Hey everybody, I’m Ashley Banfield.

This is Drop Deadad Serious.

I have some really big news to share with you about the Nancy Guthrie case.

We’re on day 65 and I know I already dropped an episode earlier because Savannah returned to the Today Show this morning, but I’ve learned something from uh TMZ that I did not know before.

And it all comes amid sort of a a a whole tumble of information about new ransomlike letters that have come in to TMZ.

So, let’s be really clear because it’s getting confusing about all of the different letters.

But the headline here is that the original letters that came to TMZ and local TV stations in Tucson, there were two letters.

Um they threatened to kill Nancy Guthrie.

We had not heard that until now.

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We always knew that there was a consequence uh threatened if you don’t pay by Thursday, then by Monday there’s a second deadline and the consequence is that the money goes up I think to 6 million.

But we never heard that the other consequence was that they threatened to kill Nancy Guthrie.

And then of course after those two letters they went silent.

Um, and we never heard anything afterwards and they didn’t give a mode of communication to the FBI, to the police, to TMZ, to KVOA in Tucson, to KGUN in Tucson.

And incidentally, KGN, also called Kun, they received a second letter from these same people.

Um, and we’re known, it’s known that they’re the same people because they had the same Bitcoin address.

Uh, so the first letter went to KGN, KVOA, and TMZ.

And the second letter just went to KGUN.

Don’t know why, but it did, but they had the same Bitcoin address.

So, they’re from the same alleged ransom seekers.

And that’s the one that Savannah refers to in her interview with Hodoka Cottby when she says, “We received the two that we received, we tend to believe are real.

” And TMZ has also uh told me that the FBI with whom they’ve been working, you know, hand and glove because they’re receiving the communications and they’re turning them all over to the FBI.

The FBI indicated to TMZ that they also the FBI also believes that those two ransom letters are from the kidnappers, the real kidnappers.

So, let’s talk a little bit more about what other notes came in because it started to get confusing.

Then there were text messages that went to Annie and Tomaso.

Annie is Savannah’s sister, Tomaso named Tommy is her husband.

There were text messages that went to those two.

And there were two separate messages and an FBI’s, well, I should say a federal affidavit lists out um a man in California who was arrested.

Derek Kolea is his name.

Um they say he was uh scamming.

Uh they arrested him for scamming.

To my knowledge, they don’t believe he’s involved in this.

He hasn’t been charged with kidnapping or anything related to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.

Just the attempt to extort money.

So he’s facing those federal charges in the near future.

He’s made his appearance.

CNN's analysts answer key questions about the search for Nancy Guthrie | CNN

I believe either he was extradited or he brought himself to Arizona uh to make a court appearance in the initial offings of that case.

But that’s a different that that’s a different set of letters.

And then come the third set of letters.

And these are the letters from somebody who has reached out repeatedly a half dozen times to TMZ to say, “I’m not the kidnapper, but I know who they are.

” Using the words they every time there’s a reference, whether it’s they in the singular as some people use, or they in the plural, we don’t know.

But I know who they are.

and for one bitcoin I’m willing to turn that information and quote hand them over on a silver platter.

Those emails went into TMZ early on as well.

Okay.

Many thought that they were phony, not necessarily TMZ though.

The information started with time is of the essence and then suddenly just within a day I think time is no longer of the essence.

And that’s important to to Harvey Leven because he said if if this guy isn’t real, why would he downgrade the importance of his information or the fact that he could deliver either alive or dead Nancy Guthrie? Either one, there’s value there.

Why would he diminish that himself if he didn’t know for sure? That’s the the gut feeling of of Harvey.

And you’re going to hear from Harvey Leven in just a moment.

And he’s going to tell you everything about what they went through at TMZ today.

But I do want to read for you.

So I didn’t make Harvey read on camera.

I’m going to read for you their communications.

And so, first off, Harvey and and Charles Adabodier.

Um, they went live on TMZ to say they’ve received another communication today from the guy who says he has the information.

He knows who those kidnappers are and he wants to turn them in, but he wants a Bitcoin.

Wants half a Bitcoin now, half a Bitcoin upon the arrest.

And they said the news that sort of was made with this initial overture in an email to to TMZ today was that NY’s dead.

That this person said Nancy is not alive.

She is dead.

That’s what TMZ says.

That he’s still willing to turn these people in.

