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In a disturbing turn of events, federal prosecutors have leveled charges against a California man accused of attempting to extort television personality Savannah Guthrie and her siblings. This comes as their 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, remains missing in what authorities suspect to be a forced abduction from her residence near Tucson, Arizona.
Derek Callella faces accusations of crossing state lines to demand a ransom, leveraging anonymous communication methods to intimidate and harass the Guthrie family. His alleged actions have added to the anguish surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.
In a message purportedly sent to Savannah’s sister, Annie Guthrie, and her husband, Tommaso Cioni, Callella allegedly wrote, “Did you get the bitcoin? We’re waiting on our end for the transaction,” pressing the urgency of his demands.
Amid the ongoing investigation, an undated photograph of Nancy Guthrie alongside her daughter Savannah, provided by NBC, serves as a poignant reminder of the family’s distress. Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor of NBC’s “Today Show,” has put professional commitments on hold, including plans to report on the Olympics, as she focuses on the search for her mother.
Nancy Guthrie is a mother of three, including NBC’s “Today Show” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, who canceled plans to cover the Olympics to return home after her mother’s disappearance.
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, February 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.