(File Photo: Source for Photo: In this image provided by NBCUniversal, Savannah Guthrie, right, her mom Nancy speak, Wednesday, April 17, 2019, in New York. (Nathan Congleton/NBCUniversal via AP)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pima County, AZ) A man from Hawthorne, California has now pleaded guilty to sending a fake ransom note to the family of Nancy Guthrie, a resident of Arizona and the eighty-four-year-old mother of “TODAY” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie.
According to the United States District Attorney’s Office, forty-two-year-old Derrick Callella entered a guilty plea on Thursday as part of an agreement as he faced federal charges for sending a ransom demand across state lines and using a telecommunications device to threaten or harass.
Callella admitted in court that he had used drugs four days prior, but he denied being under the influence of drugs during proceedings when asked by the judge. September 10th, 2026 is the scheduled date of his sentencing.
A report from KVOA confirms that he received five years of probation.
KOLD-TV confirmed in a report that the FBI stated Callella texted two of Guthrie’s family members — Nancy Guthrie’s oldest daughter, Annie, and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni — on February 4th. Callella allegedly made a nine-second call to a Guthrie family member.
According to court documents, one of Callella’s messages read, “Did you get the bitcoin were (sic) waiting on our end for the transaction,” The suspect also reportedly sent the message using a VOIP phone line.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos warned that individuals who send fraudulent notes in this case will be held accountable in response to this guilty plea.
Nancy Guthrie went missing after she did not attend a virtual church service on the morning of February 1st and was last seen on January 31st having dinner with her family.
No arrests have been made in connection with the 84-year-old woman’s disappearance and investigators have not released information about any suspects or persons of interest in the case.
However, authorities released doorbell camera footage from Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year.
That footage shows a masked man at the door of her house and he appears to be tampering with the camera.