New Ransom Note Sent to TMZ as Investigators Experience Progress and Setbacks in 10-Day Search for Nancy Guthrie

A person claiming to have information related to the alleged abductor of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, sent a note to TMZ requesting one bitcoin in exchange for the information, the news site reported Wednesday. “If they want the name of the individual involved then I want 1 Bitcoin to the following wallet. Time is more than relevant,” the note reads, which includes a “legitimate” bitcoin address. TMZ added that the address was different from the one mentioned in the original ransom note that had been sent to the news organization and two local Tucson TV news stations days after Ms. Guthrie was reported missing. One bitcoin is currently priced at $66,509.17 as of 11 A.M Wednesday — more than $16,000 more than the $50,000 reward the FBI is offering for any information leading to Ms. Guthrie’s recovery and/or arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her mysterious disappearance 10 days ago.TMZ said it had forwarded the note to the FBI.Wednesday’s ransom note was the latest in a flurry of developments that have given local and federal investigators new information, although as of now, they don’t seem any closer to finding Ms. Guthrie or those responsible for her disappearance.On Tuesday, investigators appeared to make their first significant break when FBI Director Kash Patel released four disturbing black-and-white images, along with video, of a masked, gloved, and apparently armed man attempting to dislodge a doorbell security camera on Ms. Guthrie’s Tucson home. The footage, taken hours before Ms. Guthrie’s family reported her missing on February 1, was the first time authorities released concrete visual evidence of a possible suspect. Investigators had previously said a doorbell camera and floodlight were disabled, her pacemaker app had been disconnected from her Apple devices, and DNA testing later confirmed blood found near her front porch belonged to her.Late Tuesday night, Pima County sheriff’s deputies pulled over a car in Rio Rico, Arizona, roughly an hour south of Tucson and about 12 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. The man, who later identified himself to reporters as delivery driver Carlos Palazuelos, 27, was detained for questioning, and authorities were careful not to identify him as a suspect. He later told reporters on Wednesday that authorities stopped him because his eyes resembled those of the masked person seen in the security footage. “All I know is they showed my in-law a picture of somebody wearing a mask or something, and it supposedly looked like my eyes,” Mr. Palazuelos said.The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI’s Evidence Response Team conducted a court-approved search of his home and property. Mr. Palazuelos was later released without charges. “Terrifying. Something I didn’t do. I felt like I was being kidnapped, bro. They didn’t tell me anything,” Mr. Palazuelos told reporters Wednesday.Mr. Palazuelos, upon being asked by reporters if he ever delivered a package to Ms. Guthrie’s Tucson home. replied, “I don’t know, it might have been a possibility.”Before Tuesday, the Guthrie family and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department were running on a handful of clues they believed pointed to her possible abduction. This included several ransom notes sent to media outlets demanding millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin to be deposited directly into a cryptocurrency wallet to secure her release. Two deadlines set forth by the purported kidnapper came and went without incident. Savannah Guthrie and her siblings pleaded in a series of videos posted on her Instagram account for the kidnappers to communicate directly with them. Mr. Patel said both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department worked closely with private sector partners to recover footage and images from “backend systems,” despite Ms. Guthrie not having a monthly subscription to Google’s Nest. Such a subscription, authorities indicated, likely would have provided investigators with immediate access to security footage on the day she was discovered missing.Meanwhile, Mr. Patel was the relative restraint he has shown in not revealing the specifics of the investigation on social media as they unfolded — something he had been criticized for in past cases.In December, Mr. Patel was criticized for touting on social media that a suspect in the Brown University shooting that killed two students had been detained, only for that suspect to be released a short while later. Mr. Patel had made a similar announcement during the early stages of the FBI’s investigation into the Charlie Kirk murder, which he was also forced to walk back.“When you’re trying to manage FBI operations over social media, and you’re trying to keep the public informed to a point where it actually can provide insight for the bad guys, it creates a credibility problem,” a retired FBI supervisory special agent, Christopher M. Piehota, tells the Sun. Last night, while speaking on the phone with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Mr. Patel was careful not to say whether they had any potential suspects. “Without polluting the investigation, I will say we have made substantial progress these last 36-48 hours, thanks to the technical people at the FBI and our partnerships,” Mr. Patel said.“When you’re trying to manage FBI operations over social media, and you’re trying to keep the public informed to a point where it actually can provide insight for the bad guys, it creates a credibility problem,” a retired FBI supervisory special agent, Christopher M. Piehota, tells the Sun. On Tuesday, Mr. Patel said he didn’t want to give the public “false hope” about the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department getting closer to arresting a suspect.“We are going to interview and interrogate absolutely every single person that we think is involved with this or has information related to this, and we’re going to use all of our capabilities without divulging them to advance this investigation,” Mr. Patel added. Authorities did not have plans for a news conference on Wednesday about the status of the investigation. It remains unclear if Ms. Guthrie, who suffers from a heart condition that requires both a pacemaker and prescription medication, is still alive.

New Ransom Note Sent to TMZ as Investigators Experience Progress and Setbacks in 10-Day Search for Nancy Guthrie

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