FBI addresses Nancy Guthrie kidnapping ransom notes, ex-agent weighs in
Jon Scott delves into the intriguing six-month saga surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. Joining the discussion, former FBI special agent and Fox News contributor Nicole Parker sheds light on the FBI’s approach to handling ransom notes and underscores the crucial role of community support. The FBI is actively probing some ransom demands as credible while identifying others as fraudulent, adding to the family’s distress.
In a recent development, a federal judge has mandated that a California man, who admitted to issuing fake ransom communications to the relatives of the missing Arizona woman Nancy Guthrie, undergo inpatient substance abuse treatment as he awaits sentencing, federal court documents reveal.
The missing 84-year-old, who is the mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen at her home in Catalina Foothills, near Tucson, on February 1. The day following her disappearance, local media outlets began receiving ransom demands that investigators are still analyzing to determine their authenticity.
Derrick Anthony Callella, aged 42, was taken into custody just days after Nancy Guthrie’s vanishing. The FBI identified him as the individual responsible for disseminating fraudulent ransom messages to her family members.
Callella is accused of attempting to extract bitcoin from the Guthrie family in the aftermath of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images/Obtained by Fox News)
Callella later pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment using a telecommunications device and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 10 by U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker.
Federal investigators have said Callella was not responsible for an earlier ransom demand sent to local media. The FBI has said that demand remains under investigation as authorities continue investigating Guthrie’s disappearance as a kidnapping-for-ransom case.
The amended release conditions require Callella to reside at an inpatient substance use treatment facility or halfway house, comply with all program requirements and contribute toward the cost of treatment as directed 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.
News Media 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.