The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, has taken another turn after a retired FBI agent revealed that she received four purported ransom emails connected to the case.

Jennifer Coffindaffer, a former FBI special agent who now works as a law and justice contributor for NewsNation, said the messages were sent to her private email address in April. She quickly alerted the FBI, but she believes the emails were most likely sent by scammers trying to take advantage of the high-profile case.

According to Coffindaffer, the messages demanded that money be paid in bitcoin. However, she said the FBI told her that the bitcoin address in the emails did not match an address connected to ransom demands investigators considered potentially legitimate.

Coffindaffer decided to speak publicly about the emails after learning that Lauren Serpa, a neighbor of Nancy Guthrie, had reportedly received a similar message. According to USA Today, the messages sent to the two women also contained nearly identical images.

“That’s the reason I wanted to come forward, because I was concerned that now other people might be contacted and might fall for the ploy,” Coffindaffer told NewsNation.

Emails Included Bible Verses

One detail about the messages particularly stood out to Coffindaffer.

She said the emails were sent directly to her private email account and included Bible verses. Coffindaffer believes the senders may have researched her and included the religious references because of her Catholic faith.

The emails also demanded payment in bitcoin.

While Coffindaffer believes the four messages she received were scams, investigators have warned that not every ransom demand connected to Nancy’s disappearance can simply be dismissed.

That distinction is important because Nancy’s case continues to be investigated as a possible kidnapping.

FBI Says Some Ransom Demands Could Be Real

The FBI has received multiple ransom-related communications since Nancy disappeared, and investigators have been working to determine which ones, if any, came from the person or people responsible for taking her.

In a July 1 update cited by USA Today, the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office said some of the communications had already been determined to be fraudulent attempts to make money from the case.

“Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy,” the FBI said.

However, the agency added that other ransom demands “may potentially be legitimate” and remained under investigation.

“This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case,” the FBI said.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation with assistance from the FBI.

The FBI continues to publicly list Nancy among its kidnapping and missing-person cases.

Who Is Nancy Guthrie?

Nancy Guthrie is the mother of Savannah Guthrie, the longtime journalist and television personality best known as a co-anchor of NBC’s Today.

Nancy was 84 when she disappeared from her home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson, Arizona.

According to the FBI, Nancy was last seen at her residence on the evening of Jan. 31, 2026. Her family reported her missing the following day, Feb. 1.

Authorities have described Nancy as a vulnerable adult. The FBI said she has difficulty walking, has a pacemaker and requires daily medication for a heart condition.

What initially began as a missing-person investigation quickly became far more serious as investigators found evidence suggesting Nancy had not simply wandered away from home.

Authorities came to believe she had been taken against her will.

Video Showed an Armed Person Outside Her Home

One of the biggest developments came when authorities obtained surveillance footage from outside Nancy’s home.

The FBI later released video showing an armed person apparently tampering with the camera at Nancy’s front door around the time of her disappearance. Investigators released the footage in hopes that someone would recognize the person or provide information that could lead authorities to Nancy.

The footage added to investigators’ belief that Nancy’s disappearance was not voluntary.

The FBI initially offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to Nancy’s recovery or the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible. The reward was later increased, with the FBI stating that up to $100,000 was being offered for information leading to her location and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved.

Investigators have also asked members of the public to submit photographs, doorbell-camera recordings and other digital evidence that could help determine what happened to Nancy.

Investigators Released Earlier Messages

Months after Nancy vanished, investigators took another unusual step.

On July 31, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department released two messages that had reportedly been sent to a Tucson television station shortly after Nancy’s disappearance.

Authorities hoped someone might recognize the writer’s wording, sentence structure or other characteristics of the messages.

The release showed how important ransom communications have become to the investigation. At the same time, the reported scam emails received by Coffindaffer demonstrate another challenge facing investigators: separating potentially genuine communications from people apparently trying to profit from the case.

That is one reason Coffindaffer said she wanted to warn others about the messages she received.

Who Is Savannah Guthrie?

Savannah Guthrie is a journalist and one of the most recognizable faces on American morning television. She has spent years as a co-anchor of NBC’s Today, where she has interviewed presidents, celebrities and other major newsmakers.

Since her mother’s disappearance, however, Savannah has found herself on the other side of a major news story.

She and other members of the Guthrie family have repeatedly made public appeals for Nancy’s safe return and for anyone with information to contact authorities.

In an emotional Instagram video shared in July, Savannah described what the months without her mother had been like for the family.

“Our family is in agony,” she said.

Despite the months that have passed, Savannah made it clear that her family has not given up hope.

“We will never stop looking for her,” she said.

Search for Nancy Continues

Nancy’s whereabouts remain unknown, and authorities have not publicly identified a suspect.

The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department continue to seek information from anyone who may know what happened at Nancy’s Tucson-area home around the time she vanished.

The FBI’s public materials say Nancy was born Jan. 27, 1942. She is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighs about 150 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes.

Investigators have emphasized that even seemingly small pieces of information could prove important.

For now, the four purported ransom emails disclosed by Coffindaffer add another strange chapter to a case that has remained unsolved for months. While she believes the messages she received were part of a scam, investigators have said other ransom communications remain under examination.

Most importantly, Nancy remains missing, and the search to bring her home continues.