Ex-FBI official flags possible scam as third alleged Nancy Guthrie letter emerges
Former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker told Fox News’ "The Faulkner Focus" he is "highly skeptical" regarding a third letter being sent to TMZ and suggests it may be bad actors looking to capitalize on the ongoing situation.
"I just don’t think anything TMZ has brought forward has panned out. I mean it’s a good vehicle for people to come in and do this, TMZ gets some viewership and it sort of ties up the investigative team trying to run this down. But I sense a scam here," Swecker said.
Sweker added that he "may be absolutely wrong," but "bottom line" is he's "very skeptical of it."
TMZ host Harvey Levin revealed on Fox News Channel’s "America’s Newsroom" that his outlet received a third alleged letter in relation to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie offering to provide information regarding the 84-year-old’s suspected abductors.
"An hour and a half ago, we got, kind of a bizarre letter, an email from somebody who says they know who the kidnapper is and that they have tried reaching Savannah's sister Annie and Savannah's brother to no avail. And they said they want one Bitcoin sent to a Bitcoin address that we have confirmed is active. It's a real Bitcoin address, and as they put it, time is more than relevant. So we have no idea whether this is real or not. But they are making a demand."
Levin added the note included a name and email address to send the one Bitcoin to, which values around $56,000 – roughly the same amount offered by the FBI for information leading to the return of Nancy Guthrie.
"I don't think this person is purporting to be [the alleged kidnappers]," Levin said. "This person is purporting to be someone who probably wrote that first letter. If the FBI's operating theory is right, they are going on the assumption that the person who wrote this note took Nancy. And so they're not saying they're the kidnappers, they are saying they know who the kidnapper is, and we'll give that information up for one Bitcoin."
According to Levin, law enforcement officials are operating under the assumption that Guthrie’s alleged abductor "lives in the Tucson television area."
The latest revelation comes on the heels of the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Office releasing recovered surveillance images and footage of Nancy Guthrie’s alleged abductor, showing a masked individual approaching her front door and attempting to cover it with foliage.
On Tuesday evening, authorities took one individual into custody for questioning in relation to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, though no arrests have been made.
A man at the home identified himself to Fox News as Carlos Palazuelos and said he had been pulled over during a traffic stop. He was detained for questioning but later released by authorities.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on "Hannity" that the agency is looking at multiple persons of interest in the search for Nancy Guthrie.
41-MINUTE TIMELINE IN NANCY GUTHRIE CASE RAISES RED FLAGS FROM EX-HOMICIDE DETECTIVE
"Without polluting the investigation, I will say we have made substantial progress in these last 36-48 hours, thanks to the technical capabilities of the FBI and our partnerships, and I do believe we are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest, but as you know with any investigation, you're a person of interest until you're either eliminated, or you're actually found to be the culprit or the culprits involved, and that's the stage we're at right now," Patel said.
Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona home in the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 1. Since she was reported missing, TMZ and various news outlets have received two alleged notes believed to be connected to her disappearance.
Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz and Greg Norman contributed to this report.