7 Feb 2026 rbbm.
The astonishing case of the missing Today morning show anchor’s mom is six days in so far and without resolution
www.theguardian.com
''The Guthrie case is both old-fashioned – a ransom note sounds almost quaint – and what might have once been a demand for a suitcase of cash in non-sequential, used, small-denomination bills at a drop-off is now a transfer of cryptocurrency.
In December, the FBI
warned that people posing as kidnappers can provide what appears to be a real photo or video of a loved one, along with demands for money''
Bryanna Fox, a former FBI profiler and professor of criminology at the University of South Florida who has previously appeared on NBC’s Today show with Savannah Guthrie, says the case is indeed perplexing.
“I’ve never seen a case where the ransom notes were sent to the media and the family’s response was not done at a press conference but posted on Instagram,” she says. “The ransom itself was not asked for as cash in a bag, and we can’t even rely on the ransom is real and proof of life is real because of artificial intelligence.
“And all of it – Bitcoin, AI, TMZ and Instagram – wrapped together in a conversion of pop culture things,” Fox adds.
T
hen, naturally, there is a political fringe to it. Almost as soon a Guthrie’s disappearance became public, there was speculation online of involvement of the Mexican cartels operating the border. Had Guthrie tipped off would-be abductors when she invited Today cameras in her mother’s home months ago?''