FBI addresses Nancy Guthrie kidnapping ransom notes, ex-agent weighs in
Jon Scott examines the six-month mystery surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. Fox News contributor and former FBI special agent Nicole Parker discusses how investigators evaluate ransom notes, why tips from the public can be critical and how the FBI distinguishes between credible demands and scams that can further traumatize a victim’s family.
A federal judge has directed a California man who admitted to sending fake ransom messages to the family of missing Arizona woman Nancy Guthrie to enter inpatient substance abuse treatment while he awaits sentencing, according to federal court records.
Guthrie, 84, the mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing Feb. 1 from her home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson. A day later, local news organizations received ransom demands that investigators have continued to review as potentially authentic.
Derrick Anthony Callella, 42, was taken into custody days after Guthrie vanished, after the FBI concluded he had sent fraudulent ransom messages to members of her family.
Derrick Callella was accused of attempting to obtain bitcoin from the Guthrie family following Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images/Obtained by Fox News)
Callella subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment through the use of a telecommunications device. He is set to be sentenced Sept. 10 by U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker.
Federal authorities have said Callella was not behind an earlier ransom demand sent to local media outlets. The FBI has said that message remains under investigation as officials continue to treat Guthrie’s disappearance as a kidnapping-for-ransom case.
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Under the revised conditions of his release, Callella must live at an inpatient substance use treatment center or halfway house, follow all program rules and contribute to the cost of treatment as instructed by the U.S. Pretrial Services Division.
The order also authorizes the U.S. Marshals Service to remove Callella from the program and place him in temporary custody if he fails to comply with treatment requirements. Upon completing the program, he may reside at a home approved by the U.S. Pretrial Services Division.
INC News has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona seeking additional information about why the court modified Callella’s release conditions.
According to the plea agreement, Callella admitted sending spoofed ransom messages to Guthrie’s daughter, Annie Guthrie, and son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, from a spoofed phone number asking, “Did you get the bitcoin? We’re waiting on our end for the transaction[.]”
An undated photo of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie provided by NBC. (Courtesy of NBC)
Prosecutors said Callella later placed a brief phone call to a member of Guthrie’s family seeking information about the investigation.
Court records state investigators traced the spoofed Voice over Internet Protocol account used to send the messages to an email address registered to Callella.
After waiving his Miranda rights, Callella admitted using the account to send the texts and told investigators he had obtained the family’s contact information from a website while following television coverage of Guthrie’s disappearance. Prosecutors said he wanted to see whether the family would respond.
Callella is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 10. He faces up to two years in prison on each count, fines of up to $250,000 per count and up to one year of supervised release.
