Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

Kidnapper Demands Bitcoin for Guthrie Video, FBI Offers $1M

6/27/2026

34 4 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

A letter alleges phone holds video of Nancy Guthrie with a kidnapper, for one Bitcoin.
It says the device holds photos and details of two abductors, demanding Bitcoin for the password.
TMZ verified the email’s alias and Bitcoin address match messages and sent it to the FBI.
Savannah Guthrie says two ransom notes are genuine, urges contact with the FBI, which offers a $100,000 reward and a $1 million family reward.

History

Historical Context

After the FBI shut down the original Silk Road darknet market in October 2013, the site had processed about 9.5 million bitcoins from 146,946 buyers, demonstrating that authorities could trace cryptocurrency wallets. That capability now underpins investigations such as the recent kidnapping case where abductors demand Bitcoin for ransom videos, prompting an FBI reward and signaling broader use of crypto analytics.

1 of 2

Story summary

A letter alleges phone holds video of Nancy Guthrie with a kidnapper, for one Bitcoin.
It says the device holds photos and details of two abductors, demanding Bitcoin for the password.
TMZ verified the email’s alias and Bitcoin address match messages and sent it to the FBI.
Savannah Guthrie says two ransom notes are genuine, urges contact with the FBI, which offers a $100,000 reward and a $1 million family reward.

1 / 2