Nancy Guthrie case: Sheriff defends investigation six months after disappearance

TUCSON, Ariz. - Six months after Nancy Guthrie was taken from her Tucson home, the search for answers has turned into a fierce debate over the investigation itself.

With no closure in sight, public frustration is mounting, and much of the heat is falling on local law enforcement.

The backstory:

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen on the evening of Jan 31 when she was dropped off at her Catalina Foothills home. She was reported missing the following day by family members after she failed to show up at church. 

Since her disappearance, PCSD and the FBI have released footage of Nancy's alleged abductor at her doorstep.

What they're saying:

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos continues to defend his team's work, saying investigators are following active leads. However, as frustration grows, so do questions about how this case has been handled since day one.

When asked, "Do you feel that you are any closer today to finding Nancy than you were six months ago?" Nanos responded, "Absolutely. I think every day we get closer."

Big picture view:

Six months later, there is still no sign of Nancy Guthrie or answers about who took her. But the sheriff's department says its work has not stopped.

"It’s not a standstill. Every day we’re working. The ransom notes, trying to track those down," Nanos said. "We have crime labs from all around the country working together, looking at the DNA we have and that continues."

As time passes, the focus has shifted from the initial clues to the people leading the hunt. FBI Director Kash Patel has publicly and repeatedly criticized Nanos and local law enforcement, accusing them of shutting federal investigators out during the initial phases of the investigation. The sheriff maintains that is simply not the case.

"Day one, before I was on, their task force came out, along with our detectives and they worked that case together. That’s day one," Nanos said. "A day, day and a half later we have a press conference and who’s on the stage with the sheriff? Not just the FBI agent in charge here in Tucson, but the FBI agent in charge of all of Arizona."

Dig deeper:

There has also been heavy criticism over the handling of evidence, but Nanos says the division of labor was collaborative from the start.

"Day one, the forensics for video, the decision was- FBI, you guys are the experts here," Nanos said. "You got better equipment and forensics analysis abilities there. Take it. And they did. We took the DNA. Oh, you kept the FBI lab from it? No, it’s about sharing, looking at all the work in front of you and parting out the work."

Nanos chalks the friction up to miscommunication being passed up the chain of command.

"I’m just gonna speculate that that may have been what happened for the director. But clearly there’s no – we didn’t block them. We didn’t keep them out of there, we delayed calling them, that’s just so silly," Nanos said.

What's next:

As detectives continue testing and sorting through tips, Nanos says he will not let public speculation deter his department’s mission: bringing Nancy Guthrie home.

"We really believe that someone out there knows something. Somebody knows where she is and we need that person to call us," Nanos said.

The other side:

Multiple requests were made to the FBI for an interview about their investigation into the alleged ransom notes, but those requests were denied. The family is still offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to Nancy's recovery.

Map of the area where Nancy Guthrie was last seen:

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