FBI investigators determine Nancy Guthrie kidnapping notes are fake: report

The three notes related to the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie's elderly mother, are fake, according to FBI investigators. 

The FBI assessed the authenticity of three notes — two ransom notes and a third, more recent note from someone claiming to know the kidnappers' identities — and found all three to be fake, an FBI official told Reuters. 

The findings cast doubts on what investigators initially believed about the elder Guthrie's abduction, which is that it was motivated by a desire to collect the ransom. 

The messages were delivered to various media outlets, including the celebrity news site TMZ.com, and they were then turned over to authorities for review. 

Savannah Guthrie has mentioned the ransom demands in video messages she and her siblings have posted on social media, asking the kidnappers to communicate directly with the elder Guthrie's family and pleading for her safety. In one video, Savannah Guthrie said the family would pay the ransom. 

The elder Guthrie is 84 and has limited mobility and health problems. She was last seen alive at her home in Tuscon, Arizona, on Jan. 31, after spending the evening with her older daughter, Annie Guthrie, and the daughter's husband.