Overview
- Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her Tucson home on Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day after family members say she failed to take daily medication and investigators found blood on her front steps.
- Within days of her disappearance in early February, two purported ransom communications were sent to local media: an initial demand for millions in bitcoin and a later message that sources say claimed Guthrie had died; authorities asked outlets to withhold full details while they authenticated the material.
- Investigators are reexamining the ransom messages and pursuing physical and digital forensics, including doorbell video, DNA testing, IP and cryptocurrency tracing, and evidence sent to the FBI laboratory for further analysis.
- Federal prosecutors charged Derrick Callella with transmitting false ransom-related communications, but law enforcement says the multiagency probe remains active and no publicly identified primary suspect or arrest in Guthrie’s disappearance has been announced.
- Volunteers and officials have followed tips, including searches near the U.S.-Mexico border that turned up no confirmed link to Guthrie, and former agents and some media commentators say investigators may be closing in on the masked porch figure seen on security footage, a claim officials have not confirmed.