And so Harvey Leven and Charles Leabodier did their TMZ lives telling the news that they had received this email communication from this same person who they’ve received each time because it’s the same Bitcoin address each time.

So the halfozen communications about I know who the kidnappers are and I’m willing to turn them in is always from the same person with the same Bitcoin account.

But after they did their live broadcast, they got another email from him, her, whoever.

They got another email after their live address and this one is more specific.

They said um in the second letter, quote, I saw her alive with them in the state of Sonora, Mexico.

Interesting.

I saw her alive with them in the state of Sonora, Mexico.

Okay.

And then this is where the the sender starts to get angry.

They’re frustrated that the FBI isn’t taking them seriously and said this quote, “It is unbelievable that millions have been wasted and yet here I am waiting to deliver them on a silver platter since the 11th of February for a bitcoin, but I am disregarded as a scam.

They are free to send.

They are free and the case is frozen, but the egos remain hot when it comes to me.

” Arrogance at its finest.

End quote.

And then um you should note that the price of Bitcoin has been dropping, you know, and so now it’s it’s a lot less.

A half a Bitcoin is about $35,000.

And TMZ made this deal saying, “Look, um we we could get the ransom money for you, right? You tell us the information, we tell the FBI, therefore there’s a record that you’re part of it because the guy didn’t believe he was going to get the ransom money, but we still can’t figure out why he wouldn’t go for the $1.

2 $2 million instead of the, you know, half a bitcoin is 35,000.

Maybe if you get the full bitcoin upon the arrest, it’s only like 70,000 compared to 1.

2 million in ransom money.

So, this isn’t rather in in reward money.

So, this isn’t making a whole lot of sense.

Um, but you’ll hear why Harvey is unable to impart that wisdom on this this letter sender.

Um, they also are distancing themselves from NY’s kidnapping, saying they’re not the ones to do it.

They said that they’ve been out of the country for more than 5 years and had nothing to do with the horrific crime, just that they know who it was who did it.

And in the second note, uh, they said they’re not motivated by greed.

This is what they said.

The motivation was quote, “I just want what’s fair and to live peacefully with enough to start my life again quietly without having to join a witness protection program.

” Again, I don’t know what 70,000 is going to get you in terms of trying to live your life out peacefully um if you’re afraid of these kidnappers, right? Because 1.

2 million would be a lot better.

It would be a lot more money to buy yourself some safety if that’s the concern.

A couple of other things that um uh I want to let you know is that TMZ, I mentioned they’ve been working handinand with the FBI by giving them all of the communications that they receive.

But it has been a two-way street.

And Harvey Leven is going to tell you in just a moment what the FBI has been doing with TMZ because they have been busy working with TMZ.

I know that there are a lot of people out there who say, “What’s TMZ got to do with anything?” A lot because that’s where the communications are coming in.

And so, the FBI is taking it very seriously and they are doing a lot with TMZ.

That’s coming in just a moment.

Um, but first, I want you to hear from Harvey Leven.

Uh, he was super busy today, but he stepped aside to do a quick interview with me.

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Now, here’s my conversation with Harvey Leven.

So, Harvey, more activity, um, more communications from these alleged ransom seekers.

Well, this is somebody we’ve gotten more than a half dozen emails from this person.

Um, this is somebody who says they know who the kidnappers are, plural, and where Nancy Guthrie is.

Um, we haven’t heard from this person in almost a month, but today we got two notes from him.

Um, and you know, he is persisting now.

He wants half a bitcoin and he will divulge the location.

Now he says that she is in um Soma let me just Sonora Mexico and um says she is dead but says that he can lead them uh to the kidnapper and so you know he said this before but you know he is kind of repeating what he told us early on which is she was no longer alive as of the Wednesday after She was kidnapped.

And the interesting thing is you have turned all of these communications over to the FBI.

Y they won’t tell you.

They won’t tell anybody what they do with them.

But I mean, you’re privy to the Bitcoin wallet.

Yeah.

And so far, no money has been deposited.

Uh, and look, I’ve talked to the FBI and um I’ve frankly said to them, look, I I’m not you and you clearly know a heck of a lot more than me, but my Spidey senses are just telling me something about this guy because they asked me a long time ago to put the word out, which we did, that um anybody who is, you know, doing this as a hoax to get money would be prosecuted.

ed by the federal government.

And this person wrote back and said, “I understand that.

I am not I am not in any way hoaxing.

Uh this is real.

” Um and then the other thing that just got me was I believe it was the Tuesday after Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped, he sent us this note saying, “I know where she is.

I know who the kidnappers are.

Time is of the essence.

” That was on a Tuesday.

On Wednesday, we got another note from the same person, but said time is no longer of the essence, meaning I think she is no longer alive.

Right.

Well, if somebody is carrying out a hoax, why would they take the immediacy away and say she’s no longer alive? That made it feel to me like there’s something legit because why would he say why would he take away the incentive to get the money fast or take away the incentive for a bigger a bigger payout? It’s just bugged me that there’s something about it that I just thought I took more seriously.

They um have very consciously looked at this.

They’ve tried to find out who this is, but they are not convinced enough to pay that money.

And I know that as of a conversation I had with the FBI today.

And so to be clear, because I think a lot of people are getting confused about all the different ransom notes.

Savannah herself made a comment to Hodakpy saying the two ransom notes we received, I tend to believe they’re real.

Those are the ones that originally came to you, correct? and KVOA and I think another Tucson local station.

Yeah.

So, um she there are two different things we’re talking about.

These notes that I’ve just mentioned are people not somebody who was a kidnapper.

Somebody who says he knows where the kidnapper is and where Nancy is.

Um the ransom notes you’re referring to, yes, there were two.

They were written by the same person.

We know that um because it has the same Bitcoin address in both.

We received the first one along with two uh Tucson stations, the local stations.

The second one was sent to just one local station, their Kun, but it’s from the same person.

I know that the FBI believes that those ransom notes are real.

That that is from the kidnapper.

They have done everything they can um from what I understand uh to figure out who sent these notes.

Um, they were on on with my IT team for hours and hours and hours working with my IT team and they came up dry and they could not find it and they still haven’t found out who wrote it.

This is a cold case and um they’re just waiting for one of those breaks that often comes but they are at a dead end right now.

They you heard from the FBI that they believed those first two overtures were really from the kidnappers as opposed to scammers overseas or some nerdwell.

Yes.

But and they are from the same person.

Holy cow.

So when Savannah said that, she must have had that indication from the FBI.

They must have told her that they thought that they were real.

Yeah.

Now what I don’t understand is that she was going to pay and she and for whatever reason they backed off.

They had a reason for backing off.

Um, and I I I know they they did something.

I I I don’t feel comfortable saying it, but they did because they had asked me not to way back then.

I don’t know if it’s changed at this point.

Uh, but they thought they had a way of tracking that Bitcoin address.

Didn’t work.

Holy cow.

And there’s been no other communications ever since those those two, right? Like there was the the first note that said uh you’ve got deadlines, right? You’ve got a Thursday deadline and then you’ve got a Monday deadline and then that second one that went to Kun you said.

And how was the second ransom note different from the first? What was it suggesting? I never saw it.

Um, I never saw it, but um, I don’t think it changed the game from what I’m being told by the FBI that it’s they believe from the same person.

It had to be because the Bitcoin address is the same.

And um, or they just told me that it was from the same person.

And those folks at KGUN never did disclose the contents of their note.

They never they’ve never talked about it.

We don’t know what’s in it.

We didn’t read it.

But um it didn’t change the game.

The person who wrote that first note they believe is a kidnapper and they have just come up dry.

And we know that they use the same Bitcoin address in the note that went to you and the two stations and to KGUN that second they all had the same Bitcoin uh address.

So the interesting thing is Harvey if you think back and it’s hard now with like you know 64 or so odd days.

Savannah and her family did a second or subsequent address to on Instagram saying, “We understand.

We’ve heard your communication and we understand and we just now want her back with us so we can celebrate with her and we’re willing to pay.

” And that to many people sounded like, “We’ve heard what you’ve said.

We understand what’s happened.

We still want a body back.

” like it it sounded as though they had made an overture that maybe Nancy died.

I agree.

I mean, that’s the way I took it as well.

That’s the way I took it as well.

Again, if you believe the guy who’s been writing us these notes, uh she died somewhere between Tuesday and Wednesday after she was kidnapped.

And I don’t know whether that’s because you look and they said in the letter that they would kill her uh if they didn’t get the 6 million by that Monday.

