The Pima County Sheriff's Department has released two ransom notes tied to the abduction of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, a rare investigative gamble that one retired investigator compared to the 1995 publication of the Unabomber manifesto.
Sheriff Chris Nanos made the notes public on Friday, nearly six months after Guthrie vanished from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early morning hours of Feb. 1. Authorities deemed both notes "potentially credible" and said they share a "unique linguistic style" that suggests a single author. The move is a deliberate bet: put the writer's own words in front of the public and hope someone recognizes the voice behind them.
Nanos followed the release with a video posted to X on Saturday, explaining the reasoning in plain terms.
"There are a number of pieces of information in these notes that just might jar someone to say, 'You know, I've heard that,' or the wording, the style of the writing. We hope that by releasing the actual note, we'll get some response from the community."
The reward in the case now tops $1.2 million. As of Friday, it remained unclaimed.
Lisa Miller, a retired investigator from the Colorado Attorney General's Office, has followed the Guthrie case closely for the past six months. She is not connected to the official investigation, but her analysis of the ransom notes, posted to X over the weekend, drew immediate attention for framing the sheriff's decision inside one of the most consequential investigative calls in modern American law enforcement.
Miller wrote that releasing an offender's own words to the public is a step law enforcement "rarely makes." She pointed to a single major precedent.
"The last major precedent: 1995, the Unabomber manifesto...published on the FBI's recommendation, betting someone would recognize the writing. It worked."
That case revolved around Ted Kaczynski, who had carried out a years-long campaign of mail bombings. His roughly 35,000-word manifesto outlined his motives and his views on what he called the ills of modern society. Then-FBI Director Louis Freeh and then-Attorney General Janet Reno signed off on the decision to publish it in national newspapers.
The gamble paid off. After the manifesto appeared in print, the FBI task force received thousands of tips. Among them was a note from David Kaczynski, Ted's brother, who, along with his wife Linda Patrik, recognized the writing style. David Kaczynski provided additional writing samples that linguistic analysts used to build the case. Ted Kaczynski was arrested in 1996 and pleaded guilty two years later to avoid the death penalty. He spent most of his incarceration at the ADX Florence Supermax prison in Colorado.
The parallel is not exact. The Unabomber manifesto was a sprawling ideological document. The Guthrie ransom notes are far shorter. But the underlying logic is the same: someone who writes enough will eventually betray patterns that people close to them can spot.
Miller's analysis went beyond the historical comparison. She examined the linguistic characteristics of the two notes and flagged what she described as uneven grammar and syntax, emotionally charged repetitions, and awkward phrasing. She said she does not believe the notes were written by artificial intelligence.
Two lines from the notes stand out. One reads: "You will not be able to contact me from here on out, there will be no negotiation." The other: "We never intended to hurt her, that was not our intention." The second line, with its redundant construction, is exactly the kind of verbal tic that investigators hope a friend, co-worker, or family member might recognize.
The debate over the notes' authenticity has been a running thread in the investigation. Authorities have now publicly treated them as credible enough to warrant release, which itself signals a shift in the investigation's posture.
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her Tucson-area home in the early morning hours of Feb. 1. Investigators have treated the case as an apparent abduction from the start. A Nest doorbell camera captured a masked suspect outside the home on the night she vanished. Authorities are still seeking to identify that individual, as well as the person who sent the ransom notes.
The case has drawn national attention partly because of Savannah Guthrie's public profile, but the investigative timeline has raised its own questions. The FBI has previously raised concerns about early delays in the sheriff's department's handling of the case, including questions about whether the crime scene was properly secured from reporters and delivery drivers in the critical first hours.
Sheriff Nanos has maintained that the case will be solved. He has publicly expressed confidence even as the evidence review has stretched on for months without a public breakthrough.
The sheriff has also refused to permanently clear anyone in connection with the abduction, a position that has generated its own friction as the investigation grinds forward.
Meanwhile, Savannah Guthrie has pleaded directly with her mother's kidnapper in public appeals, underscoring the toll on a family that has spent half a year without answers.
Releasing ransom notes to the public is not a routine move. It carries risk. If the notes are genuine, the author now knows that law enforcement is banking on linguistic recognition, and may adjust behavior accordingly. If they are not genuine, the release could send the public chasing false leads.
But six months into a case with no arrest, a masked suspect still unidentified, and more than $1.2 million in reward money sitting untouched, the Pima County Sheriff's Department appears to have concluded that the potential upside outweighs the risk. The Unabomber precedent is the strongest argument in their favor: a family member read a published document, recognized a voice, and broke a case that had stumped federal investigators for years.
Whether that lightning strikes twice depends on whether someone out there reads those notes and hears a voice they know. The FBI tip line, 1-800-CALL-FBI, and the anonymous tip line at 520-88-CRIME remain open.
An 84-year-old woman has been missing for six months. The people responsible left their words behind. Now the public gets to read them. That is either the break this case needs or a sign of how few options remain.
