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A second, “far more consequential” deadline outlined in the alleged Guthrie ransom note expires Monday, TMZ founder Harvey Levin told Fox News on Thursday.
During an interview with “Hannity,” Levin shared new details into the alleged ransom note received by the outlet, which he said appears to have come from captors of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie.
“When I said there are two deadlines, yes — there is one that changes the demand, and that’s the one that has already passed, and the one on Monday is far more consequential,” Levin said.
Police say the 84-year-old woman was removed from her home against her will and that her pacemaker has been disconnected from the app it syncs to since she was last seen on Jan. 31.
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An alleged ransom note was sent to TMZ, and while Levin said he has no proof the letter is legitimate, he noted that specific details lend it some credibility.
“We’re not sure that this is really written by the person who has Nancy,” he explained. “But I will say, the letter begins by saying she is safe, but scared, and they go on to say she knows exactly what the demand is.”
“We knew she wore an Apple watch, there are pictures of her with Savannah with that watch,” he said. “They mentioned where the watch was, the placement of the watch in the house — and that’s not something that was out there.”
The ransom note contained two deadlines, according to the FBI, one that expired Thursday and a second deadline set to expire Monday.
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TMZ has not revealed the specific threat outlined by the alleged ransomer if the deadlines pass, and Levin figured the note is untraceable.
“As far as we can tell, it’s impossible to trace the origin of this email,” Levin said.
The TMZ founder theorized that Nancy Guthrie’s captor might still be in Arizona, near the location where she was taken.
“I believe that this is somebody in that wide Tucson area — not in Tucson, could be in New Mexico now,” Levin said. “But they are definitely familiar with Tucson.”
“I think it’s one of the reasons, too, that they sent the same email to one of the local stations in Tucson,” he added.
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Levin also accused authorities of growing increasingly desperate, as the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance reaches a sixth day, especially since the alleged ransom note said this will be the only communication they send.
“They’re saying that this will be their only communication,” he told Fox News. “And they are done communicating, negotiating, here’s the deal and that’s it. And as the clock ticks, I think that’s one of the reasons the FBI and other authorities have gotten desperate here.”
The structure of the ransom note suggests it is not fake, Levin noted.
“This is not a letter that was thrown together in a couple of minutes,” he said. “It is a very specific, well-organized, layered letter that really lays things out. This is not AI.”
“If an English teacher were to look at the structure and the grammar and everything else, I think they would have no notes,” Levin added. “So this is somebody — it’s not a crazy person who’s writing this. I mean, they may be crazy, but they have the capacity to make demands, say what they want, say what they don’t want, and it’s very, very structured.”
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