Five months after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home, con artists are now using her name to steal money from the public, and the Pima County Sheriff's Department wants people to stop falling for it.
Sheriff Chris Nanos issued a public warning this week about fraudulent online posts that reference the Guthrie investigation and include QR codes soliciting payments. The posts appear designed to exploit widespread public interest in the high-profile case. Nanos made clear that his department has nothing to do with them.
The warning lands at a grim moment. The search for Savannah Guthrie's mother has now stretched past 164 days with no arrests and no publicly identified suspects, the New York Post reported. And the scam is only the latest in a pattern of opportunistic fraud that has plagued the investigation almost from the start.
In his statement, Nanos left no room for ambiguity. As MEAWW reported, the sheriff told the public directly:
"PCSD will never ask for money related to this case, or any investigation. Please do not send money to people you do not know or scan QR codes requesting payment."
He added a simple instruction: "Stay alert and help spread the word."
The department said it had identified posts circulating online that reference the Guthrie investigation and contain QR codes directing users to send money. The specific platforms hosting the posts were not named, nor was any individual identified as responsible for creating them.
Nanos also urged anyone who encounters the posts to ignore them and report them. The Pima County sheriff has been a visible figure throughout the Guthrie investigation, and this latest statement underscores how much the case's public profile has attracted bad actors.
The QR code scam is not the first attempt to profit from Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. On June 26, Nanos appeared on "The Buckmaster Show" and discussed a demand letter that had been circulating online. He characterized it as likely not authentic.
"I think the FBI has done a number of arrests for false or fake ransom notes," Nanos said during that appearance. "I think we're looking at another one of those today with what's been reported. But we'll let the FBI do their work."
He acknowledged the double-edged nature of public attention. "People have great interest and that's good because it helps us," Nanos said. "But then it gets really abused."
That abuse has been a recurring problem. Fox News reported that an FBI source told TMZ that kidnappers allegedly panicked after a ransom note declared Nancy Guthrie dead, causing them to retreat from money demands. The authenticity and reliability of that claim remain unclear, but it illustrates just how many competing narratives, some fraudulent, some unverified, have swirled around this case.
The FBI has faced scrutiny over its handling of ransom notes in the case, with questions about how many were genuine leads and how many were dead ends or outright fakes.
Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home during the early hours of February 1. She is 84 years old. More than five months later, no one has been charged, and no suspects have been publicly named.
Her daughter Savannah Guthrie, the NBC "Today" anchor, addressed the case on air June 23. She spoke about a ransom note that had been sent to media organizations claiming her mother had died. Her words were raw.
"This is a new story today that's on your radar. But this is the life that my sister lives, I live, that my brother lives, that our extended family lives, that our children live every day and we are in agony."
She continued: "And we cannot be at peace. No matter how much I try to come out here every day and smile and find that joy, I will. I promise I will. This is the moment to tell you that we need your help."
Savannah Guthrie also said the family has no intention of giving up. "We love our mom and we'll never stop looking for her, ever."
Her siblings Annie and Camron Guthrie have also been referenced as continuing to hold onto hope. The family has reportedly hired private investigators to supplement law enforcement efforts, though details of that work remain scarce.
The broader search has extended well beyond Tucson, with volunteers and investigators pursuing leads across a wide geographic area.
The list of open questions in this case is long and growing. No one has been arrested for Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. No suspect has been publicly identified. The investigation has now consumed more than five months of law enforcement resources across multiple agencies, including the FBI.
It is unclear whether anyone has actually lost money to the QR code scam. The sheriff's warning did not include any reports of financial harm, nor did it describe the volume or reach of the fraudulent posts.
The relationship between the various ransom notes, demand letters, and now QR code scams remains murky. Whether the ransom note Savannah Guthrie addressed on June 23 and the demand letter Nanos discussed on June 26 were the same document or separate items is not clear from available statements.
Meanwhile, the FBI has pushed back on characterizations of its work on the ransom notes while conceding that many proved to be dead ends. The bureau's exact progress on the core investigation, who took Nancy Guthrie and where she is, remains publicly unknown.
High-profile missing-persons cases attract public sympathy. They also attract predators. The longer a case stays open without resolution, the more room there is for grifters to move in and monetize the suffering of a family and the goodwill of strangers.
That is what appears to be happening in the Nancy Guthrie case. Fake ransom notes. Bogus demand letters. And now QR codes designed to siphon money from people who think they are helping find an elderly woman.
Sheriff Nanos deserves credit for the clarity of his warning. Law enforcement will never ask you to scan a QR code and send money. That should be obvious, but in an age of sophisticated online fraud, it bears repeating, especially when scammers are willing to exploit a family's worst nightmare to make a quick buck.
The real scandal, though, is not the scam. It is the fact that after more than 160 days, an 84-year-old woman is still missing, no one has been charged, and the only people making money off the case are criminals who had nothing to do with her disappearance.
When law enforcement cannot close a case, the vultures circle. That is not a reflection of the sheriff's effort. It is a reminder that justice delayed is an open invitation for the worst kind of opportunism.
