FBI Refutes Reuters: Nancy Guthrie Ransom Notes Are Not Fake

FBI officials have refuted a Reuters report claiming that the ransom notes in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping case are fake. According to law enforcement sources cited by TMZ, the Reuters story is inaccurate.

Reuters published an article stating that the FBI had determined the notes were bogus, but did not explain how investigators reached that conclusion. TMZ and other media outlets received the notes and turned them over to the FBI for analysis.

The two alleged ransom notes were sent early in the investigation. Additionally, TMZ received over a dozen emails from a man claiming to know the kidnapper's identity and Nancy's location, but insisting he was not involved in the crime.

In his first email, sent days after the abduction, he offered information in exchange for one Bitcoin, noting that "time is more than relevant." The next day, he sent another email stating time was "no longer an issue," suggesting Nancy had died, and asked for money to go underground.

After months of silence, the man contacted TMZ again last week, offering to reveal the location of a hidden phone containing video and photos of the alleged perpetrators in exchange for one Bitcoin.

Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona, in February. A masked man was captured on a doorbell camera outside her home. Her daughter, "TODAY" show host Savannah Guthrie, has made several public pleas for the safe return of her 84-year-old mother.