So, it’s unclear whether this was foul play or she died because, you know, she was ill.

She didn’t have her meds.

So, I I have no idea.

But if you believe this guy, it happened somewhere between Tuesday and Wednesday.

So, the ransom letters did threaten to kill her.

Yes.

All right.

And so, let’s be clear.

And I want to say one other thing.

And I talked to somebody from the FBI today.

Uh this person uh wanted us to repeat that there is still a $1 million actually $1.

1 million reward out there.

So, you know, they’re hoping because they believe money can be a motivator here and that’s why they’re doing it.

But they wanted that word out because they feel like people have kind of forgotten it.

Uh but there’s a lot of money on the line for information and I think it’s even up to 1.

2 million with the different sources.

Uh, but 1800 call FBI, I say it on every podcast, 1800 call FBI, if you know anything, if anybody acted weird, you know, on February 1st, even second, third, fourth, or fifth or the next week when the video came out of the masked man, that guy had to be scared.

He had to act differently that day.

I always say for people who think that someone they know acted in a weird way in those dates, 1800 call FBI.

Harvey, the the letters that came out um today to you, it’s it seems like there’s a mixed message.

Like in the first letter, um does he say she’s dead? And then the second letter to you today, he says, “I saw her alive with them in Sonora.

” No, he never said she was alive at all.

He says she’s dead.

But he just said he just said after you talked about when you did your TMZ live today, they sent a second letter saying quote, “I saw her alive with them in the state of Sonora, Mexico.

” Maybe he’s referring in past tense because in the first letter they said she’s dead.

It’s past tense.

It’s past tense.

Um, you saw her.

No, he’s saying I saw her alive with them in the state of Sonora, Mexico.

Uh, my request is not huge.

And he goes on, he’s talking about he says he saw her there, but he’s talking back then.

Yeah.

And now he’s definitive that Nancy He says if if this person is truthful, he’s saying that Nancy is dead.

Now again, I talked to the FBI about this.

I I had a fairly long conversation today and you know it’s just I’ve gotten to know some of these people and we were just talking and I said look I you know I feel kind of out of place to even say it but there’s just something that’s been gnawing at me with these letters that you know this guy knows it’s a federal crime.

he keeps sending these notes and it was that whole thing about time is no longer of the essence and they said yeah yeah we hear you but you know there are a lot of crackpots out there so maybe they know something I mean I’m sure they do that I don’t know but on the one hand they seem to be dismissing it on the other hand I can tell you they spent a heck of a lot a lot of time trying to track down this guy’s email and they weren’t able to do it I’ll tell you that’s The craziest thing about this, yeah, Ashley, is that this is 2026.

Yeah.

And when you look at it, it’s like the perfect crime that I didn’t think that existed anymore.

but that you can kidnap somebody from a residential area where there are cameras that people have in their homes and yet there’s you can’t find the car and that you’ve got these emails and you can’t trace the emails and you got these Bitcoin addresses and I can tell you that the FBI did something with that Bitcoin address from the kidnapper um and they actually did something came up dry there And I just never thought of the perfect crime being something like this where somehow you could evade everyone.

Now, there were clearly mistakes made especially by the sheriff.

Nonetheless, um you know, the FBI came in and they got nothing.

And in 2026, it is really stunning.

Yeah.

I mean, you’ve got all of the opportunities for the regular forensics to work, right? A guy’s got a bite light in his mouth, which he had to put in and take out, maybe with those gloved fingers, and touch something.

Door handles to get in the actual bracket behind the camera, which he’s messing with.

There’s all sorts of opportunities to find that, right? There’s a vehicle that he had to have conveyed Nancy in.

You can’t take her on a bike or a moped, you know? Then there’s the digital trail and none of this is working.

It’s crazy.

And and you know I it we cover so many cases as do you where you know people make mistakes they get spotted and he just disappeared.

Yeah.

vanished and as did she which is just so tell me about the frustration in this latest um email from this perpetrator or at least the person who suggests he knows the perpetrators.

I I would consider this a perpetrator as well.

He feels like millions of dollars have been wasted yet here I am willing to deliver them on a silver platter meaning willing to deliver the uh the kidnappers.

And he’s talking plural.

I don’t know if he’s talking about them in plural or them in the singular sense.

He’s constantly talked about them in plural.

