The Nancy Guthrie investigation has entered its fifth month with no major update. A Californian man, Derrick Callella, 42, has pleaded guilty to sending a ransom note and harassing the missing 84-year-old daughter, Annie Guthrie, and son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni.
Callella accepted a plea deal for two felonies: sending a ransom demand across state lines and using a telecommunication device to make threats. He must serve five years of probation and is slated for sentencing on September 10.
Investigators have released camera footage of a masked suspect and sent DNA for testing at the FBI lab in Quantico, but no suspects have been publicly declared. Federal prosecutors stated that Callella was acting as an imposter, trying to take advantage of the ongoing situation.
The Justice Department noted that Callela was trying to take advantage of earlier ransom demands reported in . The FBIPhoenix X account released a statement on July 1 about the different ransom notes received through the investigation. Some were deemed extortion attempts without legitimacy, while others may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such.
There is a significant reward in the case, and authorities have officially ruled out only Guthrie’s kids and their spouses as prime suspects in the missing person’s case, which they believe to be an abduction.