"We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her," the co-anchor of NBC's morning news show Today said in a post on Instagram, flanked by her brother and sister.
"This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay."
The Today show host was referencing a message that was sent to the Tucson-based television station KOLD on Friday afternoon, according to Kevin Smith, a spokesperson for the FBI office in Phoenix.
KOLD said it received an email related to the Nancy Guthrie case on social media that day but declined to share specific details about its contents as the FBI conducted its review.
The station was one of multiple press outlets that received alleged ransom letters during the week. At least one letter made monetary demands and established Thursday evening and the following Monday evening as deadlines.
In a news conference on Thursday, law enforcement officials declined to affirm that the letters were credible but said all tips were being investigated seriously. They also said one letter referenced Nancy Guthrie's Apple watch and a specific feature of her property.
The video released on Saturday was the third this week that pleaded with potential kidnappers.
Investigators think Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her home just outside Tucson last weekend. DNA tests showed blood on Guthrie's front porch was a match to her, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said. Authorities have not identified any suspects or ruled anyone out.
The sheriff said on Friday that he was frustrated that a camera at Nancy Guthrie's home was not able to capture images of anyone the day she went missing.
Investigators have found that the home's doorbell camera was disconnected early on Sunday and that software data recorded movement at the home minutes later. But Nancy Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so none of the images were able to be recovered.
"It is concerning, it's actually almost disappointing, because you've got your hopes up," Nanos told The Associated Press in an interview.
"OK, they got an image. 'Well, we do, but we don't.'"
President Donald Trump, speaking on Air Force One on Friday, said the investigation was going "very well".
"We have some clues that I think are very strong," Trump said, while en route to his Florida estate. "We have some things that may be coming out reasonably soon."
The sheriff said Thursday that investigators have not given up on trying to retrieve camera recordings.
"I wish technology was as easy as we believe it is, that here's a picture, here's your bad guy. But it's not," Nanos told the AP.
"There are pieces of information that come to us from these tech groups that say 'this is what we have and we can't get anymore.'"
The sheriff also said he had no new information about the note to the TV station or other purported ransom letters sent to some media outlets, saying the FBI is handling that side of the investigation.
Meanwhile, concern about Nancy Guthrie's health condition has grown, because because she has a pacemaker and has high blood pressure and heart issues, according to sheriff's dispatcher audio on broadcastify.com.
"Her conditions, I would imagine, are worsening day by day," Nanos said.
"She requires medication. And I have no way of knowing whether they're getting that medication to her."
The kidnapping has captured the attention of Americans, including Trump, who said he was directing federal authorities to help investigate.
with Reuters
