A California man faces criminal charges after federal investigators say he sent texts demanding bitcoin payment for the return of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, 84, who disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona, last Sunday.
Derrick Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California, is charged with transmitting a ransom demand related to a kidnapped person and anonymous interstate communications intended to harass or threaten, according to the criminal complaint.
The texts were sent to Guthrie’s daughter and son-in-law on Feb. 4, after the family published an emotional video pleading for kidnappers to contact them about their mother in response to a ransom letter sent to a news station two days earlier, according to the FBI.
The FBI has not linked the texts to the Feb. 2 ransom demands.
Authorities are offering a $50,000
reward for information in the recovery of Nancy Guthrie or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.
An emergency request for information about the number connected authorities to Callella’s home in California, where he allegedly admitted to using an account to send the messages, according to the FBI’s report.
“To those imposters who are trying to take advantage and profit from this situation—we will investigate and ensure you are held accountable for your actions,” FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke said in a statement.
Callella, 42, has a prior record in Los Angeles County. He is a former county employee with the Department of Health Services and was charged in 2025 for allegedly stealing nearly $10,000 in unemployment benefits.
The first deadline has passed in the ransom demand received by TMZ and other news outlets two days after Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, which is one out of three letters the FBI is focused on, Janke said.
The note gave the family until 5 p.m. local time Thursday to send a substantial amount of bitcoin to a specific wallet, but the family hasn’t received any communication from the captors, according to the FBI.
“There has been no proof of life,” Janke said. “We’re still waiting for communication.”
Federal agents, analysts, and other staff are deployed on the case, including the FBI’s critical incident response group from Quantico, Virginia, which is an elite unit used in crises such as high-risk hostage situations.
Her son, Cameron Guthrie, released a video Thursday asking her captors to contact the family.
“Whoever is out there holding our mother, we need to hear from you,” he said. “We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you. We want to talk to you and we’re waiting for contact.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said authorities still have not identified a suspect or person of interest in the case.
“We are working our best to do that,” he told reporters at a news conference Thursday.
He said he believes Nancy Guthrie is “still out there.”
“We just want her home. ... We want to get to the bottom of this,” he said.
FBI Director Kash Patel is being briefed several times a day on the disappearance, according to Janke. Patel was already scheduled to travel to Tucson before the kidnapping.
