Nancy Guthrie update: Ex-FBI gives 5 reasons why ransom notes might be ‘AI-generated’; ‘the kidnappers were smart…’
A former FBI agent shared five reasons why she believed the ransom notes in Nancy Guthrie’s case might be ‘AI generated’. Ex-FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer shared her observations after the Pima County Sheriff’s Department released the full contents of the letters sent to TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie, and to the family, after the 84-year-old was kidnapped.
Nancy Guthrie was reported missing from her home on February 1 and authorities believe she was taken the night before.
Coffindaffer also listed five reasons why she thought the letters were AI-generated. The law enforcement expert flagged the ‘formal phrasing’, ‘odd grammar’, lack of ‘spelling errors’, ‘pattern driven’ writing, and the use of USD instead of the ‘$’ sign. “USD? No one says that!,” Coffindaffer noted.
Also Read | Is Nancy Guthrie alive? What disturbing ransom notes claim about Savannah Guthrie’s missing mom | Full transcript
“It is in of the best interest of eveyone,” the former FBI agent flagged this phrase as well, saying it sounded AI-generated.
Notably, the letters were deemed to be fake by the FBI as per a Reuters report. Meanwhile, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement on the Guthrie case while making the letters public.
Pima County Sheriff’s Dept statement on Nancy Guthrie case
“The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Phoenix Field Office have been working together for the past six months to locate Nancy Guthrie. Nancy was last confirmed at her residence in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood in Tucson on the evening of January 31, 2026. Through our collective investigative resources, with the assistance of the private sector, we have recovered videos from her residence showing an unidentified male who knows what happened to Nancy,” they said, adding, “Two videos recovered from Nancy’s doorbell camera may be from two separate days. These videos are critical to our understanding of the unidentified male’s behaviors and choices. They indicate he took steps to prepare for the event on the night of January 31 to February 1.”