Sheriff Chris Nanos Issues Fiery Five-Word Warning Amid Nancy Guthrie Case Criticism

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has issued a stern warning against people who are accusing his department of mishandling the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. More than two months have passed since the 84-year-old grandmother went missing, but the department has yet to make a breakthrough in the case.

The lack of arrests and suspect identification has prompted many to question Nanos and his department’s ability to investigate a case of this scale. The sheriff has now hit back with a strong five-word reply.

“You cannot attack my department,” Nanos said in a recent interview with News 4 Tucson. He went on to add that people can question him if they want to, but not his department. “Attack the Sheriff, but you will not get by with attacking my department,” he said.

Nanos said that doubting the investigative agency’s ability only ends up hurting the case. Responding to reports that suggested mistakes were made early in the investigation, Nanos said, “Discrediting an investigation like this doesn't help anything; it's very harmful. No, we don't believe there were any mistakes made.”

His comments came a day after a source told investigative reporter Brian Entin that detectives who initially probed the Nancy Guthrie case were inexperienced. The insider added that even the team’s supervisor lacked experience because he had never handled a homicide case before.

“From what I understand, that the people that were there on the scene were not tenured homicide detectives. They didn’t have a lot of experience in homicide at that point, to include the supervisor who, from my understanding, never investigated a homicide before being installed as the supervisor for the homicide unit,” the source said.

Nanos refuted these claims during his interview and asserted that the supervisor is a highly experienced homicide detective. He said, “This sergeant has been the supervisor of homicide for over two years. And in that time, he has solved some pretty significant, very high-profile cases for this area. The Reddington homicide, the Goodwill homicide. And they solved that within days.”

Despite Nanos’s firm stand, his troubles appear to be increasing as the Pima County Board of Supervisors has asked him to give sworn testimony on his work history and leadership. The board has sought a written or verbal answer from Nanos within 10 business days.

Meanwhile, the county’s deputies’ union has also voted for a no-confidence motion against him, asking him to resign from his post. Nanos continues to face mounting criticism from both the media and the public as days pass without any arrests in the Nancy Guthrie case.

The mother of Today host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared on February 1. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has been investigating the case since then, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Investigators are relying on surveillance footage and neighbors’ interviews to gather more information about what happened on that fateful night. Nancy Guthrie remains missing, and her alleged kidnapper continues to evade law enforcement.