{"id":1927,"date":"2026-02-11T16:45:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=1927"},"modified":"2026-02-11T16:45:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:45:54","slug":"ex-fbi-official-sounds-alarm-as-tmz-gets-third-guthrie-letter-demanding-bitcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=1927","title":{"rendered":"Ex-FBI official sounds alarm as TMZ gets third Guthrie letter demanding Bitcoin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div id=\"beyondwords-wrapper\" class=\"beyondwords-wrapper\">\n<p><span class=\"label-bg\">NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"speakable\">Former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker told Fox News\u2019 &#8220;The Faulkner Focus&#8221; he is &#8220;highly skeptical&#8221; regarding a third letter being sent to TMZ and suggests it may be bad actors looking to capitalize on the ongoing situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">&#8220;I just don\u2019t think anything TMZ has brought forward has panned out. I mean it\u2019s a good vehicle for people to come in and do this, TMZ gets some viewership and it sort of ties up the investigative team trying to run this down. But I sense a scam here,&#8221; Swecker said.<\/p>\n<p>Sweker added that he &#8220;may be absolutely wrong,&#8221; but &#8220;bottom line&#8221; is he&#8217;s &#8220;very skeptical of it.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>TMZ host Harvey Levin revealed on Fox News Channel\u2019s &#8220;America\u2019s Newsroom&#8221; that his outlet received a third alleged letter in relation to the disappearance of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/nancy-guthrie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nancy Guthrie<\/a> offering to provide information regarding the 84-year-old\u2019s suspected abductors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;An hour and a half ago, we got, kind of a bizarre letter, an email from somebody who says they know who the kidnapper is and that they have tried reaching Savannah&#8217;s sister Annie and Savannah&#8217;s brother to no avail. And they said they want one Bitcoin sent to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/tech\/topics\/cybercrime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bitcoin address<\/a> that we have confirmed is active. It&#8217;s a real Bitcoin address, and as they put it, time is more than relevant. So we have no idea whether this is real or not. But they are making a demand.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Levin added the note included a name and email address to send the one Bitcoin to, which values around $56,000 \u2013 roughly the same amount offered by the FBI for information leading to the return of Nancy Guthrie.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/sheriff-leading-guthrie-investigation-spotted-basketball-game-family-pleads-again-alleged-ransomers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>SHERIFF LEADING GUTHRIE INVESTIGATION SPOTTED AT BASKETBALL GAME AS FAMILY PLEADS AGAIN WITH ALLEGED RANSOMERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/343\/192\/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/686\/384\/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/672\/378\/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1344\/756\/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/931\/523\/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1862\/1046\/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/720\/405\/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1440\/810\/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1200\/675\/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"Savannah Guthrie stands beside her mother Nancy Guthrie and poses together for a photo.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>Savannah Guthrie and her mother Nancy Guthrie are pictured in 2023.<\/span> <span>(Nathan Congleton\/NBC via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think this person is purporting to be [the alleged kidnappers],&#8221; Levin said. &#8220;This person is purporting to be someone who probably wrote that first letter. If the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/tech\/topics\/fbi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FBI&#8217;s operating theory<\/a> is right, they are going on the assumption that the person who wrote this note took Nancy. And so they&#8217;re not saying they&#8217;re the kidnappers, they are saying they know who the kidnapper is, and we&#8217;ll give that information up for one Bitcoin.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to Levin, law enforcement officials are operating under the assumption that Guthrie\u2019s alleged abductor &#8220;lives in the Tucson television area.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/nancy-guthries-alleged-bitcoin-ransom-could-paid-minutes-monday-deadline-approaches-expert\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>NANCY GUTHRIE&#8217;S ALLEGED BITCOIN RANSOM COULD BE PAID IN MINUTES AS MONDAY DEADLINE APPROACHES: EXPERT<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/343\/192\/guthrie-alleged-suspect-grabs.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/686\/384\/guthrie-alleged-suspect-grabs.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/672\/378\/guthrie-alleged-suspect-grabs.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1344\/756\/guthrie-alleged-suspect-grabs.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/931\/523\/guthrie-alleged-suspect-grabs.