He is.

Yeah.

And he seems angry that the FBI is dismissing him.

He’s um been kind of bent out of shape from almost the beginning saying everybody thinks I’m crazy.

They don’t take me seriously.

He’s gone on and on about this.

Um and he says, you know, at different times.

At one point he said he had a criminal record.

I forgot what he said.

uh the crime was, but it was some kind of burglary or something like that.

Um and that he was worried that they might try and implicate him.

Um and he would have to go underground, take care of his family, he said.

Um and that’s why he needed the money.

Um so, you know, he’s kind of given this life story in in kind of a weird way over a series of letters, but that’s his point.

He’s saying that I’m going to be put out a lot by cooperating.

So, make it worth my while.

Worth my while is a Bitcoin.

And now he’s saying, “Give me half a Bitcoin up front and I’ll give you the info.

” Half a Bitcoin is about $35,000.

A full Bitcoin is about 70, about 69 or so today.

It’s gone down since the original overtures, but $1.

2 million would certainly guarantee him a whole lot of freedom and protection from whoever it is he fears.

It just doesn’t make any sense.

Are you able to email him back? No.

No, it it it doesn’t work.

It doesn’t work.

Um but um yeah, and we you know, he he addressed the uh the reward.

I I don’t know he addressed it after they made it 1 million, but when it was a 100,000, he said, “I don’t trust the FBI.

” That’s why he started contacting us.

He said, “I don’t trust the FBI.

” So, you know, he said, “We’re going to you guys.

” And we ended up doing, you know, social media where which he saw and we said, “Look, if you don’t trust the FBI, give us the information and we’ll convey it to the FBI.

” But now you’ve got a record through us that you’ve given us information so they’re not going to screw you out of the money uh if you really believe they would do that because we have the record that you gave it to us and we gave it to the FBI.

But he didn’t do it.

Well, you’re playing checkers and maybe he’s playing chess and uh suddenly he he didn’t know what to do other than just rant and get angry and just try again.

I know your time is precious and I’m just very appreciative of the time that you’ve given us.

Uh keep me posted.

Let me know if you’re here again.

Yeah.

I mean, you’ll be my second call, right? I Well, honestly, I mean, we’re giving everything to the FBI when we get it.

Um, I just don’t think they are looking at this in a real serious way.

And I’m not saying they’re wrong.

I’m just telling you what my Spidey senses say.

And I may be all wrong here, too.

1800 Call FBI.

Anybody who sees this, and we’ve got thousands watching.

So, um, thank you, Harvey.

I appreciate you telling us about this.

My pleasure, Ashley.

So, there you have it.

I could have talked to Harvey a lot longer, but he is wallto-wall today.

Obviously, he’s got a lot going on with two communications from uh somebody who is committing a federal crime, you know, by demanding money for information, you know, leading to um you know, where Nancy Guthrie might be.

And he’s working with the FBI, as you heard, hand and glove, right, that the FBI has spent hours at the offices of TMZ working uh on their servers and working to try to track these people.

Multiple different people have been going through TMZ making communications in the Nancy Guthrie investigation.

Whether they are legitimate or not is not for you and me to decide, nor Harvey.

And he freely admits that.

But these people are doing this.

And if they’re not the kidnapper, they’re still committing a crime, a federal crime.

If they are the kidnapper, holy that is a massive series of crimes.

And it is huge to me to learn that these alleged ransom seekers uh threatened to kill Nancy Guthrie.

We had not heard that.

I wondered, I assumed, I had thought, but I also thought that the threat was we just don’t turn her over until you play ball.

That’s also equally a threat when you’re talking about a family member.

And um that the FBI believes that those two first notes are real.

When Savannah said it, I wondered why.

I wondered why she believed.

The two we received, I tend to believe are real.

I wondered why.

And now perhaps it’s because what the FBI uh told TMZ and the people they were working with at TMZ and Harvey Leven at TMZ that they indeed believed that those two original alleged ransom notes came from the kidnappers.

It certainly does throw quite um another wrench into solving the puzzle.

But anyway, I wanted to come to you with this additional episode today to make sure you had all of this news.

It’s pretty big and it’s pretty breaking.

Who knows where it’ll go from here, though.

Thank you so much for listening.

Thank you so much for watching.

And remember, the truth isn’t just serious, it’s drop deadad serious.