Guthrie Family Pleads for Tips as Bitcoin Ransom Shows Zero (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Guthrie's desperate plea coming three and a half hours before the second deadline, which was given as 7 Eastern tonight, obviously just a couple of minutes ago. That's according to the original alleged ransom note, a note which demanded $6 million by 5 p.m. local time. That's 7 o'clock Eastern, according to our affiliate KGUN. But according to TMZ, the Bitcoin account referenced in the ransom note still has a zero balance.

[00:00:26] Speaker 2: We believe our mom is still out there. Savannah Guthrie, sitting alone, makes a direct appeal to the public for help in the search for her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, nine days after she was taken in the middle of the night from her home in Tucson, Arizona.

[00:00:41] Speaker 3: We need your help. Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock trying to bring her home, trying to find her. She was taken and we don't know where.

[00:00:54] Speaker 2: It's been three days since the alleged kidnapper sent a second ransom note to a local TV station after demanding $6 million. The latest note did not include a deadline. The FBI and the local sheriff's department have searched Nancy's neighborhood day and night, scouring her home, her rooftop, even an underground septic tank near her property. Searches by air and ground of the nearby foothills and desert instill Nancy's no closer to coming home. Savannah and her family are reaching out again, this time for more than prayers, asking people to look for their mother wherever they can.

[00:01:31] Speaker 3: No matter where you are, even if you're far from Tucson, if you see anything, you hear anything, if there's anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement.

[00:01:45] Speaker 2: Expressing gratitude in this horrific moment as she appeals to everyone concerned about her mother's fate.

[00:01:51] Speaker 3: Thank you so much for all of the prayers. Because we believe that somehow, some way she is feeling these prayers and that God is lifting her even in this moment and in this darkest place.

[00:02:06] Speaker 2: This is the fourth video the family has posted to social media, including two from all three of Nancy's children and one video just from her son. Previous posts were aimed at the kidnappers.

[00:02:18] Speaker 4: First we have to know that you have our mom. We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact.

[00:02:24] Speaker 2: And even directly to their mom.

[00:02:26] Speaker 3: Everyone is looking for your mommy everywhere. We will not rest.

[00:02:33] Speaker 2: On Saturday, the siblings again reached out to the potential kidnappers offering payment.

[00:02:38] Speaker 3: We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us and we will pay.

[00:02:52] Speaker 2: With each message, another glimpse into this nightmare that Nancy Guthrie's family is facing, seemingly with no end in sight.

[00:03:00] Speaker 3: We are at an hour of desperation and we need your help.

[00:03:05] Speaker 1: You've been looking at the Bitcoin account. What are you reporting?

[00:03:10] Speaker 5: There's nothing there. It has not been deposited. Aaron, I was thinking of something that you raised on Friday when you spoke to the reporter from KOLD and asked about the second note. And you asked her if this was a ransom note. And she kind of carefully said that she doesn't think authorities would characterize it as a ransom note. The only other thing I can think of, what if, and I don't know this, but I'm just raising this, what if there was another Bitcoin address in that second ransom letter that doesn't align with the one we received? I don't know why they would do this. And it doesn't make sense to me because if Savannah did pay this money, I don't know that it's in her interest to do an APB for everybody to look out for somebody who might have her mom or to find her mom if they paid the money and they're waiting for the return of their mother. I don't know that she would go out with a call like that. So on a level, I don't see why there would be another Bitcoin account. But I think it's possible it was in this letter. I want to read you just I'll read you one line from the ransom note we received. And they say it is in the best interest of everyone to have this completed as soon as possible. So, you know, this was way back when the first ransom note was issued and days passed. And on Saturday, Savannah said, we are going to pay this. So it's baffling to us. We just don't understand what has transpired. But the account we're looking at does not show a deposit.

[00:04:56] Speaker 1: And so you said the original sentence was it is in the best interest of everyone to have this completed as soon as possible. All right. So now I understand exactly what you're saying. Right. The way that that reporter who had seen the second letter did, you're right, did characterize as not a ransom note. But we so we don't know if there was an additional address in it or not. But when you talk about the Bitcoin address itself, my understanding is, Harvey, it's not hard to check it. I mean, you're you're checking it frequently, right? That Bitcoin address?

