From People.com: An arrest has been made related to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie. Authorities said that an arrest was related to a false ransom note pertaining to Nancy’s whereabouts.
On Thursday, Feb. 5, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department held a press conference to relay the latest information about the case, five days after the mother of three vanished from her Arizona home.
FBI Agent Heith Janke shared that while the local authorities and the FBI are both looking into ransom notes related to Nancy’s disappearance, they have arrested one individual who is accused of crafting a fake ransom note.
The arrest took place the morning of Feb. 5.
“We have made one arrest related to an imposter ransom demand, and a complaint will be presented to a magistrate judge later today,” Janke said.
“We believe there’s no evidence to connect this to Nancy’s case,” Janke said during the press conference on Thursday. “It was someone that was trying to profit from it, a total imposter.”
The arrested man has been identified as Derrick Callella, 42, from California.
Callella allegedly sent texts to both to Nancy Guthrie’s daughter, Annie Cioni and son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, on Wednesday evening, asking, “Did you get the bitcoin, we’re waiting on our end for the transaction.”
Law enforcement were able to track down the sender and his email address through the phone number used to send the texts. The sender’s IP address, 70.93.243.103, was traced to an address in the Los Angeles area.
After confronted by law enforcement, Callella admitted to sending the two text messages, and claimed he was just trying to see if the family would respond.
The criminal complaint says the two text messages have not been linked to the ransom email that was sent to the media on February 2.
BREAKING: LA man arrested for allegedly sending texts messages to Nancy Guthrie daughter and son in law members asking about sending bitcoin. The man, Derrick Callella, says he just wanted to see if family would respond. Criminal complaint says the texts are not linked to… pic.twitter.com/p1jBVLSak7
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) February 5, 2026
🚨BREAKING: The suspect in the alleged imposter ransom note aimed at Nancy Guthrie’s family has been charged and identified, per federal prosecutors. @PaulDMauro pic.twitter.com/BvkRjzC9uy
— Michael Ruiz (@mikerreports) February 5, 2026
🚨 BREAKING: The FBI has ARRESTED an individual who sent a FAKE ransom demand to the Guthrie family regarding their mother Nancy
What a sick SOB.
There are other ransom demands as well, so it’s unclear which one was fake. FBI says they WILL make other arrests of people taking… pic.twitter.com/21fq7gGT6d
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 5, 2026
The FBI has now announced a $50,000 reward leading to information of Nancy Guthrie’s whereabouts and safe return.
The #FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.
She was last seen at her residence in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, on the… pic.twitter.com/4GsKV7zFxo
— FBI (@FBI) February 5, 2026
CALL FOR HELP: People with information about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance are asked to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI pic.twitter.com/RJZm6VNjYi
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 3, 2026
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