ransom

The FBI’s Phoenix office on Wednesday said some ransom notes relating to the February disappearance of Nancy Guthrie were potentially “legitimate,” while others have been discounted as “extortion attempts.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

Smith, for his part, is dubious about the veracity of the ransom notes - and believes Guthrie was ferreted down to Mexico where she could more easily be kept out of sight.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

It remains unclear if authorities believe the ransom notes are authentic, but the Guthrie family have stated they believe the letters, which were sent to local news media and national outlets like TMZ, were real.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

NBC’s “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie made a tearful, emotional plea Tuesday after revelations that a second ransom note sent following her mother’s abduction revealed she died sometime after the abduction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

But the intermediary made it clear that Pike would share this information under one condition: that he be paid a king’s ransom.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

It was definitely not cheap paying off these pirates, whether it was ransoms or tariffs.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

It is illegal to pay ransoms in Nigeria, but analysts say payments by desperate families, intermediaries or, in some cases, state authorities have fuelled the abductions.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

Law enforcement advice around the world is not to pay cybercriminal ransoms as it fuels the industry and there is no guarantee hackers will actually delete stolen data.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026

It is a lucrative money-spinner but the government consistently denies paying ransoms.

From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025

"Knights and lordlings, they take each other captive and pay ransoms, but they don't care if the likes of you yield or not."

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

King Richard was captured on his way back from the Middle East and ransomed for 150,000 silver marks—approximately three times the annual income of the English Crown.

From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026

He was eventually freed, returned to Gambia, and ransomed fellow Muslims who were enslaved.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2021

Anticipating that the Abu Sayyaf may soon demand the German to be ransomed off, Tan appealed for people to follow the Philippine government’s no-ransom policy.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 6, 2016

“On one side was the Kenyan state that harassed and ransomed the refugees with impunity,” Mr. Rawlence writes, when he finally indulges the metaphor in full.

From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2016

They were only there a short time, though; one morning two other brothers arrived under a peace banner with a chest of gold, and ransomed them from the knights who'd cap-tured them.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

The Talmud, a set of commentaries on the Torah, specifically condones ransoming of hostages as a communal responsibility, and many ancient scholars considered being hostage a fate worse than death.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 4, 2023

Experts say the trend towards ransoming sensitive private information could affect companies not just operationally but through reputation damage.

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2021

Heinkel and Borelli are accused in a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court in late March of improperly impounding Bird’s scooters and then ransoming them back to the $2 billion company.

From The Verge ● Jul. 24, 2019

Simone’s situation sounds dramatic enough to hold an episode of “Homeland” — in fact, the ransoming of Carrie Mathison’s top-secret computer files drove a plot point on the Showtime series last season.

From Fox News ● Oct. 12, 2018

This redemption appears, throughout, as a ransoming from the house of bondage,—and the wonderful dealings of the Lord, as the price which He paid.

From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, Vol. 1 by Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm