Founder of TMZ Harvey Levin Claims he was prepared to pay a Bitcoin ransom to obtain evidence related to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC’s Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie.
Levine said he contacted the FBI after receiving messages from the same person throughout Nancy’s disappearance. However, he claimed the bureau initially expressed interest in the proposal and later “ghosted” him.
Levin made the comments while discussing a new series of emails sent to TMZ by an anonymous source requesting Bitcoin in exchange for information, and that he used the same IP address throughout to talk to TMZ.
Nancy Guthrie She has been missing since late January, after authorities said she was abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona. The investigation is ongoing and the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department continue to pursue leads.
Read more: Nancy Guthrie case update: ‘Big break’ on the horizon? Former FBI agent makes big statement
Levine’s proposal
In an interview with CBS producer Anna Schecter on Saturday, Levine explained that the sender had been demanding approximately $60,000 worth of Bitcoin in exchange for information identifying the alleged kidnapper and the location of evidence.
“A month ago, I called the FBI and I said, ‘Look, I just have this feeling that this guy might be real,'” he said.
He proposed making a documentary in which TMZ would move Bitcoin while tracking its destination, but only if law enforcement was informed and cooperated. Federal agents initially promised a quick response but then stopped communicating, Levin said.
He told the FBI, “We obviously wouldn’t do anything without you, but just because we feel this way and it’s real, what if we do this?”
Read more: New twist in Nancy Guthrie case: Demand letter claims two kidnappers identified
FBI rejects proposal, says they’re making progress
Levine said in an interview that he tried to contact the FBI six times. “I feel like they’re lying to us,” he said.
According to Levine, the FBI contacted him again this week and asked TMZ to “stand down” and not continue filming the documentary. “I did get a call this week asking us to stop filming the documentary.”
Levine said investigators told him they believe they are making progress in identifying the individuals behind the messages. “I’m told they feel they are making progress in identifying this individual and they feel they can do that,” he said.
The FBI has not publicly confirmed Levine’s claims. The FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office both declined to comment on the investigation, the New York Post reported.
Emails purporting to contain evidence of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance
The sender claimed to have a cellphone that contained a short video showing Nancy Guthrie with an alleged kidnapper on the day she disappeared, Levine said.
According to Levine, the person said the phone was hidden in a safe place and promised to reveal the phone’s location, password and the identities of the two alleged kidnappers in exchange for one Bitcoin.
“In return for Bitcoin, he would lead them to the phone, give them the password, and then have them watch the video and the addresses of two people he said were their kidnappers,” Levine said, recounting the email.
Earlier this week, TMZ reported that it had requested screenshots of the alleged video to verify the claim before notifying the FBI.
Levine questions F.B.I.
In the interview, Levine also questioned why authorities seemed interested in identifying the sender if they believed the messages were just a hoax.
“If you ask me, how am I supposed to make sense of all this? I have a problem. On one hand, if they think this guy is just a jerk trying to get money, why are they spending so much time … trying to figure out who this guy is?” he said.
He said he found the survey responses difficult to reconcile with the government’s refusal to authorize the payments. He said, “On the other hand, if he was legitimate, why didn’t they pay him the roughly $60,000 in Bitcoin he was demanding to lead them to the kidnappers — and possibly Nancy Guthrie?”
