TMZ’s Harvey Levin disputes reports of an apology in Nancy Guthrie’s ransom note
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The person who received a lot of ransom demands in the case of Nancy Guthrie is pushing back on recent reports saying that the potential kidnappers are sorry for the death of this 84-year-old man.
“I want to talk about Nancy Guthrie and other connections I had with the FBI that I haven’t talked about until now,” Harvey Levin said in a video posted on TMZ’s YouTube channel Monday afternoon. “But I want to start with the reports that the ransom note we received apologized to Savannah Guthrie and her family for the kidnapping and that Nancy was gone. That was not in the ransom note we received.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, whose department is the lead agency in the case, told Fox News Digital on Monday that the FBI has been handling the investigation into multiple ransom demands, some false and some potentially real, from the beginning.
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A missing person billboard for Nancy Guthrie is displayed in Phoenix, Arizona, on Feb. 6, 2026. Guthrie has been missing since early February 2026. (KSAZ)
He deferred comment to the office on the new reports, and the FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WATCH: What the FBI Told Harvey Levin | TMZ
“There is nothing in that ransom note at all,” Levin said of the notes posted to TMZ. “It means you’re scared, but that’s okay. But the ransom note doesn’t mean Nancy Guthrie dies or the kidnappers apologize.”
ALL WE KNOW ABOUT NANCY GUTHRIE’S POSSIBLE RANSOM NOTE
The two photos of the suspect taken from Nancy Guthrie’s porch were taken on different days, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. (FBI)
TMZ wasn’t the only place to find potential ransom demands. Local media also received similar messages through their inboxes, at least initially.
ABC News reported Monday that local media had received a claim that Guthrie had died and been buried.
A federal law enforcement source confirmed to Fox News Digital on Monday that the FBI deposited a small amount of cryptocurrency into a Bitcoin wallet to test the validity of the alleged ransom demand. It was not immediately clear whether the sender of the second note was trustworthy – or whether any of the ransom demands were real.
Savannah Guthrie hugs an employee while visiting the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
However, they could fit the pattern of “wrench attack” that some investigators have floated about the case, where the “mastermind” of the computer hacker, probably overseas, could have hired local criminals to kidnap Guthrie in an attempt to extort his daughter, “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie.
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Sunday marked 20 weeks since Guthrie’s alleged kidnapping from his home in the Catalina Foothills north of Tucson. His whereabouts are unknown as of Monday.
A series of recent emails, however, sent by a person who claims to have knowledge of the case, mention Guthrie’s death, Levin added.
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“This is coming from someone who sent us multiple emails saying he knew or knew where Nancy Guthrie was and where the kidnappers were, and he wanted money to get the information,” Levin said. “We passed that on to the FBI as we did the ransom note, but this person kept emailing us. And at first, he said, time is of the essence. Then a few days after the kidnapping, he said, time is running out, meaning he was no longer alive.”
That person had asked for $100,000 for information — well below the $4 million ransom demand, he added.
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Savannah Guthrie poses with her mother Nancy Guthrie during a production break while hosting NBC’s “Today Show” live from Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)
“This person also said that he was afraid that he might be affected,” explained Levin. “He had his record hacked as I think he said 11 years before, and apparently he knew these kidnappers so well that he was afraid he might be involved.”
MAN WHO GAVE UP $100K TO FIND NANCY GUTHRIE SAYS TIPSTERS SHOULD SKIP THE SHERIFF AND CALL CIMES TOPPERS
It is said that he wanted money so that he could go “undercover” and avoid reprisals.
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That person never received the money, he said. And when he asked TMZ to put money down to see if it leads to any kind of resolution, he said his sources at the FBI stopped responding.
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Anyone with information on Guthrie’s case is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. There is a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information leading to the case.
Tips can be submitted anonymously to Tucson’s Crime Stoppers agent, 88-Crime, at 1-520-882-7463.
