California resident Derrick Callella has been apprehended for allegedly sending a spurious ransom demand in connection with the suspected kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, in Tucson, Arizona. The Pima County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI are still probing a separate ransom demand received two days prior to Callella's.
Callella, born in 1983, is facing two federal charges. The first is for transmitting an interstate "demand for ransom ... for the release of any kidnapped person." The second is for using a telephone to send an interstate text message and make an interstate call "without disclosing his identity," and "with intent to abuse, threaten, or harass any specific person."
On February 2, 2026, KOLD, the CBS affiliate in Tucson, received a ransom demand through its online tip portal. The demand included a "Bitcoin wallet address to receive the ransom payment." This demand has "not been linked" to Callella's demand. The Bitcoin detail from the February 2 demand was reported by the media.
Two days later, Nancy Guthrie's daughter (Savannah Guthrie's sister) Annie Guthrie (identified in the Callella complaint as "A.C." for Annie Cioni) and her husband Tomasso Cioni ("T.C.") separately received a text message from the same phone number. The message read: "Did you get the bitcoin we're [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction." Three minutes after the text messages, a member of the Guthrie family received a nine-second call from the same number.
Using "open-source methods," law enforcement determined that the phone number was associated with a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) text and call app that "allows users to obtain another phone number for their mobile device separate from the number assigned to them by their wireless carrier," per the complaint. An emergency disclosure for the request showed the phone number was registered to email address derrickcallella@gmail.com. Law enforcement was further able to trace the VOIP's access point to an IP address "associated with Callella's residence in California."
Callella was arrested and, after being advised of his rights, admitted to sending the two text messages. He said he obtained the family members' contact information from a "cyber website." Callella had been watching television coverage of the case and said he "was trying to see if the family would respond."
Nancy Guthrie went missing from her home between Saturday night and Sunday lunchtime. The scene, which included a trail of Nancy's blood on the walkway, strongly suggests a kidnapping. At a Thursday press conference, local and federal law enforcement said they have not identified a person of interest or a suspect.
