Nancy Guthrie cop breaks down in tears
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos became emotional as he told NBC News that he hopes Nancy Guthrie is still alive.
When asked ‘What gives you hope that Nancy is still out there,’ the sheriff paused as tears welled up in his eyes.
‘Wow,’ he said. ‘You have to have hope. You have to have hope. Come on. This is somebody's mom. We're going to find her.’
Nanos has been leading the hunt for Savannah Guthrie’s mother since she first went missing.
The Daily Mail revealed how Nancy, 84, was abducted from her $1 million home late on January 31, early into February 1, according to police.
On Thursday, Nanos said that no suspect had been identified in the investigation, but that no one had been ruled out.
Blood found on porch belongs to Nancy, sheriff confirms
Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed that the blood found on the porch at Nancy's home belongs to her.
'I think you all know the blood on the porch,' he told reporters on Thursday.
'It came back to Nancy, that's what we know. But there's still more items that have been submitted.'
Nanos added that they have not identified a suspect in the case.
'Nobody's eliminated, but we just really don't have enough to say this is our suspect,' he said.
Past of LA man charged with texting Savannah Guthrie's family Bitcoin demands
The man arrested for sending a fake ransom text to Nancy Guthrie's daughter has a rap sheet for financial crimes including theft and embezzlement, it was revealed.
Derrick Callella was arrested Thursday for sending a hoax demand for Bitcoin to Nancy's daughter Annie Guthrie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni.
Officials confirmed Callella had also been charged in a 2023 embezzlement scheme in which 13 Los Angeles County employees allegedly stole over $430,000 in unemployment benefits from the county.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office confirmed to The Daily Mail that he was the same man arrested over the fraudulent text messages.
Callella texted Annie and Cioni on February 4: 'Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction'.
Three minutes later, he phoned one of Nancy's family members. The call lasted only nine seconds, the criminal complaint said.
He contacted the family shortly after Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, Annie and their brother Camron posted a video to Instagram begging for their mother's return.
Callella allegedly admitted to sending the messages and told investigators he was 'just trying to see if the family would respond.
Callella, who worked as an intermediate clerk for the county's department of health services, allegedly took $9,984 in benefits from May 6, 2020 to January 20, 2022.
The scheme involved the defendants allegedly submitting fake unemployment insurance claims which misrepresented how much money they made during several two week periods.
Each employee was collecting over $600 a week, making them ineligible for said benefits. Another 11 former employees were charged in the scheme in December.
Callella was arraigned on a felony count of grand theft and a misdemeanor this past November. He's due back in court in Los Angeles on March 31.
He now faces more charges of transmitting a demand for ransom in interstate commerce, and without disclosing his identity, utilizing a telecommunications device with the intent to abuse, threaten, or harass a person, prosecutors said.
FBI Special Agent Heith Janke announced the arrest of the imposter during a press briefing Thursday afternoon.
'We have made one arrest related to an imposter ransom demand, and the complaint will be presented at the state judge later today,' Janke told reporters.
'My next message is to those imposters who are trying to take advantage and profit from this situation - we will investigate and ensure you are held accountable for your actions.'
Opinion: Nancy Guthrie investigation is a total mess
Savannah Guthrie's heartbreaking video raises more questions than it answers.
Released at the end of Day Four, it seems to indicate that the FBI is taking a ransom note demanding millions in Bitcoin for the safe return of Savannah's mother, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, very seriously.
And the video seems to have been produced with help from the authorities. The Daily Mail reported that authorities were spotted entering the home of Savannah's sister, Annie, with a tripod and lights.
Making this development curiouser: Annie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni, are doubtless being appropriately scrutinized in the abduction of the family matriarch, who was taken from her bed sometime around 2am on Sunday morning.
In an interview for my podcast The Nerve airing on Friday, veteran crime reporter Ashleigh Banfield maintains that a highly placed law enforcement source tells her: 'Annie Guthrie's car has been towed by the police and put into evidence — and here's the most important quote, and I'm using [my] source's words exactly: "Son-in-law may be prime suspect now."'
Investigators were seen entering Annie and Cioni's house earlier on Wednesday — hours before Savannah, Annie and their brother Camron shot that video — with a Cellebrite case, likely containing equipment which is used to extract digital data from electronic devices, even if that data has been deleted.
As to why the police have since denied that there are any prime suspects, let alone persons of interest, Banfield reminds us that investigators did the exact same thing in the Bryan Kohberger investigation — and in fact pulled him over twice as they built the case against him.
'Nobody's eliminated,' Sheriff Chris Nanos said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
Investigators say that Cioni was the last known person to see Nancy alive, driving her home on Saturday night at around 9.45pm and making sure she was safely inside.
New bits of information released at Thursday's conference seem telling.
FBI agents have now joined the bumbling, seemingly spotlight-loving Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos in addressing the media.