[00:05:26] Speaker 5: Not hard to check it, but almost impossible and maybe impossible to find out who's who who is who is it going to. That's that's the issue. But we're not seeing a deposit. And we've been looking, obviously, all day. And we looked at four o'clock our time, five o'clock Tucson time, and we're not seeing it.

[00:05:47] Speaker 1: And, you know, we were talking to a crypto expert, John Griffin. He was saying, OK, somebody whoever set up this particular Bitcoin account does show a basic level of crypto knowledge, which which is certainly consistent with everything else. Right. No one has been able to find out the whereabouts of Nancy Guthrie. So there's nothing basic about the activities here. But then he added, if there is this sophisticated crypto operator, that they will move the funds, he said, in such a way that it'll go to other crypto currencies and then the tracks will disappear. You know, we all hear, oh, Bitcoin's supposed to be all transparent, although then we hear but no one will have any idea on God's green earth who account whose account this is. But you know that they could the fact that they could transfer this from Bitcoin into other crypto currencies. Are you hearing this also, Harvey, from your experts? Yeah.

[00:06:33] Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, look, what we're hearing is, is that it should show up at least at some point. I mean, we're checking this every minute. It should show up at some point in this account. And we just haven't seen it. But again, Erin, I'm just puzzled that Savannah said on Saturday they were going to pay the money. And clearly they were responding to something in that letter when she said, we understand and we will pay. So it meant that they hadn't yet, but will. And we're not seeing it. But if she did pay, why this new video?

[00:07:06] Speaker 1: New information from the Pima County sheriff tonight in the search for Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy, the sheriff saying in a statement just a moment ago, quote, many of you observed an active law enforcement presence at the Guthrie residences over the weekend. That activity will continue tonight and into tomorrow as part of the ongoing investigative process, including the expansion of the search and follow up on new leads. Now, we saw the search of a septic tank at Nancy Guthrie's home over the weekend and And at least three deputy sheriffs were seen at Savannah's sister Annie's house as well. Officials left with a bag and one deputy sheriff was seen wearing blue latex gloves out front. Now, Mary Ellen O'Toole, former FBI senior profiler and Michael Alcazar, retired NYPD hostage negotiator. I appreciate both of you. So, Michael, you know, we were told Nancy Guthrie's home had been turned back over to the family last week, and that happened pretty early on since then, though, numerous searches. Right. And we saw a device on the roof that that a neighbor had alerted them something might be up there. They had that. Then we saw them at the septic tank. We've obviously, you know, seen them go back and forth many times. The crime scene tape went up, but not for a couple of days after the initial alleged abduction. What does all this say to you?

[00:08:21] Speaker 6: To me, it seems like they probably rushed in releasing the crime scene. Maybe they didn't process the crime scene to the best of their ability. I don't know. What was the Russian releasing it? And now they're getting more information not have to revisit it. And of course, we saw in the past that people have been in the crime scene. News outlets have been the crime scene, which has now contaminated the crime scene, which just makes it a little bit harder to process because now you have more DNA and more fingerprints, more footprints in the crime scene. So I think they may probably drop the ball a little bit and releasing that crime scene too early.

[00:08:57] Speaker 1: Mary Ellen, we just got a new statement in here from the FBI, and I want to note the context here. Of course, it's about half an hour after the first ransom notes, a final deadline. And the FBI statement says the FBI is not aware of any continued communication between the Guthrie family and suspected kidnappers, nor have we identified a suspect or person of interest in this case at this time. Mary Ellen, that fits with what would be publicly known, right? But if anybody thought that there was anything private that we weren't aware of, this tries to disabuse us of that notion. How surprised are you at this point that they would say no suspect, no person of interest, no communication?

[00:09:43] Speaker 7: That is surprising because the point of either not saying that or saying something to suggest that they're looking at a number of people, which essentially would be correct. They're not ruling out anybody, really keeps the pressure on the offender, on the kidnapper, the kidnappers. And that's an important thing to do, to keep pressure on them. Because when there's pressure on the person that's responsible, they will make mistakes or they'll say something to somebody else that that'll just blurt it out. Like, don't they know what they're talking? They have no idea what they're talking about. This is ridiculous or something else. And that may, that information, that comment could then be relayed to law enforcement. So I'm not sure I understand the rationale behind saying we don't know anything about any suspects at this time. You really do want to keep the pressure on the community.