TMZ founder Harvey Levin dropped bombshell details Thursday night about a purported ransom note tied to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, telling Fox News’ “Hannity” that a looming deadline could prove critical.
Guthrie, 84, the mother of NBC “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since early Sunday morning. Authorities are scrambling for answers as the investigation heads into its sixth day on Friday.
Levin said a first deadline tied to the alleged ransom demand quietly passed Thursday, but warned a second deadline set for Monday carries far higher stakes.
“The letter begins by saying she is safe, but scared, and they go on to say she knows exactly what the demand is,” Levin said. “And so they are, you know, through us, telling the family and obviously the sheriff’s department gave the family the letter we received, exactly what they’re demanding, and they’re saying that Nancy is aware of it.”
Levin said details in the message convinced him the person who sent it had been close to Guthrie’s Tucson-area home and may still be operating nearby. The letter referenced the placement of items inside the house, including an Apple Watch, information Levin said had not been made public.
“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. 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.”
He added that tracing the email’s origin may be difficult, though the FBI is working alongside TMZ’s IT team. Levin confirmed the demand calls for cryptocurrency sent to a specific Bitcoin address.
“I know the bitcoin address is real,” he said. “What I will say is this, this is not a letter that was thrown together in a couple of minutes. It is a very specific, well organized, layered letter that really lays things out. This is not AI.”
Earlier Thursday, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos appeared with the FBI at a press conference, saying investigators have no official suspects but outlining a stark timeline surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.
She left her daughter Annie Guthrie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni’s home at 9:48 p.m. Saturday after dinner, the last confirmed sighting. Authorities said her doorbell camera disconnected at 1:47 a.m. Sunday. A security camera detected motion at 2:12 a.m., but no footage was saved because a subscription service was inactive. At 2:28 a.m., Guthrie’s pacemaker stopped syncing with a phone application.
Family members went to check on her just before noon Sunday after she failed to show up for church, and a 911 call was placed at 12:03 p.m.
A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital there were “blood drops” leading from the entryway down the pathway toward the driveway.
Nanos said investigators are casting a wide net.
“We’re actively looking at everybody we come across in this case, everybody. We would be irresponsible if we didn’t talk to everybody — the Uber driver, the gardener, the pool person, whoever. Everybody — it’s so cliché — but everybody’s still a suspect in our eyes. That’s just how we look at things and think as cops,” said Nanos.
“And the family’s been very cooperative. They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them. And we want that relationship to continue.”
