A Los Angeles man has been named in an FBI arrest for allegedly attempting to deceive Nancy Guthrie’s family into making a ransom payment.
A criminal complaint identifies Derrick Callella, 42, as the suspect, alleging he sent text messages to the Guthrie family asking for a bitcoin ransom after the 84-year-old grandmother’s children, including Today show host Savannah Guthrie, released a desperate plea to her abductors to let her return home alive.
Callella’s texts are not believed to be connected to the ransom notes the Guthrie family received, which, according to an FBI spokesperson, included one with details about damage to Guthrie’s home and a 5 p.m. Thursday deadline, and a second with a Monday deadline.
According to documents posted on X by Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Nancy’s daughter, Annie Guthrie, and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, received a text message from Callella shortly after the family plea was published on Wednesday that read: “Did you get the bitcoin we’re [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction.”
Phone data also showed that Callella called a member of the Guthrie family about three minutes after sending the texts, and the call lasted just nine seconds.
Investigators traced the phone number and IP address associated with the message to Callella’s residence and email account, leading to his arrest. He has been charged with two counts, including transmitting communications containing a demand for ransom.
The complaint says Callella later admitted to sending the two texts and obtaining the family’s contact information from a “cyber website” to see if they would respond, after following the highly publicized case on TV and online.
According to public records, Derrick Callella, a Los Angeles resident born in the same year as the suspect identified in the documents, was charged in 2025 with allegedly stealing $9,984 in unemployment benefits between May 6, 2020, and Jan. 20, 2022.
Callella’s arrest comes as Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos revealed on Thursday that no suspects—or even a person of interest—have been identified in the abduction of Guthrie, who was last seen Saturday evening by her son-in-law, who drove her home from a family dinner, and was reported missing on Sunday.
The sheriff noted that the FBI has arrested one person for attempting to deceive the family into making a payment, believed to be Callella.
Nanos also confirmed that blood spotted by news cameras outside Guthrie’s front door was linked to her and released a detailed timeline showing that her doorbell camera was disconnected at 1:47 a.m. Sunday, and 41 minutes later, her pacemaker went offline from the app on her phone.
“Mommy, if you are hearing this, you are a strong woman. You are God’s precious daughter, Nancy. We believe and know that even in this valley, he is with you,” Savannah Guthrie said in the family’s Wednesday video.
“We will not rest. Your children will not rest until we are together again,” she added.
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