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Friday, February 13th the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie moved into its second week. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos sat down with AZPM’s Katya Mendoza for a no holds barred, one on one interview addressing numerous topics involving the investigation. VIDEO: AZPM News
As the search for Nancy Guthrie enters its second week, public disagreements are surfacing over how the investigation is being handled.
A Reuters report published Thursday, Feb. 12 described tension between local and federal investigators over evidence processing. The head of the Pima County Deputies’ Organization, a labor union, has also criticized Sheriff Chris Nanos’ leadership in the case — criticism Nanos has strongly disputed.
Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was taken from her Catalina Foothills home on Feb. 1, reportedly against her will, as evidenced by her wallet, keys, phone and traces of blood left behind.
Officials announced Friday that DNA other than Guthrie’s has been collected from the property. Investigators are working to identify whom it belongs to. Authorities have not publicly named a suspect, person of interest or suspect vehicle. Recovered surveillance footage has yielded a suspect description and prompted thousands of tips.
Footage shows a masked, armed man wearing an Ozark Trail backpack approaching Guthrie’s front door the night she disappeared. Officials believe he is about 5 feet, 9-10 inches tall with an average build.
Sheriff Nanos said investigators are working on identifying other articles of clothing that was worn by the suspect.
Nanos addresses criticism, headlines
In the 13 days since her family reported Guthrie missing, the department has clarified or revised certain public statements made during the investigation, including comments about the nature of the suspected abduction.
In a previous interview with NBC News, Nanos said, “When you're taken from your bed and you don't want to go somewhere, that's an abduction.”
A department spokesperson clarified that officials believe Guthrie was taken from her home against her will and that the sheriff was speaking figuratively.
The sheriff also faced criticism for processing the crime scene too soon before turning the property back over to the family – only for law enforcement to return to the crime scene the following day.
When asked during a Feb. 5 news conference if evidence taken from the home could have been contaminated, Nanos said he’d “let the court worry about it.”
During that news conference, Nanos stood alongside Heith Janke, a special agent with the FBI Phoenix office. Nanos said he welcomed the collaboration with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
"There's no ego here. We, in this part of the country… we'll take anybody's help,” Nanos said. “It's not about who's in charge.”
Nanos said his department would share every piece of information: “All the data we can to get this thing solved."
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is the lead agency investigating Guthrie’s disappearance. The FBI and Pima Regional Critical Incident Team, also known as PCRIT, have assisted in the case.
But a Feb. 12 report by Reuters suggests turmoil between the investigative agencies working to bring Guthrie home and suggests that Nanos is blocking FBI access to key evidence.
The FBI reportedly asked Nanos for physical evidence in the case, including a glove and DNA from Guthrie’s home, to be processed at the FBI's national crime laboratory in Quantico, VA. Nanos has insisted instead on using a private lab in Florida, the unidentified official told Reuters.
The sheriff’s department said in a Feb. 13 email to AZPM that it would continue to work with the FBI on this case.
Evidence requiring forensic analysis is being sent to the same out-of-state lab that has been used since the beginning of this case, the email said — calling it a decision that was discussed with and agreed upon by local FBI leadership.
“Our strong partnership is critical, and we remain fully committed to this collaborative investigation,” the email said.
In an interview with AZPM, Nanos said local law enforcement and the FBI have been strongly united throughout the investigation and that accusations that the department has blocked evidence from FBI partners is wrong.
The email also said that several gloves have been located during the investigation, with the closest gloves found approximately two miles from Guthrie’s home.
Reports that a glove was found inside the residence or on the property are inaccurate, according to the sheriff’s department. Sgt. Aaron Cross, president of the deputies’ union and a past political opponent of Nanos, said he believes the FBI should have taken the lead. “This has become a circus, in my opinion, in large part due to how it’s been handled by our department,” said Cross.
“Because of how unique this incident was, we simply just don't have the resources or the expertise that something like a large federal agency like the FBI would be able to bring,” Cross said.
Cross has a history of clashing with the sheriff.
In October 2024, Cross filed a lawsuit alleging the sheriff violated his First Amendment rights after Nanos placed Cross on administrative leave for campaigning for Lt. Heather Lappin, who ran against Nanos in an election, while wearing clothing closely resembling department uniform. That lawsuit is pending.
Reuters reported the county has spent some $200,000 to send evidence in the Guthrie case to the Florida lab.
Nanos said that the department is waiting for more video from smart security devices after issuing community call-outs to nearby neighbors as well as more information about vehicles that were in the area during the timeline of the disappearance.
“Let us get that and let us put that together, it’s a puzzle, they have a piece of it,” Nanos said.
The FBI declined Arizona Public Media’s request for comment on the reports of Nanos blocking evidence from FBI officials, whether a second glove was found in Guthrie’s home and what the FBI’s policy was on deferring to a lead agency’s preferred evidence processing laboratory.
“We have nothing new to add outside of our previously issued statements,” said Kevin Smith, a spokesperson for the FBI Phoenix office.
Law enforcement continues to encourage anyone with tips or information that can bring Nancy home to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or 88-CRIME.
The FBI announced this week that it is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to Guthrie’s return and the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her disappearance – up from $50,000 that was announced last week.
“I wish I could tell you in the next hour, we’re going to have somebody arrested or the next week, or the next month, maybe the next year, I don’t know that. What I do know is we are working 24/7…We’re not stopping. We won’t quit. We will find him. We will find her,” Nanos said.
On Friday afternoon, posts on social media stated that the Pima County bomb squad had left the sheriff’s department heading north.
Officials with the department confirmed that the Pima County Regional Swat team had been sent out but could not confirm or deny whether that was related to the Guthrie investigation.
