The investigation into the shocking kidnapping of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie is currently facing an intense storm behind the scenes.
According to a new report, law enforcement officials are strongly second-guessing a massive bet that was made at the start of the case when a ransom note was sent to the Guthrie family requesting a ransom of $4M in bitcoin.
Meanwhile, Nancy Guthrie’s famous daughter, Savannahrecently issued an emotional plea, live on “Today,” asking anyone with information to help.
As the Nancy Guthrie case drags into its fifth month, insiders reveal that federal agents and Pima County deputies fear a critical early tactic may have permanently hampered the investigation.
Shortly after it was revealed that the eight-year-old had been abducted, the media, such as TMZ and COLDreported receiving ransom emails.
Although many such notes have been sent since the incident made headlines, an initial ransom note stood out as it contained information that had not yet been made public, such as the location of an Apple Watch that had been left in Nancy’s home and a damaged floodlight.
The authors of this note demanded a ransom of $4 million to be paid in Bitcoin to a wallet address provided in their letter. According to New York PostCrypto experts claim the move shows the kidnappers were amateurs.
But insiders in the case shared Air mail that detectives feel they may have made a big mistake by sending just $152 to the Bitcoin wallet in an attempt to smoke out the suspects.
$152 Bitcoin is still sitting in the wallet to this day
To track down the would-be Nancy Guthrie kidnappers, the FBI, instead of paying the requested $4 million in Bitcoin, deposited $152 in the crypto wallet, expecting them to transfer it and leave a digital trail.
Unfortunately, this has not been the case as $152 has been left in the wallet untouched, prompting concerns that the move may have spooked the suspects and forced them into hiding early on.
According to Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs, a data firm that helps law enforcement with crypto crimes, suspects usually rush to move stolen cryptocurrency to avoid detection.
“(The suspects) would want to get this $4 million off the chain as quickly as they can,” he noted, adding that criminals often rely on large platforms.
“They typically use mainstream exchanges like Coinbase or Kraken that have that user information. … Law enforcement can then subpoena them for that information,” he said, per The mail.
FBI’s ‘Tickling The Wire’ Method May Have Worked on Nancy Guthrie’s ‘Rookie’ Kidnappers
Attorney Todd Spodek, who specializes in cybercrime, ripped the suspects as amateurs when he talked further about the issue of sending crypto to the ransom wallet.
He noted that the Nancy Guthrie kidnappers likely did not use high-tech tools to properly cover their tracks, so the FBI’s method, known as “tickling the wire,” may have worked if the suspects took the bait and moved the money in the wallet.
“An actual, sophisticated operation would not have been involved in a kidnapping plot turned murder. That alone says it’s a novice sh-t,” the lawyer said.
Nor did he mince words when he criticized the flawed logic of the operation. “It sounds silly, and I don’t know any other word than Yiddish, but some farkakte plan,” Spodek remarked, using a term that means it can mean dysfunctional.
It was recently revealed that a follow-up email from the same IP address that sent the bitcoin ransom note claimed Nancy was dead, further raising fears that mistakes may have been made early on.
Experts say detectives were placed in ‘A Catch-22’ situation: ‘Damned if they do, damned if they don’t’
Despite the setbacks in the case, both Spodek and Redbord reportedly acknowledge that withholding the full $4 million ransom was a reasonable decision for investigators.
“Law enforcement is often placed in a Catch-22 situation, damned if they do, damned if they don’t,” Spodek said.
He further noted that compliance offers no guarantees of success against unpredictable criminals, as they may also have freaked out and given up the full amount in the wallet for fear of being caught.
“They could have sent a large sum of money and it could have gone nowhere. The suspects could have panicked and left it in the wallet for 10 years. Or forever. It’s hard to negotiate with a terrorist. They’re not rational people,” Spodek added, per The mail.
Nancy Guthrie’s daughter delivers emotional plea for her return live on ‘Today’
Meanwhile, Nancy’s daughter recently broke character on air to plead with “Today” viewers for help in finding her mother. During Tuesday’s broadcast of the program, she spoke briefly about the latest developments in her mother’s case.
While clarifying that she has “no comment” on the matter and “is not involved in” the network’s actual coverage of the news, she admitted that she could not completely separate her personal life from her professional role.
Admitting that she could not “pretend” to be absent while the story was being actively discussed on air, the journalist broke character to appeal to the audience emotionally, directly.
“I just wanted to take this opportunity to really ask people and really ask people to come forward because somebody knows something,” Savannah pleaded.
She also emphasized the deeply personal toll of the ongoing mystery, adding, “This is news today that’s on your radar, but this is the life that my sister (Annie Guthrie) lives, that I live, that my brother (Camron Guthrie) lives, that our extended families live, that our children live every day.”
The journalist ended her emotional statement by affirming her family’s unyielding determination, declaring: “We love our mother and we will never stop looking for her. Ever.”
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