Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping Update: Investigation Into Kidnapping of Savannah's Mum Branded a 'Catastrophe'

Pima County police botched the kidnapping case of Nancy Guthrie, 84, mother of Today's show host, Savannah Guthrie, jeopardising the case and the department itself.

Pima County is shaken by 'negligence'

Nancy Guthrie disappeared on Feb 1. Her blood had been discovered on the doorstep of their home, in Tucson, Arizona. The police hold over the scene was tenuous, it was lined with barricade tape that 'put up, taken down and then put up again days later.'

Two reporters even went off-limits and stepped on the crime scene, creating an area that would be declared as a mess by experts today as 'grossly contaminated.'

Former Chicago cop turned Hollywood private investigator Paul Huebl informed RadarOnline.com that it was very careless of the county police, and it was likely to create a serious challenge in presenting evidence in court.

He continued, and they were 'extremely slow to ask for outside help from the FBI.'

'That could have made a big difference during the early hours of the case,' he said.

The video footage of the masked man prowling around the front yard of Nancy would come only after the FBI had been brought in days after the disappearance, and the blood trail that led them to the door.

Clashes within department leadership

The FBI arrived on February 5, and various sources said Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos didn't have a search plane equipped with high-resolution thermal images, which were vital for the first three hours on the day Nancy disappeared. The deputy, who usually solo-piloted the Cessna, was reassigned to patrol the streets after a collision with Nanos.

'That's, unfortunately, characteristic of what's happened to this entire department across the board under Nanos' leadership,' an anonymous deputy told RadarOnline.com. 'The most veteran investigator in homicide right now has three years' experience in that department because he keeps bullying people out.'

Retired Pima County lieutenant Bob Krygier, a SWAT veteran of 25 years, said in a statement, 'The most veteran investigator in homicide right now has three years' experience in that department because he keeps bullying people out.'

The family of Nancy is yet to find answers. When the family released a video and demanded her safe return on February 7, the sheriff had been at a University of Arizona basketball game.

When Nanos was questioned on the mishandling of the case, he replied that 'he'll let the court worry about it.'

Hours after the FBI published images of a suspect, a delivery driver was arrested, then released later under interrogation testifies to being innocent, yet critics declared the momentary arrest to be an error that contributed to confusion in the case.

Not a big Nanos fan

The controversy surrounding Nanos is not new. In the 2024 sheriff election, Nanos defeated the incumbent by a very narrow 481 votes out of almost half a million votes. Irritated by his leadership, deputies marched around the corners of the streets carrying signs that read, 'DEPUTIES DON'T WANT NANOS!'

Sgt. Aaron Cross, a union officer, filed a lawsuit against the county when Nanos allegedly suspended him over his protesting in civilian attire.

Nanos also placed his opponent, Heather Lappin, who is a 19-year veteran on leave towards the end of the race. Lappin has since resigned the department, and has sued against the county, on a charge of a torturing campaign.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lappin calls Nanos a 'tyrant' who runs Pima County like 'a mafioso.'

A source at the Pima County Sheriff's office claimed Guthrie case has become a catastrophe and a national embarrassment. The insider said, 'He [Nanos] is making us look bad.'