'They mean business': TMZ host sheds light on 'consequential' Guthrie ransom deadline
Bombshell new details emerged on Thursday about the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her home in the early morning hours of Feb. 1, authorities said. Officials received a ransom letter from the alleged abductor that included a demand for millions in Bitcoin as a ransom payment. The ransom note included a Thursday at 5 p.m. deadline.
TMZ founder Harvey Levin revealed during an interview on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" that missing the first deadline caused the abductor to change their ransom demands.
The new deadline for a ransom payment is Monday, and Levin said it is "far more consequential."
"It felt like somebody meant business," Levin said. "I mean, when you read it, it's very detailed ... If it's legit, this person thought through the markers of showing that it's real. The bitcoin address. We checked immediately, and it's a real address. The FBI mentioned at the news conference today something that we had seen, where they mentioned the Apple Watch and the floodlight. And that was what really put my antenna up."
Levin later clarified to CNN's Anderson Cooper that the Monday deadline was "more about consequences."