A California man has been arrested in connection with an "imposter ransom" letter sent to family members of Nancy Guthrie, who disappeared from her home in Tucson over the weekend.
Derrick Callella, 42, was arrested in Hawthorne, Calif., on suspicion of two counts of allegedly transmitting a ransom demand and making a phone call to members of the Guthrie "to abuse, threaten, or harass," a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Arizona says.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings released a video statement on Instagram speaking to their mother Nancy Guthrie and her kidnappers.
Source: Savannah Guthrie, Instagram
The bogus ransom was made shortly after Savannah Guthrie and her siblings posted a video on social media pleading for their mother's return, FBI Special Agent Kerry Witherspoon says in the complaint. Savannah Guthrie's sister, Annie, and brother-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, separately received a text message from a phone number with a 760 area code. It stated: "Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction," the complaint says.
"Law enforcement was able to determine through open-source methods that the (phone number) was associated with a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) text and call application that allows users to obtain another phone number for their mobile device separate from the number assigned to them by their wireless carrier," according to the complaint.
However, Callella's personal Gmail address was connected to the phone number, the complaint says.
During a news conference Thursday in Tucson, Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Phoenix office, said the arrest was made Thursday morning, though he provided no details at the time.
Callella admitted to sending the two text messages, Witherspoon said in the complaint.
"He admitted to using the VOIP account from which two actual text messages were sent. Callella stated that he pulled family information from a cyber website, and that he had been following along and watching TV," according to the complaint. "When he said that he sent text messages he was trying to see if the family would respond. Data received shows that approximately three minutes after the text messages, Callella called a family member of (Nancy Guthrie) which lasted 9 seconds."
Witherspoon says the two text messages are not linked to the Feb. 2 ransom demand some media outlets received.
The FBI said in Tucson that the ransom letters are being taken seriously and are being investigated.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on Sunday after she failed to go to church.
