Nancy Guthrie Abduction Case

Federal prosecutors have charged California resident Derek Callella with trying to extort 'Today' show co‑anchor Savannah Guthrie and her siblings by sending a fake bitcoin ransom demand while their 84‑year‑old mother, Nancy Guthrie, remains missing after a suspected abduction from her Tucson‑area home. Court documents say Callella used a spoofed voice‑over‑IP number to text Guthrie’s sister Annie and brother‑in‑law, asking "Did you get the bitcoin" and claiming to await a transaction, and that the FBI traced the messages to his Google account and obtained an alleged confession after reading him his Miranda rights. Investigators say this hoax ransom is separate from another demand they are still probing as a possible communication from the actual kidnapper, and FBI officials have emphasized that no proof of life or reliable contact channel has yet been established. Nancy Guthrie disappeared early Feb. 1 from her home in the low‑crime Catalina Foothills suburb; a removed doorbell camera, motion alerts, a pacemaker disconnect and a blood trail from her front door to the driveway all point to a forced abduction. The arrest highlights how high‑profile missing‑person cases draw opportunistic scammers, complicating negotiations and diverting investigative resources as law enforcement races to locate the victim.