A disturbing new development has emerged in the case of Savannah Guthrie’s missing 84-year-old mother.
TMZ received yet another email from an individual claiming to know Nancy Guthrie’s kidnappers, founder Harvey Levin reported Friday. This time, the person claimed they had a video of Nancy and an alleged abductor on “the day that was probably her last.”
In the new email, the person claimed they have that video, as well as photos and identities of the kidnappers, in a phone that is hidden away in a “location easy to access if you know where it is.” They also claimed that there were two kidnappers.
“I have a phone stashed in a secure location guaranteeing both the information it stores and the safety of the phone,” the person wrote, according to TMZ. “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.”
The person said they will disclose the phone’s location and the password if TMZ forks over Bitcoin, a form of cryptocurrency. The outlet has forwarded the new email to the FBI.
“This has become such a cat-and-mouse game,” Levin said. “If this person is real, then go to wherever that phone is and get a screen grab of something proving that you’re not a liar and somebody who is trying to inflict more pain in the Guthrie family. If you’ve got something, send it. I mean, you’ve been sending us more than a dozen emails. Send us something to show you’re not a fraudster.”
TMZ has received several messages from an individual claiming to have information about the kidnapping since Nancy disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona, home in February. Nearly six months later, the mother of three has yet to be found.
Earlier this week, CNN and NBC reported on a note claiming that Nancy was dead. TMZ later shot back, saying it received “close to a dozen emails from a man claiming he knew both the identity of the kidnappers and the location of Nancy,” but that none of them contained “a revelation she was dead.”
Savannah, 54, broke down over the notes claiming that her mother was dead.
Fighting back tears on the Today show, Guthrie urged anyone with information to come forward.
“Somebody knows something,” she said. “This is a news story today that is on your radar, but this is the life that my sister lives, that I live, that my brother lives, that our extended families live, that our children live, every day. And we are in agony. We cannot be at peace.”
“No matter how much I try to come out here every day and smile and find that joy—and I will, I promise I will—this is a moment to tell you that we need your help,” she said. “We’re begging for your help.”
