LAST UPDATE | 23 Jun

A RANSOM NOTE was sent to several US media outlets claiming that Nancy Guthrie, the mother of TV host Savannah Guthrie, died.

Mystery continues to shroud the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie from her home in Tucson, Arizona in the early hours of 1 February.

Security camera footage released by authorities showed a masked, apparently armed man at her house, but since then the trail has gone cold.

CNN has now confirmed that it was one of the media outlets that received a ransom note in February that said Nancy Guthrie had died.

Savannah Guthrie said in an emotional interview on the Today Show, where she works, Guthrie said she was coming on air to “beg people” with any information pertaining to her mother’s disappearance to come forward.

“Somebody knows something,” she said, adding that she and her family are “in agony” as the investigation continues.

“Please do the right thing,” she appealed, mentioning the $1 million reward offered by the Guthrie family for the return of Nancy, as well as additional $100,000 on offer from the FBI.

“We love our mom and we will never stop looking for her, ever.”

A masked person captured on a camera on Guthrie's porch on the night she went missing.

According to the US broadcaster, this note claimed that Nancy Guthrie was dead but that the kidnappers “did not mean to kill her, but she died shortly after the kidnapping”.

The station held off on reporting the contents of the note until now after a request from police while they tried to determine the authenticity of the letter. A CNN article covering the contents said investigators do believe the notes were legitimate communications from the kidnappers.

The same note was also received by a local TV news station in Tucson, Arizona.

Following this note, CNN said, the Guthrie family responded with an emotional video on 7 February when Savannah Guthrie said, “We received your message, and we understand.”

Savannah Guthrie has previously issued pleas for her mother to be returned.

US television host Savannah Guthrie had previously offered $1 million for a tip leading to the recovery of her mother, acknowledging that “she may already be gone.”

The Today show is something of a US institution, airing nationally since 1952 and drawing millions of viewers to NBC on weekday mornings.