Nancy Guthrie Ransom Note Suspect Is Someone Who 'Wants to Be Heard,' Detective Claims

An expert detective is weighing in on the new ransom notes demanding one Bitcoin to deliver Nancy Guthrie's kidnappers "on a silver platter."

On Monday, April 6, TMZ reported they received two more emails from the same sender, one of which claimed to know the location of Guthrie's body. The second letter alleged they had seen the 84-year-old alive in Mexico at one point.

Brian Martin, a cold case detective, told NewsNation investigative reporter Brian Entin on Tuesday, April 7, that whoever sent the notes was presumably someone who "wants to be heard."

"I would hope that, if it is the person involved in Miss Guthrie's disappearance, that they want to be heard and are legitimately trying to negotiate some type of deal or whatever it is that they're looking to do, and not maybe somebody who has ulterior motives for attention that has nothing to do with the case," he said.

However, the detective seemed to question the authenticity of the notes, as he wondered why the sender requested payment in Bitcoin when there's a more substantial reward being offered by the family.

"Why would you not just submit a tip to a legitimate Crime Stoppers or to the sheriff's department or to the FBI or to the tip line that's set up and get the $100,000?" Martin asked. "That makes it a little suspect to me."

The FBI is offering $100,000 for information that helps crack the case.

Nancy's famous daughter, Today star Savannah Guthrie, also announced that a separate reward for information leading to her mother's return had been raised to $1 million.

The Arizona grandma was reported missing on Sunday, February 1, and investigators believe she is the victim of a "targeted kidnapping."

The news of the additional ransom notes coincided with Savannah's return to the NBC morning show for the first time since her mother vanished from her Tucson, Ariz., home.

The sender is reportedly the same person who sent previous letters in the early days of the search for Nancy, demanding Bitcoin in exchange for information.

The email reportedly said, "I know where her body is, and who the kidnapper is. Give me half a bitcoin and I’ll tell you.” It also alleged that Nancy was "dead."

The sender also slammed authorities for assuming the notes are a hoax.

“It’s unbelievable that millions have been wasted and yet here I am willing to deliver them on a silver platter since the 11th of February for a Bitcoin but I am disregarded as a scam," the first letter read. "They are free and the case is frozen but the ego’s remain hot when it comes to me."

They claimed to have nothing to do with the "horrific crime," alleging they have been out of the United States for more than five years.

Meanwhile, the second note read: "I saw her alive with them in the state of Sonora, Mexico."

The author added, "I just want what's fair and to live peacefully with enough to start my life again quietly with out having to join a witness protection program."