TUCSON, Ariz. — A former FBI agent who has become a prominent commentator on the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie says she, too, received a fake ransom demand tied to the case, offering new evidence that scammers are exploiting the search for the missing 84-year-old mother of "Today" show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie.

Jennifer Coffindaffer disclosed the message this week after a Tucson-area woman, Lauren Serpa, said she had received a ransom note claiming Guthrie was alive and being held in Mexico. The Pima County Sheriff's Department has since said the latest message was not credible.

Coffindaffer said the demand she received in April bore striking similarities to the one sent to Serpa, leading her to believe the same people may be behind both.

Latest note sent to woman who knew Guthrie

Serpa, who has said she knew Guthrie and has been described in reports as maintaining a memorial outside the missing woman's home, said in a Facebook post that she received the ransom demand Sunday night.

According to Serpa's account, the message claimed Guthrie was alive in Mexico and directed her to send bitcoin to a digital wallet in exchange for Guthrie's release. Reports based on her account said the sender demanded six bitcoins, worth roughly $500,000.

Serpa said she communicated with the sender for several hours and asked for proof that Guthrie was alive. The sender responded with a video, which Serpa said appeared to have been created using artificial intelligence. At that point, she said, she was confident the note was not legitimate.

Serpa said she........

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