Nancy Guthrie: TMZ receives new, bigger demand for money in exchange for suspect’s identity

PHOENIX – TMZ is reporting that they received a new demand for money in exchange for the identity of the suspect in the Nancy Guthrie case.

What we know:

According to their report on Feb. 13, the email states that the sender is contacting TMZ because he does not trust law enforcement.

“He’s essentially using TMZ as an intermediary, telling authorities — you don’t trust me, and I don’t trust you,” a portion of the article reads.

The report also states that the demand has changed from his previous two e-mails. Previously, it was reported that the person wanted one bitcoin for the information, but now, TMZ is reporting that the person wants $50,000 in Bitcoin. In return, the person said he will give up the information, but he will also expect another $50,000 in Bitcoin, promising not to withdraw the first tranche of bitcoin until the suspect is arrested.

According to binance.com, one bitcoin is worth about $68,800 as of the afternoon of Feb. 13.

Dig deeper:

TMZ has received two other messagsfrom the person, on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12. In both messages, the monetary demand was reported to be one bitcoin.

The backstory:

Nancy, who is the mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on the night of Jan. 31 after being dropped off at her Catalina Foothills home near East Skyline Drive and North Campbell Avenue. She was reported missing the next day after her family was notified that she hadn’t shown up for church.

Authorities say she was taken from her home against her will and is without her necessary medication. Photos taken at the scene show blood drops on the porch of Nancy’s home.

On Feb. 11, FBI officials said they were “conducting an extensive search” along roadways in the Catalina Foothills area near Guthrie’s home.

“Numerous FBI agents are conducting an extensive search along multiple roadways in the Catalina Foothills area related to the Nancy Guthrie investigation,” the FBI’s Phoenix field office said in a statement. “We are asking the medi and motorists to follow all traffic laws and to remain especially cautious when passing law enforcement personnel near the roadways.”

On Feb. 12, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department asked residents within a two-mile radius of Nancy’s home to submit “all video footage that includes vehicles, vehicle traffic, people/pedestrians, and anything neighbors deem out of the ordinary or important” from Jan. 1 to Feb. 2.