A ransom note sent days after the 84-year-old mother of US presenter Savannah Guthrie was abducted from her home claimed she had died, according to investigators. The note was one of two addressed to Nancy Guthrie's family and sent to news media in the days after her January kidnapping.

The first demanded millions in bitcoin for her release, but the second stated that she had died and included an apology to the family, reportedly saying they did not mean for her to die. The Pima County Sheriff's Department declined to comment on the contents of the notes but said the investigation 'remains active and ongoing'.

Nancy Guthrie vanished after being dropped off at her home by relatives on 31 January. Concern grew when she did not go to a friend's house to watch a virtual Sunday church service the next morning. Authorities and Guthrie's family repeatedly issued public warnings that the elderly victim was in poor health and without critical medication.

Savannah Guthrie and her siblings released a video addressed to the kidnappers. 'We received your message, and we understand,' the NBC host said. 'We beg you now to return our mother to us.' She said the family 'would pay'.

The Guthrie family had been offering a $1m (£760,000) reward, in addition to $100,000 pledged by the FBI, for information leading to Nancy Guthrie's return. On 24 February, Savannah Guthrie said they would keep hoping, even though they 'know that she may be lost, she may already be gone'.

In a March interview with NBC, Guthrie said several ransom notes were sent, and she believed some of them were bogus. She also told the network her family believed the two initial notes were authentic. Guthrie stepped away from NBC's Today show for more than two months while the investigation was underway and returned in early April as the search continued.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk