Well, I don't think SS could tell them "hey, I need cash for ransom money!"
Maybe he was hoping all of the people he spoke with would think it sounded strange, too, and would report it to the police. I'm sure all of those people included in the chain of phone calls are haunted by what happened, and their role in it, even though they had no idea what was going on in that house.
I have to think every company in America is putting together a security strategy right now to include some coded words or phrases for use in this type of situation. Because the criminals are watching all of this, and maybe realizing that without the pizza, they could have done the same thing, thinking they would be smarter.
For example, if entire operation had started before SS went to work on Wednesday morning, the risk of the maid's husband looking for her for not coming home that night would have been avoided, too, because the bank transaction could have happened on the same day. (i.e. by the time SS got home that night, it was too late to get the cash, so they had to wait until the next day)
Even the banks should have a policy with high-dollar clients where they will not release funds like that without speaking to the account owner, and have their own code system in place so they could alert authorities. The police would much rather go out on an unnecessary house visit then have something like this happen in their community.
Families need to come up with a simple secret family code, too, like mentioning the dog's name or something, to let each other know they need help.