The latest purported ransom notes sent to TMZ claiming to know who kidnapped Nancy Guthrie reveal a sick plot to continue to “torment” the missing grandmother’s devastated family for a quick profit, according to a former FBI agent.
The notes, which also claimed to know where her body could be found, were notably sent just as Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah Guthrie, made her emotional return to NBC’s “Today” show for the first time since her mom vanished more than two months ago.
“They sent these right when Savannah Guthrie went back to work. That was by no mistake, that was absolutely meant to further torment her and her family,” Jennifer Coffindaffer told Newsweek.
“I think it speaks to the fact that there is at least someone out there that is still willing to torture this family by sending these continued communications with no proof of life,” she added.
Guthrie, 84, has been missing since Feb. 1 after authorities believed she was kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona.
Since her disappearance, multiple purported ransom notes have been reported — including several sent to TMZ.
The pair of notes received by the outlet on Monday was sent from the same anonymous person who, nearly two months ago, demanded one bitcoin in exchange for information related to Guthrie’s abduction.
The first note claimed that Guthrie was dead — but the sender said that their offer to “deliver [the kidnappers] on a silver platter” for the cryptocurrency still stands.
In a second note, they claimed to have seen Guthrie alive with her captors in the Mexican state of Sonora, just across the border from Arizona.
The person said they will surrender the information for half a bitcoin, with another half transferred to their wallet when there is a public arrest.
Coffander believes they’re lying about having any real information because they’re shooting for a single bitcoin, valued at about $71,000, rather than the massive reward that’s been offered by Guthrie’s family and law enforcement agencies.
“The reason this makes sense to me, that they don’t have that knowledge, is because they’re not seeking the $1.2 million. Instead, they’re trying to subvert it with this… quickly paid, no hoops to jump through, just get the money. But I think that these people are scammers.”
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