The ransom note, which was sent to multiple media outlets days after Savannah Guthrie’s mother was abducted, demanded millions of dollars in Bitcoin by 5 pm Thursday and contained eerily specific information about Nancy’s home and clothing.
On Thursday, TMZ founder Harvey Levin provided more insight into the note, which was sent to his newsroom on Tuesday, and said police are getting “desperate.”
According to the note, Nancy Guthrie is “safe but scared” and “knows exactly” what the demand for her return is, as a “far more consequential” ransom deadline approaches on Monday, Levin said.
“I will say the letter begins by saying she is safe but scared, and they go on to say she knows exactly what the demand is,” Levin told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday.
“They are, through us, telling the family exactly what they are demanding, and they are saying that Nancy is aware of it,” Levin said of the Today show host’s family.
“They are also saying… that this will be their only communication and they are done communicating and negotiating — here’s the deal and that’s it.”
Levin said that while the Thursday deadline had already passed, a deadline set for Monday at 5 pm is “far more consequential.”
“As the clock ticks, that’s one of the reasons the FBI and other authorities have gotten desperate here,” he said.
NEW MESSAGE FROM KIDNAPPERS
Hours after the first deadline expired, CBS affiliate KOLD reported that its news station had received a new message from the alleged kidnappers behind Nancy’s abduction.
The message was reportedly sent out to the news outlet, who forwarded it to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and federal authorities, at around 11:45 am on Friday.
Pima County deputies confirmed that law enforcement investigators were “actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity.”
Investigators did not disclose specific details about what information the note contained.
The IP address did not come from the same IP address where the initial note that media outlets received on Tuesday came from, according to KOLD.
However, the outlet the reported that the sender appeared to have used the same secure server to shield their IP address.
”The new note contains information the senders seem to think will prove to investigators they’re the same people who sent the first,” KOLD reported.
HARROWING CLUES
Levin, the TMZ founder, added that there are details in the initial email that lead him to believe that Nancy may still be in the Tucson area, where authorities believe she was abducted from her home.
“There is a phrase in this email that absolutely makes me believe this person who wrote this, and if they’re telling the truth, that Nancy is within a radius of the Tucson area — not in Tucson right now, but in a radius,” he told Hannity.
“It could be New Mexico. I don’t know how far, but I think at least what the authorities have is they’ve got a radius, and that’s something.”
The TMZ boss added that the note included details that had not been publicly disclosed.
“That was what really put my antenna up and we immediately called the sheriff,” Levin said.
He said the location of Nancy’s Apple Watch and a floodlight that was damaged at her home led him to believe the note may be legitimate.
“They do mention an Apple Watch, as the FBI said, and they do mention the floodlight, the damaged floodlight,” he explained.
