California Man Pleads Guilty to Sending Fake Ransom Note to Nancy Guthrie's Family

A California man from Hawthorne pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges stemming from a fake ransom note he sent to the family of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" show anchor Savannah Guthrie, during the frantic search for her following her disappearance earlier this year.

Derrick Callella, 42, admitted in his plea that he contacted the family by phone call and text message on February 4, 2026, raising the subject of a bitcoin transfer as though he were involved in her disappearance.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona, Callella acknowledged that his intent was to harass the family and to extract information about the ongoing investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, rather than any genuine involvement in taking her.

Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on January 31 after being abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona. Investigators believe she was taken against her will, and the FBI has released images showing a masked individual approaching her front door late at night around the time she vanished. While authorities have identified and questioned several people considered persons of interest in the case, no one has yet been formally charged in connection with her disappearance.

Court filings detail how Callella allegedly used an internet-based calling and texting service to reach members of the Guthrie family just days after Nancy went missing. In one message sent to at least two relatives, he pressed them about whether a bitcoin payment had gone through, framing it as though he was on the receiving end of a ransom transaction. Investigators were able to trace the phone number used in the messages back to an email address and home address connected to Callella, and he subsequently admitted to authorities that he had sent the texts himself.

Under the terms of his plea, Callella faces a maximum sentence of two years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, along with a year of supervised release once any prison term is completed.

The case comes amid a broader and still-unresolved investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, which the FBI's Phoenix field office continues to treat as a kidnapping-for-ransom case.

In a statement issued this past Wednesday, the FBI acknowledged that investigators have received multiple ransom-related communications since Guthrie went missing, some of which have been determined to be baseless extortion attempts with no real connection to her case.

However, the bureau also indicated that other demands received during the investigation may carry some degree of legitimacy, suggesting that whoever is actually responsible for her disappearance may still be attempting to extract money from her family.

Callella's guilty plea resolves one thread of harassment connected to the high-profile case, but it does not answer the central question that has driven weeks of investigation: who took Nancy Guthrie from her home, and where she is now.

The FBI has not announced any arrests directly tied to the abduction itself, and the bureau's public messaging suggests investigators are still working to separate credible leads from opportunistic hoaxes like the one Callella has now admitted to orchestrating.

A sentencing date has been set for September 10, 2026, when a judge will determine what penalty he will actually receive within that statutory range.