A person purporting to have direct knowledge of Nancy Guthrie’s abduction is now also claiming to have video evidence and that there were two kidnappers directly involved, according to TMZ founder Harvey Levin, who received the message.
Levin revealed the latest email in a series of messages he said he’s received since the early days of the case, from someone claiming to know what happened to the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie.
“They’re saying they have video, and for one Bitcoin, they will lead authorities to the safe place where they can find this phone,” Levin said on “The Will Cain Show” Friday afternoon. “They will give them the password, and they will give them both the name and address of the two kidnappers. This is what the person said.”
Authorities have not publicly confirmed the legitimacy of the first two notes that have been deemed possibly authentic — or the TMZ emails, and sources close to the investigation appear split.
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WATCH: Tipster claiming inside knowledge of Guthrie kidnapping says there were 2 kidnappers
Some investigators believe that the ransom demands are all bogus, while others are cautious about reaching that conclusion while Guthrie’s whereabouts remain unknown, sources tell Fox News and Fox News Digital.
Levin revealed he has received about a dozen emails from the same person.
“We’ve been in constant touch with the FBI over this person, and we know they are trying to find out who it is,” Levin said. “So it’s not like they’re dismissing this person out of hand. But at the same time, they’re not paying the Bitcoin.”
He added that TMZ’s information technology team had spent hours working with a group of FBI agents trying to track down the sender.
Both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment.
After receiving the note earlier Friday, Levin called out the anonymous sender.
“If you’ve got something, send it,” he said in a video posted online, urging the sender to prove he or she isn’t a fraudster.
“He responded a couple hours later,” Levin told Cain. “He had seen the post. He said, ‘I’m not gonna do it, because the metadata is gonna lead authorities to me.”
According to the emails, the sender knows the kidnappers, and they suspect he may be the one sending notes to TMZ.
“Either the author of those emails is a complete fool or it’s completely fake,” said Jim Clemente, a retired FBI supervisory agent. “Why would you offer up exactly what the Guthrie family has been looking for and offered a $1 million reward for an exchange for one Bitcoin when if you actually give them the information that they need and that you say you have, you can get $1 million instead? In Bitcoin if you want it.”
The emailer has sought various sums of up to $100,000 for the information they claim to be able to provide, according to Levin — and is now asking for a single Bitcoin, worth about $60,000 Friday afternoon.
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Meanwhile, there is more than $1 million available from Guthrie’s daughter, “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, for her mother’s return. And 88-Crime, Tucson’s Crime Stoppers affiliate, is offering $102,500 for information leading to an arrest in the case, which can be claimed anonymously.
Levin said he sent the email to the FBI.
“I have a phone stashed in a secure location guaranteeing both the information it stores and the safety of the phone,” the sender wrote, according to Levin. “What it contains is my definition of delivering them on a silver platter, a short video of the main guy with Nancy the day that was probably her last, pictures of both involved, names and addresses and age.”
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TMZ claims to have authenticated the email, with Levin explaining that the message included a Bitcoin account that had not been publicly revealed but had been included in earlier messages. Authorities have not pushed back on the belief that the same person is behind this series of messages to TMZ.
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The sender also appears to be following news updates on the case — questioning recent reports that he or she may be a female and reacting to viral reports about a false alarm last week.
“I am not the idiot who recently called in a tip about her burial site in Mexico,” the sender allegedly wrote.
Anyone with information on Guthrie’s case is asked to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI. There is a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information that cracks the case.
Tips can be provided anonymously to Tucson’s Crime Stoppers affiliate, 88-Crime, at 1-520-882-7463.
