Former FBI agent was sent ransom notes asking for bitcoin in Nancy Guthrie case

Published October 8, 2026 8:11am ET



A former FBI agent who has been covering the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, said she received four ransom emails demanding payment in Bitcoin.

Jennifer Coffindaffer, a former FBI agent and law and justice contributor for NewsNation, said she received the emails in April but initially reported them only to the FBI and kept the messages private. She believes the messages were part of a scam targeting people following the case.

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