California man pleads guilty to faking Nancy Guthrie ransom note

The brief

A California man is facing up to two years in prison or a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to sending Nancy Guthrie’s family a phoney ransom note, federal authorities announced on Thursday. Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of the Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on 31 January at her residence outside Tucson, Arizona. Inside the home, authorities observed her cellphone, medication and other basic essentials. Law enforcement officers also found drops of her blood near the porch. After KOLD, a CBS affiliate in Tucson, reported that it had received a ransom demand with a bitcoin wallet address, the Guthrie family posted a video on 4 February, imploring…