{"id":384724,"date":"2026-07-03T07:35:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T07:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/384724\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T07:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T07:35:29","slug":"california-man-pleads-guilty-to-sending-false-ransom-note-in-nancy-guthrie-disappearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/384724\/","title":{"rendered":"California man pleads guilty to sending false ransom note in Nancy Guthrie disappearance"},"content":{"rendered":"

A California man pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of sending a false ransom note in relation to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. <\/p>\n

\"NBC<\/p>\n

Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscription<\/p>\n

Get exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.<\/p>\n

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In a plea agreement, Derrick Callella, 42, pleaded guilty to two felony counts for sending a ransom demand across state lines and using a telecommunications device to threaten or harass, NBC affiliate KVOA of Tucson reported<\/a>. He must serve five years of probation and will be sentenced Sept. 10. <\/p>\n

Prosecutors told the court Thursday that Callella had tested positive for drugs. He also acknowledged that he used drugs four days earlier, according to statements he made in court. <\/p>\n

After the judge asked, Callella said he was not under the influence during Thursday\u2019s proceedings, according to KVOA. <\/p>\n

Guthrie, 84, the mother of \u201cTODAY\u201d show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing from her home near Tucson on Feb. 1. She was last seen the previous night around 9:45 p.m., according to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos.<\/p>\n

Ten days after Guthrie was reported missing, the FBI released chilling doorbell camera images of an armed and masked man outside her home on the morning of her disappearance. The FBI has since described that man as a suspect.<\/p>\n

\"SecuritySecurity camera video from the front door of Nancy Guthrie’s house.Kash Patel via X<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the FBI is still evaluating some ransom notes relating to Nancy Guthrie\u2019s disappearance in February as potentially \u201clegitimate,\u201d while others have been discounted as \u201cextortion attempts,\u201d the agency said in an update Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case,\u201d the FBI Phoenix office said on X<\/a>, noting that law enforcement had received \u201cseveral ransom notes over the course of this investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The Pima County Sheriff\u2019s Department, which is also investigating, said in a statement<\/a> Wednesday that it had \u201creceived information regarding potential ransom notes related to the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie\u201d throughout its investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery tip and lead is taken seriously and is forwarded directly to our detectives, who continue to work in coordination with the FBI,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

The FBI statement rebuts a report from Reuters on Tuesday about the notes<\/a>, citing an unnamed FBI official.<\/p>\n

While the FBI did not specify how many ransom notes had been received, NBC News has reported that investigators have examined two notes sent to media outlets.<\/p>\n

The first note said Guthrie was safe and requested cryptocurrency in exchange for her release. The second note sent to media outlets appeared to indicate that she had died, three people familiar with the matter previously told NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"SavannahSavannah Guthrie in an interview with the “TODAY” show after her mother\u2019s disappearance.TODAY<\/p>\n

After the second note was sent, Savannah Guthrie addressed her mother\u2019s possible kidnapping in an Instagram video<\/a>, saying the family would \u201cpay\u201d for her return.<\/p>\n

Last week, she made another plea on the air <\/a>saying her family is \u201cin agony\u201d over her mother\u2019s disappearance. \u201cWe cannot be at peace,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re begging for your help,\u201d she said. \u201cPlease, if you\u2019re watching, no matter how small, the reward is there. You can tell us; it can be anonymous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love our mom, and we\u2019ll never stop looking for her, ever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A California man pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of sending a false ransom note in relation to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-384724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}