Sheriff in Nancy Guthrie case contradicted himself on ransom note

When investigators in the Arizona disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie, released two ransom notes Friday, one of the messages directly contradicted what Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told CBS News in an interview one day earlier.

"I have nothing to indicate she's dead," Nanos said Thursday. "I don't have a body. I don't have a burial site. I don't have any note."

But he did have a note. On Friday, Nanos released the two notes to the public for the first time. The messages had originally been sent to the local CBS station in Tucson in February, shortly after the 84-year-old's abduction.

Nanos said he released the ransom notes hoping someone would recognize the author's potentially distinctive wording and help identify who sent them.

The first, submitted a day after Guthrie was reported missing, opened with "Hello Savannah, we have your mother," demanded a $4 million ransom be paid in bitcoin, and promised to return her to a "safe drop off location" in Tucson within 12 hours of the ransom's deposit.

The second note, sent just four days later, says, "We never intended to hurt her, that was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart related. She is buried in nature now."

The first note included details about Nancy Guthrie's white Apple Watch and the floodlights on her back porch, leading the FBI to take them seriously.

Both notes were sent via a tip line to CBS affiliate KOLD-TV using email addresses that appeared to be made up and used references to the Guthrie family.

CBS News has previously reported that investigators believed both notes were sent from the same IP address. That address was masked and investigators don't know whose computer it was sent from.

Lance Leising, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, told CBS News that releasing the notes to drive more tips from the public was a great thing to do.

"However, so late in the case and after a period of time where they have had no communication with the public, it just seems that the media strategy here is a little haphazard," Leising said.

Leising said the months-delayed release could be due to questions of authenticity.

"I'm sure, and maybe even to this day, they're not 100% sure if these notes are legitimate," Leising said. "I mean, they've already arrested and charged people for sending hoax and fake notes in."

Jason Pack, another retired FBI supervisory special agent, noted that the second message dropped the ransom demand.

"The money is simply gone," Pack told CBS News on Friday. "No deman