A man who admitted sending fake ransom messages about missing Arizona grandmother Nancy Guthrie has been ordered into inpatient substance abuse treatment ahead of sentencing, after US federal agents concluded he duped her family but did not kidnap her. The ruling came in a federal court case against Derrick Anthony Callella, who pleaded guilty to harassing Guthrie's daughter and son-in-law with bogus demands while the real abductor remains unidentified.
The 84-year-old Nancy vanished from her home in the early hours of 1 February, in a case the FBI has classified as a suspected kidnapping for ransom. In the days that followed, a series of ransom notes began circulating, some sent directly to Nancy's relatives and at least one delivered to media outlets. According to investigators, one of those messages chillingly claimed that Nancy was already dead, though it offered no proof and led nowhere.
