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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A former FBI agent has said the motive for the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie is a "simple" one.
Law enforcement "said they know the motive for the abduction of Nancy and they have known it from the beginning," Jennifer Coffindaffer wrote on X on Sunday night.
"Kidnapping for Ransom. Nancy sadly died. The kidnappers didn't care and tortured the family with 2 notes knowing the FBI would not recommend paying a ransom without proof of life. Like most cases, this one is simple, but everyone wants to make it complex."
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The Context
The investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC's Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, is now in its third month. She was last seen at her home on January 31 and reported missing on February 1 by her family. Authorities believe she was kidnapped and said drops of her blood were found on the front porch.
In February, the FBI released surveillance footage from a doorbell camera, showing a masked man, whom they called a suspect, outside Guthrie's front door on the night she disappeared. Since then, investigators have not identified a suspect or provided details about any significant breakthroughs in the case.
Multiple news outlets reported receiving purported ransom notes in February but authorities have not said whether the notes were authentic. TMZ last week reported receiving two ransom notes from a person asking for payment in cryptocurrency for information about Guthrie's kidnappers.
What To Know
In her post, Coffindaffer referenced Occam's razor, a principle that recommends searching for the simplest explanation when problem-solving.
She said that Nancy Guthrie's family "knows" the motive, referring to Savannah Guthrie's comments in an interview on the Today show last month.
In that interview, she discussed the possibility that her mother's kidnapping was motivated by her money.
She recalled a phone conversation with her brother, who told her that he thought their mother had been kidnapped for ransom. She said she had asked him if he believed it could have been because of her, and he said yes.
"But I knew that," she said. "I hope not. I mean, we still don’t know. Honestly, we don’t know anything. So I don’t know that it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought: 'Oh, that lady has money, we can make a quick buck.' I mean, that would make sense, but we don't know."
She said she had come to terms with that "probably" being the case, adding that it was "too much to bear."
She also said she believed most of the ransom notes sent to her family were fake, but that the two notes to which the family had responded were real.
In an interview with NBC News last month, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who is leading the investigation, said investigators believe they know the motive for the crime, but he did not elaborate, citing the integrity of the investigation.
"It’s come out from day one," Nanos said. "From day one, we had strong beliefs about what happened and those beliefs haven’t diminished."
What People Are Saying
Jennifer Coffindaffer previously told Newsweek that law enforcement looked at the motive being kidnapping for ransom from the beginning of the investigation. "Kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping for ransom, that was the entirety of the theme," Coffindaffer said. "That's why they had the family go on television, making social media posts, making this plea, that's why they orchestrated all of that."
A spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff's Department told Newsweek last month that Nanos and investigators "have theories about why the incident happened but would not go into details as this is an active investigation."
What Happens Next
Anyone with information is urged to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), 520-351-4900 or 88-CRIME or visit tips.fbi.gov.
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