Authorities may have dropped the ball on a simple strategy in catching Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper.
Bezalel Eithan Raviv, the CEO and founder of Lionsgate Network — a crypto recovery service with expertise in Blockchain forensics — spoke with Page Six about how a “simple tactic” could aid investigators in their search.
After a ransom note demanded $6 million in Bitcoin be sent to an address in exchange for Guthrie’s release by two different deadlines (the first last Thursday by 5 p.m. MT and the second this past Monday at the same time), Page Six confirmed that the balance of the Bitcoin wallet remains at $0, meaning no transaction has been recorded.
Raviv explained that initiating an exchange of even a small amount to the address provided on the ransom note will ultimately lead to finding the crypto criminal.
“Whenever cyber criminals offer their wallet address is where they basically reveal themselves in many ways,” Raviv explained, adding that he can follow the cryptocurrency to “see where it lands.”
“This is a very simple tactic among many that we utilize when we want to be able to intercept criminal network crypto assets,” he continued. “That’s from our perspective based on previous cases that have been incredibly successful.”
The crypto expert noted that the alleged criminal exposed himself as soon as they provided an address for the Bitcoin payment.
“He showed his Achilles to everyone who understands blockchain forensics,” Raviv said.
The Israeli-based entrepreneur shut down the notion that Bitcoin transactions are impossible to track.
“There’s a lot of conversations that are incredibly gooey around blockchain technology … Most people still, in 2026, do not believe you can trace crypto. And a lot of people in 2026 still believe you cannot recover crypto,” he said. “And these are all nonsense ideas because we have shifted so much.”
Plenty of data can be scraped from just one transaction that can lead to new information pointing to the perp, Raviv said.
“This is exactly what blockchain forensics is all about — tracing the blocks that are generated with each and every transaction,” he said.
While cryptocurrency can be sent to a wallet, a criminal will ultimately want to “enjoy that money.”
“This is the beauty about crypto,” Raviv said. “Bigger picture, when you send crypto, you send a code. You don’t send a suitcase with cash that you can pay for gas, bills, clothes, food, right?
“You send a code to someone from one wallet to another wallet,” he continued. “You send a code, and you cannot eat off of code. You cannot buy things out of a code … If you want to cash them out, it has to be met with a crypto exchange.”
When asked if paying a small amount instead of the entire demand could put Guthrie at risk, Raviv said it’s possible.
“We are only looking at it from the strategy of technology, not from the strategy of enforcement of law,” he said.
Raviv believes investigators may not understand the intricacies of Bitcoin, as it is a fairly new currency.
“I think the vulnerable point here for law enforcement is because of their lack of ability to understand crypto and blockchain, and this is why it’s taking longer than it should,” he said, referring to Guthrie’s missing persons case
“We need to train our law enforcement agents with blockchain forensics and crypto, or find the right people to do the job,” he said.
Raviv told us that he has reached out to authorities to offer his services in the search for Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother.
“I do hope that she will be able to come back to her family and loved ones and this nightmare should be over with,” he said.
Nancy was last seen alive on the evening of Jan. 31 and was reported missing the next morning.
After the Pima County Sheriff’s Department determined that Nancy’s Tucson-area home was a crime scene and she was taken against her will, Savannah and her siblings confirmed that they will pay the ransom, but begged the purported kidnapper for proof of life.
On Tuesday, authorities released new security camera photos showing an armed individual wearing a mask outside of Nancy’s home on the night she disappeared — though no suspect has been identified.
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