California Man Charged in Ransom Scheme Involving Missing Mother of NBC Host
TUCSON, Ariz. — A man from California has been charged by federal prosecutors for allegedly sending a fraudulent ransom note in an attempt to extort Savannah Guthrie and her siblings, whose mother has been missing. Investigators believe she may have been forcibly taken from her home near Tucson.
Derek Cajera faces charges for extorting ransom payments across state lines and for using anonymous communications to harass the Guthrie family.
“Did you get your Bitcoin? Waiting for our deal,” Cajera reportedly texted to Annie Guthrie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni.
Nancy Guthrie, Savannah’s mother and a grandmother, had to cancel plans to cover the Olympics in light of her mother’s disappearance. It’s quite a personal situation for Savannah, considering how heavily she’s involved with her family.
Authorities utilized a VoIP service to track the messages sent, which allowed the sender to disguise their phone number.
Cajera was located through a Google email account, and upon being informed of his rights, he allegedly admitted to sending those messages. He mentioned he found the family’s details online and was following media reports concerning the incident.
FBI representatives indicated that he continued to reach out to the family.
As for Nancy Guthrie, she has been missing since early Sunday morning, February 1, with Pima County Sheriff Christopher Nanos stating that it appears she was abducted from her home in a relatively safe neighborhood in Tucson.
She was last seen after visiting her daughter and son-in-law just about 7.5 miles away.
Police reported that her doorbell camera was disabled shortly after 2 a.m., just in time for the security software to indicate movement detected a few minutes afterward. Oddly, her pacemaker lost connection with her phone shortly after, suggesting something unusual occurred.
Despite having several cameras, police were unable to retrieve any footage from her security system. They found blood stains leading from her front door out to her driveway.
Authorities have noted that the senders of the ransom demand did not provide any verification of Nancy’s safety or ways to contact them. Nevertheless, a deadline was set for Thursday at 5 p.m. for their demands.
