California man arrested for sending texts to Guthrie family asking for bitcoin during missing mother case

TUCSON, Ariz. — Federal prosecutors person charged a California antheral with sending a fake ransom enactment successful an effort to extort Savannah Guthrie and her siblings arsenic their 84-year-old parent remains missing successful what section authorities accidental looks similar a forced abduction from her location adjacent Tucson.

Derek Callella is accused of demanding a ransom crossed authorities lines and utilizing anonymous telecommunications to abuse, endanger oregon harass the Guthrie family.

"Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting connected our extremity for the transaction," Callella allegedly wrote to Annie Guthrie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni.

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An undated photograph of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie provided by NBC successful effect to the disappearance of the 84-year-old parent of the "Today Show" host. (Courtesy of NBC)

Nancy Guthrie is simply a parent of three, including NBC's "Today Show" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, who canceled plans to screen the Olympics to instrumentality location aft her mother's disappearance.

Investigators determined the substance had travel done a dependable implicit IP work susceptible of spoofing telephone numbers.

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Investigators get to the location of Annie Guthrie successful Tuscon, Arizona, connected Wednesday, February 4, 2026. Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, has been missing since past being seen connected Saturday night. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

According to tribunal documents, they tracked the relationship to Callella's Google email account.

After being work his Miranda rights, Callella allegedly confessed to sending 2 messages, saying helium had recovered the family's interaction accusation online and had been pursuing quality sum of the case.

According to the FBI, helium besides allegedly called the household afterward. 

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Savannah Guthrie and her parent Nancy Guthrie are pictured Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

Earlier Thursday, FBI Phoenix Special Agent successful Charge Heith Janke told reporters astir the apprehension but said the FBI was investigating a antithetic ransom request arsenic perchance having travel from the existent abductor.

Nancy Guthrie has been missing since the aboriginal greeting hours of Sunday, Feb. 1 successful what Pima County Sheriff Christopher Nanos has said appears to beryllium a forced abduction from her location successful the Catalina Foothills neighborhood, a low-crime suburb northbound of Tucson.

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She was past seen the anterior evening aft going to meal astatine the location of her girl and son-in-law, astir 4.5 miles distant from her ain house.

Savannah Guthrie released a caller video connected Wednesday, Feb. 4. Investigators are inactive searching for her parent Nancy. (Getty Images and Savannah Guthrie)

Family dropped her disconnected astatine her home. Her doorbell camera was removed soon earlier 2 a.m. Home information bundle reported that question had been detected a fewer minutes later, and past her pacemaker instrumentality mislaid transportation with her phone, indicating a clip erstwhile she whitethorn person been forced retired of her house.

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Police were not capable to retrieve videos from her location information system, contempt aggregate cameras, Nanos said Thursday.

Police recovered a humor way from her beforehand doorway to the borderline of her driveway.

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She hasn't been seen since.

The senders person not provided impervious of life, according to authorities, oregon a means of contacting them. They did, however, acceptable a 5 p.m. deadline Thursday for their ransom demand.

Fox News' Paul Mauro and Matt Finn contributed to this report.