New Ransom Note Claims To Know Where Nancy Guthrie Is Located & Her Kidnapper's Identity
TMZ received two more alleged ransom notes connected to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie.
TMZ founder Harvey Levin revealed the existence of the notes, which claim to know where Nancy is and the identity of her alleged kidnapper, during a Monday stream of “TMZ Live.”
“We got another letter today from this person, an email saying, ‘I know where her body is, and who the kidnapper is, give me half a bitcoin and I’ll tell you,'” Levin said on air, noting that the email came from the same sender who sent ransom notes to TMZ back in February.
The note allegedly claimed, “She is dead.”
After that note, TMZ reported that a second note was received which claimed, “I saw her alive with them in the state of Sonora Mexico.”
The sender allegedly expressed frustration that law enforcement “disregarded [their notes] as a scam.”
“It’s unbelievable that millions have been wasted and yet here I am willing to deliver them on a silver platter since the 11th of february for a bitcoin but I am disregarded as a scam … they are free and the case is frozen but the ego’s remain hot when it comes to me,” the first letter reportedly states.
RELATED: Insider Reveals The Biggest Mistakes Made In Nancy Guthrie Investigation
The sender also claimed they had no involvement in the “horrific crime” and added, “I just want whats fair and to live peacefully with enough to start my life again quietly with out having to join a witness protection program.”
TMZ said they alerted the FBI. However, Levin claimed that the authorities are “dismissing” the letter during an April 6 appearance on Ashleigh Banfield’s podcast after revealing the note.
“I’ve talked to the FBI and I’ve frankly said to them, ‘Look, I’m not you and you clearly know a heck of a lot more than me, but my spidey senses are just telling me something about this guy,” Levin explained.
Levin noted that he understands that it’s a possibility that the notes are a “hoax,” but offered insight into why he believes the sender is telling the truth. “I believe it was the Tuesday after Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped, he sent us this note saying, ‘I know where she is. I know who the kidnappers are. Time is of the essence.’ That was on a Tuesday. On Wednesday, we got another note from the same person, but it said, ‘Time is no longer of the essence,’ meaning I think she is no longer alive,” he said. “If somebody is carrying out a hoax, why would they take the immediacy away and say she’s no longer alive?”
“They [the FBI] said, ‘Yeah, yeah, we hear you but you know there are a lot of crackpots out there,'” Levin said. “So maybe they know something, I mean I’m sure they do, that I don’t know. But on the one hand they seem to be dismissing it, on the other hand I can tell you they spent a heck of a lot of time trying to track down this guy’s email and they weren’t able to do it.”
Back in early February, shortly after Guthrie was last seen on January 31, authorities confirmed that they were investigating a series of ransom notes sent to various media outlets, including TMZ.
Savannah, alongside her sister Annie and brother Camron, addressed the notes in a video plea on February 7. “We received your message and we understand,” Savannah said in the short video. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”
Since then, investigators have not disclosed any major leads or suspects. Savannah returned to the Today show on April 6.
RELATED: The Last Known Video of Nancy Guthrie Amid Her Disappearance Raises More Questions