TMZ founder Harvey Levin is publicly pushing back against reports that the FBI has determined ransom notes tied to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie were fake, saying federal officials involved in the investigation have told him the opposite.
Speaking in a video update Wednesday, Levin addressed a Reuters report citing two anonymous law enforcement sources who said the FBI believes three ransom notes connected to the case are not authentic.
“Reuters came out with a story today saying that they have FBI sources who say that the FBI has determined that the two ransom notes … were not legitimate,” Levin said. “So we decided that we would pursue this and see if in fact this is real.”
Levin said he spoke with two FBI officials, including one whom he described as directly involved in the investigation.
“The official in the FBI … said this: it is more likely than not that the two ransom notes are real,” Levin said. “They are more legitimate than not. That’s a quote.”
Levin stressed that the FBI has not definitively authenticated the letters but argued that investigators also have not ruled them out.
“They have definitely not determined that they’re not,” he said. “And they lean more toward legit than not legit.”
WATCH:
The Washington Examiner reported earlier Wednesday that the FBI had concluded all ransom notes tied to Guthrie’s disappearance were fake, citing two anonymous law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation. According to Reuters, investigators determined the first two notes originated from the same sender and were not connected to Guthrie’s disappearance after a small amount of cryptocurrency sent to the wallet listed in one of the demands was never moved. The report also said a third message recently sent to TMZ claiming knowledge of the kidnappers’ identities had likewise been deemed inauthentic.
The apparent contradiction marks the latest twist in one of the nation’s highest-profile missing person investigations.
Just last week, CBS News reported that investigators familiar with the case believed the first two ransom notes likely came from the same person or group responsible for abducting Guthrie. According to that report, investigators believed both messages originated from the same computer IP address, though officials had not publicly authenticated the letters.
Levin suggested the conflicting accounts may reflect differences among investigators rather than a formal FBI determination.
“The FBI is a big organization, and there are multiple agents on this case,” he said.
He acknowledged that separate messages sent directly to TMZ — including one claiming to know the identities of Guthrie’s alleged kidnappers — could ultimately prove to be hoaxes. But he maintained that investigators continue actively examining the original ransom communications.
Levin said TMZ’s IT team previously participated in conference calls with multiple FBI agents as investigators attempted to trace the source of the messages.
“We are told today that they are still pursuing those two notes,” Levin said. “They have not determined they’re real, but they have definitely not determined that they’re not.”
The first ransom note demanded $4 million in Bitcoin and warned the price would increase to $6 million if payment wasn’t made by a specified deadline. A second letter later sent to a Tucson television station claimed Nancy Guthrie had died while in captivity but did not include a ransom demand.
Levin speculated that detail could explain why Savannah Guthrie soon afterward publicly offered to pay anyone who could provide information leading to her mother’s recovery.
“It now kind of makes sense,” Levin said. “The reason she said that is because that second letter did not ask for any money.”
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona, home on Feb. 1. Authorities have said evidence at the scene — including blood belonging to Guthrie and surveillance footage showing a masked individual outside her home shortly before she vanished — supports their belief that she was abducted. The investigation remains active, and the FBI continues to offer a reward for information leading to her recovery.
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