Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a man from California, accusing him of sending a fraudulent ransom note in an attempt to extort Savannah Guthrie and her siblings. This development comes as their 84-year-old mother remains missing, with local authorities suspecting a forced abduction from her residence near Tucson, Arizona.
The suspect, Derek Callella, faces accusations of demanding ransom across state lines and utilizing anonymous communication methods to intimidate and harass the Guthrie family.
In a message allegedly sent to Annie Guthrie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni, Callella wrote, “Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction.”
Alongside this troubling case, NBC has shared an undated photograph of Nancy Guthrie and her daughter, Savannah Guthrie, who co-hosts the “Today Show.” The image underscores the urgency and personal nature of the case, especially as Savannah returned home, foregoing her Olympic coverage duties, to deal with her mother’s disappearance.
Investigators have traced the threatening text to a voice over IP service, which has the capability to disguise phone numbers, complicating efforts to track down the source.
Investigators determined the text had come through a voice over IP service capable of spoofing phone numbers.
Investigators arrive to the home of Annie Guthrie in Tuscon, Arizona, on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, has been missing since last being seen on Saturday night. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
According to court documents, they tracked the account to Callella’s Google email account.
After being read his Miranda rights, Callella allegedly confessed to sending two messages, saying he had found the family’s contact information online and had been following news coverage of the case.
According to the FBI, he also allegedly called the family afterward.
Savannah Guthrie and her mother Nancy Guthrie are pictured Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
Earlier Thursday, FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke told reporters about the arrest but said the FBI was investigating a different ransom demand as potentially having come from the actual abductor.
Nancy Guthrie has been missing since the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 1 in what Pima County Sheriff Christopher Nanos has said appears to be a forced abduction from her home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood, a low-crime suburb north of Tucson.
She was last seen the prior evening after going to dinner at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, about 4.5 miles away from her own house.
Savannah Guthrie released a new video on Wednesday, Feb. 4. Investigators are still searching for her mother Nancy. (Getty Images and Savannah Guthrie)
Family dropped her off at her home. Her doorbell camera was removed shortly before 2 a.m. Home security software reported that motion had been detected a few minutes later, and then her pacemaker device lost connection with her phone, indicating a time when she may have been forced out of her house.
Police were not able to recover videos from her home security system, despite multiple cameras, Nanos said Thursday.
Police found a blood trail from her front door to the edge of her driveway.
She hasn’t been seen since.
The senders have not provided proof of life, according to authorities, or a means of contacting them. They did, however, set a 5 p.m. deadline Thursday for their ransom demand.
