Nancy Guthrie ransom: Harvey Levin pushes back on reports that note contained apology over her death

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, whose department is the lead agency on the case, told Fox News Digital Monday that the FBI has been handling the investigation into numerous ransom demands, some bogus and some with potential to be real, since the beginning.

He deferred comment to the bureau on the new reports, and the FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

WATCH: What The FBI Told Harvey Levin | TMZ

"It is not in that ransom note at all," Levin said of the notes sent to TMZ. "It does say that she's scared but OK. But the ransom note makes no reference to Nancy Guthrie either dying or the kidnappers apologizing."

TMZ wasn't the only outlet to receive potential ransom demands, however. Local media also received similar messages through their online tip boxes, at least at first.

According to Arizona's Family, that message also said, "She perished shortly after she was taken," "she is buried in nature now," and "We are truly sorry."

Jason Pack, a retired FBI supervisory special agent and former FBI hostage negotiator, told Fox News Digital that an apology in a ransom communication would be unusual, if investigators determine the message is authentic.

"People who have leverage do not apologize. They demand," Pack said. "A rambling, labored apology for an inadvertent death suggests something went wrong that was not part of the plan."

Pack, who spent 25 years with the FBI and served in senior roles in the bureau's National Press Office, said the language could represent a potential crack in the case if it came from someone genuinely involved.

"That is a crack. And in my experience, cracks are where cases break open," he said.

They would, however, fit the "wrench attack" pattern that some investigators have floated in connection with the case, in which a "mastermind" computer hacker, probably overseas, could have hired local thugs to kidnap Guthrie in an effort to extort her daughter, "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie.

A series of later emails, however, sent by someone claiming to have knowledge of the case, referenced Guthrie's death, Levin added.

"This person also said that he was afraid that he might be implicated," Levin explained. "He had a burglary on his record from I think he said 11 years before, and apparently he knew these kidnappers well enough that he was afraid he might implicated."

He purportedly said he wanted the money so he could go "underground" and avoid retribution.

That person never got any money, he said. And when he offered to have TMZ put up the money just to see if it led to any kind of resolution, he said his sources at the FBI stopped responding.

Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.