Nancy Guthrie Case Update: Details of the chilling ransom note emerged days after the kidnapping of ‘Today’ show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother. Shortly after news broke that the kidnappers had demanded millions of dollars in Bitcoin from the Guthrie family, TMZ founder Harvey Levin went into specifics. The outlet received a ransom note two days after the 84-year-old grandmother went missing on Sunday.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos gives an update on the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie (Reuters)Nancy Guthrie ‘Safe but Scared’Levine told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday that the letter “starts by saying he’s safe but scared, and they say he knows exactly what the claim is.”
“They’re telling the family, through us, exactly what they’re demanding, and they’re saying that Nancy is aware of it,” Levin added.
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According to authorities, the kidnappers set a deadline of Monday. “If a transfer wasn’t made, there was a second demand for the following Monday. We don’t want to go beyond that,” FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Heath Janke said.
“The second term is much more productive,” Levin told CNN’s Erin Barnett last night.
The emotional appeal of the Guthrie familySavannah Guthrie’s brother on Thursday renewed the family’s plea for contact with their mother’s abductor. “Whoever is holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly,” Cameron Guthrie said in a video posted on social media.
“We need to reach you and we need a way to contact you so we can move forward,” but first the family needs to know the kidnapper has their mother, he said. Savannah had read a similar note a day earlier.
Nancy is still outPima County officials said at a press conference Thursday that they believe Nancy Guthrie is alive and ‘still out there.’ Police believe the 84-year-old woman was taken against her will from her home in Tucson over the weekend. The sheriff said DNA tests matched blood found on Guthrie’s front porch.
“Right now, we believe Nancy is still out there. We want her home.”
Also read: ‘White van, full size’: Neighbor sees suspicious car days before Nancy Guthrie goes missing
A note e-mailed Monday to the KOLD-TV newsroom in Tucson contained information that only the kidnapper would know, anchor Mary Coleman told CNN.
“When we looked at some of these details, it became clear after a few sentences that this could not be a hoax,” he said.
(With input from The Associated Press)
