken seriously, but stress they have not been authenticated.

“There hasn’t been a lot of evidence. You may have an abductor communicating, but we’re not even sure of that yet because there was no proof of life on either emails or text, whatever they got,” said retired FBI special agent Rich Frankel, a former bureau hostage negotiator.

The uncertainty has left authorities walking a tightrope as Savannah Guthrie and her siblings publicly pleaded for their mother’s return. Over the weekend, the “Today” co-host appeared in a third family video message since Nancy vanished from her Tucson-area home sometime between the night of Jan. 31 and the early hours of Feb. 1.

“We received your message and we understand,” Savannah Guthrie said in the Instagram video Saturday. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

On Monday, Savannah Guthrie issued another appeal, this time to the public, calling the moment an “hour of desperation.”

“We believe our mom is still out there,” she said. “We need your help. Law enforcement is working tirelessly, around the clock, trying to bring her home.”

Behind the scenes, the investigation has continued to widen. Pima County sheriff’s investigators returned to Nancy Guthrie’s home over the weekend, examining a rooftop camera and even searching the property’s septic tank. Detectives were also seen removing items from the home of Guthrie’s daughter Annie, where Nancy had dinner hours before she disappeared.

Authorities have confirmed several troubling details: blood drops on the front porch matching Nancy Guthrie’s DNA, a propped-open door and a doorbell camera that had been disconnected. Her cellphone, Apple Watch and heart medication were left behind, even though officials say she requires medication to survive.

“It does look like to us, she was taken from that house against her will in the middle of the night,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said last week.

Frankel questioned why investigators were still collecting evidence at the home days after the disappearance.

“They’re still identifying stuff at the house. I mean, the house should have been completely gone through by an evidence response team,” he said. “You would think that stuff would have been done during the original search.”

He warned that critical digital evidence may already be gone, noting that some electronic data and security footage can be overwritten if not secured quickly.

As for the ransom demands, Frankel said negotiators would strongly advise against paying anything without proof that Nancy Guthrie is alive and that the sender is legitimate.

“At this point, it would be something where you would say we need a picture, we need a video, we need to hear her voice right now,” he said. He added that even that comes with risks, given advances in artificial intelligence, though authorities can analyze whether such material is authentic.

Frankel called Monday a “big day” in the case, saying deadlines are often used as leverage rather than hard endpoints.

“You’re hoping that today there is some movement in that the hostage taker responds back,” he said. “Then, hopefully, the Guthrie family can then go on air and say, ‘OK, we know that you reached out to us again, but we still need something more.’”

Retired FBI agent Brad Garrett said the lack of back-and-forth communication is unusual in real kidnapping cases.

“There’s a give and take,” Garrett said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “This is not even designed or set up to give and take in either direction.”

Garrett said investigators likely returned to the home to verify details mentioned in the messages or to follow new forensic leads.

“Did they mention specific items that had been moved, and their location? Where the blood is, things that would corroborate that at least you feel comfortable that the bad guys were actually in this house,” he said.

Authorities have also confirmed they obtained surveillance footage of a suspicious vehicle parked at a nearby gas station during a narrow window when they believe Nancy Guthrie was taken. Garrett cautioned that such leads rarely pan out, but said investigators cannot afford to ignore them.

“All you need is one,” he said.

As the deadline passes without proof of life, investigators continue to race the clock, trying to determine whether the messages represent a real path to Nancy Guthrie’s return or a cruel distraction in an already harrowing case.

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