An Arizona news anchor who saw the possible Nancy Guthrie ransom note sent to her station revealed that it came via email — and it was “clear after a couple of sentences” that it “might not be a hoax.”
“A lot of it is information that only someone who was holding her for ransom would know,” Mary Coleman, anchor for Arizona-based CNN affiliate, KOLD 13 News, told CNN Wednesday.
“Some very sensitive information and things that people who weren’t there when she was taken captive wouldn’t know,” she added.
“It also included a dollar amount, a deadline, and, again, other specifics that only Guthrie’s abductor might know, so that definitely raised some red flags,” Coleman said, adding that it was clear immediately that it might not be a sick prank.
The search for the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie is now entering its fifth day, with no suspects identified and no clear picture of what may have happened to her.
Coleman added that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department was now checking the ransom note sent to their newsroom, and had asked for further details.
“We immediately sent that information over to the sheriff’s department, and they’re, of course, looking into the legitimacy of it,” she said.
“One of the detectives did get back to us and asked us for some more information so that they can start searching for an IP address and things of that nature to try and figure out who or what people are responsible here,” Coleman said.