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1862\/1046\/guthrie-alleged-suspect-grabs.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/720\/405\/guthrie-alleged-suspect-grabs.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1440\/810\/guthrie-alleged-suspect-grabs.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1200\/675\/guthrie-alleged-suspect-grabs.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"A view from a doorbell camera showing an armed individual outside the residence of Nancy Guthrie in Tucson, Arizona\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>Photos released on Feb. 10, 2025, show a &#8220;subject&#8221; on Nancy Guthrie&#8217;s property.\u00a0<\/span> <span>(Provided by FBI)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The latest revelation comes on the heels of the FBI and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/crime\/police-and-law-enforcement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pima County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/trumps-reaction-new-footage-guthrie-abduction-pure-disgust-leavitt-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">releasing recovered surveillance images<\/a> and footage of Nancy Guthrie\u2019s alleged abductor, showing a masked individual approaching her front door and attempting to cover it with foliage.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday evening, authorities took one individual into custody for questioning in relation to Nancy Guthrie\u2019s disappearance, though no arrests have been made.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A man at the home identified himself to Fox News as Carlos Palazuelos and said he had been pulled over during a traffic stop. He was detained for questioning but later released by authorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>FBI Director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/kash-patel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kash Patel<\/a> said on &#8220;Hannity&#8221; that the agency is looking at multiple persons of interest in the search for Nancy Guthrie.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/chilling-41-minute-gap-nancy-guthrie-case-raises-red-flags-from-ex-homicide-detective\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>41-MINUTE TIMELINE IN NANCY GUTHRIE CASE RAISES RED FLAGS FROM EX-HOMICIDE DETECTIVE<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/343\/192\/guthrie-family-sharpened-lightened.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/686\/384\/guthrie-family-sharpened-lightened.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/672\/378\/guthrie-family-sharpened-lightened.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1344\/756\/guthrie-family-sharpened-lightened.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/931\/523\/guthrie-family-sharpened-lightened.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1862\/1046\/guthrie-family-sharpened-lightened.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/720\/405\/guthrie-family-sharpened-lightened.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1440\/810\/guthrie-family-sharpened-lightened.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1200\/675\/guthrie-family-sharpened-lightened.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"Savannah Guthrie and Siblings Annie and Camron\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>Savannah Guthrie (C) and her siblings Annie (L) and Cameron made an emotional plea on Instagram asking anyone with information about their mother Nancy Guthrie&#8217;s disappearance to come forward on February 4, 2025.<\/span> <span>(Credit: Instagram\/@SavannahGuthrie\/Today)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Without polluting the investigation, I will say we have made substantial progress in these last 36-48 hours, thanks to the technical capabilities of the FBI and our partnerships, and I do believe we are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest, but as you know with any investigation, you&#8217;re a person of interest until you&#8217;re either eliminated, or you&#8217;re actually found to be the culprit or the culprits involved, and that&#8217;s the stage we&#8217;re at right now,&#8221; Patel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona home in the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 1. Since she was reported missing, TMZ and various news outlets have received two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/second-alleged-guthrie-ransom-deadline-missed-sparking-new-theories-from-bongino-former-fbi-agent-doctor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alleged notes<\/a> believed to be connected to her disappearance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><i>Fox News Digital&#8217;s Bradford Betz and Greg Norman contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<p> <!----> <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-bio\">\n<p>Julia Bonavita is a U.S. Writer for Fox News Digital and a Fox Flight Team drone pilot. You can follow her at <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/juliabonavita13\" target=\"_blank\">@juliabonavita13<\/a> on all platforms and send story tips to julia.bonavita@fox.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/ex-fbi-official-flags-possible-scam-third-alleged-nancy-guthrie-letter-emerges\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker told Fox News\u2019 &#8220;The Faulkner Focus&#8221; he is &#8220;highly skeptical&#8221; regarding a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}