The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, mother of "Today" host Savannah Guthrie

Purported ransom notes sent to news outlets became one of the most disturbing parts of the case.^[11] Within days the FBI arrested a man over what it called an "imposter ransom demand";^[12] he later pleaded guilty to harassment charges.^[13] The family released video appeals, saying they had received a message and would pay.^[14] On February 10 investigators released the first surveillance images, showing a masked person on the porch the night she vanished,^[3] and the FBI raised its reward to $100,000.^[15] A man detained in a traffic stop was questioned and released.^[16]

The search turned to forensic evidence. Investigators lifted an unknown male DNA profile from a glove found in roadside brush about two miles from the house,^[17] but it matched none of the roughly 22 million samples in the federal CODIS database,^[4] and they turned to genetic genealogy.^[18] The sheriff said the Guthrie family had been cleared,^[1] and a source told CNN that the masked person had also come to the door on another night.^[19] The family offered a $1 million reward.^[20] Nanos disputed a claim that he had kept key evidence from the FBI,^[21] but in May FBI Director Kash Patel said the sheriff's office had sidelined the bureau for days.^[22]

Savannah Guthrie returned to the "Today" show on April 6.^[23] In June, law enforcement sources said a note sent to local news outlets in February had claimed that Nancy Guthrie died shortly after she was kidnapped.^[6] In late July Nanos said he was confident that DNA and video evidence would solve the case,^[24] and on the six-month mark the family issued a new appeal as police released notes received from the presumed abductors.^[25] In September authorities began examining the credibility of a new possible ransom note.^[5] At the end of October, task force members traveled to Florida to push forward DNA analysis,^[26] and on November 1, nine months after the disappearance, Savannah Guthrie made a new plea for information.^[27]