Sheriff Nanos in Nancy Guthrie Case Says Department Doing a Good Job but Also Acknowledges Mess

The Chief Sheriff of Pima County, Arizona, whose department, along with the FBI, is investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, in an exclusive interview with the People, said he believes that the department is “doing a good job” on the case.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has been in the spotlight since the disappearance of the 84-year-old elderly mother of journalist Savannah Guthrie, who was reported missing at the beginning of February. The authorities believe that she was kidnapped at the early morning hours from her residence in Tucson.

The authorities have also collected surveillance footage that showed a masked man tampering with the doorbell camera. The authorities believe that she was taken against her will, and it has been three months since she was reported missing.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, in an interview with the People on May 13th, said he remains confident the case will be solved. However, no suspects have been identified in the case of the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.

“My team, I’ve said all along, they’re gonna solve this,” Nanos said. “I fully, 100% believe that,” he added.

Nanos also addressed the Pima County Board of Supervisors' decision on May 12th not to remove him from office, saying his department still has areas for improvement unrelated to the Guthrie case.

“I listened to the board, I agree, and they said the department was a mess,” he told People. “And sometimes you just have to sit back and listen. That's my job. I plan to get in touch with my department. It’s just that this has gone on for quite some time.”

Nanos also said the department has been “ divided quite a bit” since the previous sheriff’s tenure, adding that he intends to address the internal issues moving forward.

“As the sheriff, it's my job, not my employees, not my labor groups, it's my job to find a resolution and fix the divisiveness within my department. Nobody else’s. So this week, I’ll sit down with my executive team, and we’ll be talking to the labor groups and see what it is we can do to move forward to get beyond this divisiveness.”

As for the Nancy Guthrie case, Nanis said he hopes the “mixed DNA evidence” recovered from the scene, along with existing leads and tips, will help federal investigators identify the suspect. However, he acknowledged the challenges of analyzing DNA from multiple individuals.

“I think we are getting closer,” said Nanos.

The FBI has offered a $100,000 reward for any information that leads to Nancy’s recovery or to an arrest in the case. Savannah and her family have offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect in the case.