Investigating Ransom Demands
Michael Benza, a professor at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law, tells A&E Crime + Investigation that in kidnapping cases, the FBI has jurisdiction when state lines have been crossed. Local police may request FBI assistance in other instances.
Benza explains that investigators will be on alert for a possible kidnapping for money with victims like Nancy Guthrie: "She's a high-profile person. She has family members who have a fair amount of wealth. You would immediately start thinking that this could be an issue of ransom."
Michael Alcazar, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, retired NYPD detective and former hostage negotiator, says a ransom demand "is like a crime scene in itself." With physical ransom notes, he explains, "We want to preserve it. We want to see if our lab can get fingerprint analysis off it, any kind of hair or fiber or DNA."
Other forms of ransom requests can also be investigated. "If it's an email, like [in the Guthrie case]," Alcazar says, "then we have our computer crime squad see if they can track it down via metadata, identify the server they're using. We're going to get subpoenas to identify where that email came from."
Forensic linguists like Joe Koenig, the founder and operator of KMI Investigations, also analyze ransom demands. He tells A&E Crime + Investigation he's been able to determine that a note was written by a woman and debunked a claim that the writer had been in a victim's office.
His work can be very involved. "The length of time it takes to analyze a note or statement varies greatly. I can look at a sentence for eight hours," he says. "The amount of information streaming in videos is exponentially greater than the two-dimensional note, so the analysis time is multiplied."
Fake Ransom Demands Are Common
In addition to legitimate ransom messages, investigators frequently must deal with fakes. Hoax ransom requests from third parties with no connection to the original abduction can occur in high-profile cases, Benza says, because the media coverage draws in people seeking attention. Alcazar notes that "opportunists trying to make a quick buck" also make fake demands.
Elizabeth Smart, then 14, was taken from her Salt Lake City bedroom in June 2002. Her abduction drew nationwide attention until she was rescued from her kidnappers in March 2003.
In October and November 2002, while Smart was still missing, Salt Lake City police received emails demanding a ransom, one asking for $3 million. In October, the writer threatened to hurt Smart if the ransom wasn't paid. Authorities tracked down the man behind the messages, and in October 2003, he pleaded guilty to two federal charges for his fake demands and threats.
People reported that the initial ransom demands for Guthrie contained information about an Apple Watch and a damaged floodlight that only kidnappers would know, lending credence to the messages. Since the initial contact, TMZ has received additional ransom emails.
But frauds may have also gotten involved in the Guthrie case. A man, now facing federal charges, allegedly sent family members a fake ransom.
Communication Is Key
"When we're dealing with somebody demanding a ransom, we want to establish some kind of communication where we can talk to them directly," Alcazar says. "We want to talk to them regarding what their demands are. Then hopefully we can determine their background, where they came from, what's their motive."
Engaging with kidnappers can also result in updates about a victim. "Once we have communication, we can request proof of life," he adds.
In the Getty kidnapping, the initial ransom wasn't paid—Getty's wealthy grandfather said doing so would put his other grandchildren at risk. But after the kidnappers sent a letter to an Italian newspaper that included Getty's severed ear, a ransom was negotiated, and he was freed after five months in captivity.
Instead of starting a conversation with the supposed abductors, Alcazar notes that the Guthrie case has consisted of one-way communication from each side. In addition to the purported kidnappers' emails, the Guthrie family has publicly responded via social media.
Ransom Payments
Desperate people have paid ransoms even when kidnappers weren't forthcoming with information. In the Lindbergh case, the family made a $50,000 payment in April 1932. The following month, the boy's body was found a few miles from his family's estate.
Today, it still falls to a victim's loved ones to decide whether to pay a ransom. "We can't prevent them or tell them, 'You can't pay,'" Alcazar says.
If the decision is made to deliver a ransom, the FBI "will often guide and assist the family," Benza says, though this is no longer "the old-time movie version of surveillance being conducted [after] leaving a suitcase full of money in a park."
Benza notes a request for payment in digital currency, as with the alleged Guthrie kidnappers asking for bitcoin, is typical of present-day ransom demands. This doesn't necessarily mean the transaction is untraceable, he adds, but "it gets very complicated."
