Nancy Guthrie Update: FBI’s ‘Best Lead,’ According to a Cybersecurity Expert
What To Know
- Nancy Guthrie, mother of Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, remains missing after her February 1 abduction from her Tucson, Arizona home..
- Cybersecurity expert Ari Redbord explained that the FBI considers tracing the Bitcoin ransom payments as their “best lead.”
- Investigators are using blockchain analysis tools to track the flow of funds and potentially identify those behind the abduction by linking cryptocurrency addresses to known threat actors.
Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie‘s mother, Nancy Guthrie, is still missing following the February 1 abduction from her Tucson, Arizona, home. And recently, Nancy Grace spoke to a cybersecurity and cryptocurrency expert about the “best lead” in the 84-year-old’s case.
In the April 2 episode of Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, the Fox Nation journalist interviewed Ari Redbord, who works as TRM Labs’ global head of policy. They discussed Bitcoin and how that might ultimately solve the case.
“Many people believe that Bitcoin cannot be traced, and tonight we are learning the FBI believes that’s their best lead on who took Miss Guthrie,” Grace said before introducing Redbord.
Grace said that she thinks the video of “porch guy” and the footage of cars driving in the neighborhood during the early morning hours of February 1 are what could crack the case. However, she also brought up the ransom notes that Savannah and her siblings received early in the investigation — and specifically, whether the Bitcoin address can be traced.
“Look, anytime that there’s a cryptocurrency address involved in a case, it’s an immediate lead,” Redbord explained. “And what most people don’t understand about cryptocurrency is every transaction occurs on a public blockchain, particularly Bitcoin, which is public. Meaning every transaction is traceable, trackable, and immutable. In other words, it’s there forever. In other words, crypto is the ultimate crime scene.”
Additionally, Redbord pointed out that investigators can “go back in time” and look at “what transactions have occurred prior to this day involving this cryptocurrency address.” He said that ultimately, the funds can be tracked and traced across blockchains using tools like TRM.
“Every cryptocurrency address is a unique string of letters and numbers. And what we do is, we associate those numbers with threat actors. Think terrorist financiers, sanctions, ransomware actors. And that allows law enforcement to track and trace the flow of funds to build investigation, prosecutions, to ultimately seize back those illicit proceeds.”
Nancy was last seen at her Tucson home on the evening of January 31. Despite the Pima County Sheriff’s Department’s and the FBI’s efforts — and Savannah’s $1 million reward offer — no suspect has been named in the case.
What do you think, if anything, might crack Nancy’s case?
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