An 84-year-old woman has been missing for two weeks, the FBI wants to process critical evidence at its own crime lab, and the Democrat sheriff running the investigation sent it to a private DNA laboratory in Florida instead — at a cost of roughly $200,000 to taxpayers.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, a second-term Democrat and self-described 50-year veteran official, pushed back Thursday against claims that he blocked the FBI from key physical evidence in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie. Nanos spoke to KVOA, an NBC affiliate in Tucson, calling the allegations:
Not even close to the truth.
But the details he offered in his own defense raise more questions than they answer.
An anonymous law enforcement source told Fox News Digital the core of the dispute:
The FBI asked Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for physical evidence in the case, including a glove and DNA from the home of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, to be processed at the FBI's national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, but Nanos has insisted instead on using a private lab in Florida.
The FBI crime lab in Quantico is one of the most sophisticated forensic facilities on the planet. It exists precisely for cases like this — high-profile disappearances where speed and accuracy matter. Nanos chose a private lab instead. According to the New York Post, the Pima County Sheriff's Department has spent approximately $200,000 shipping evidence from Arizona to Florida for processing.
Nanos framed the decision as a matter of thoroughness, telling KVOA:
Actually, the FBI just wanted to send the one or two they found by the crime scene, closest to it — mile, mile and a half … I said 'No, why do that? Let's just send them all to where all the DNA exist, all the profiles and the markers exist.' They agreed, makes sense.
He also downplayed the significance of the gloves found near the scene:
We don't even know the true value of these gloves.
Think about that sequence. The FBI — an agency with a national DNA database, world-class forensic capabilities, and an active role in the investigation — wanted to examine specific evidence at its own facility. The local sheriff overruled them, spent $200,000 of public money to route evidence to a private lab whose name hasn't even been publicly disclosed, and then suggested the evidence in question might not matter anyway.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31 at her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson after her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, dropped her off following dinner with him and her daughter, Annie. She disappeared on February 1.
Security video captured a masked, armed individual wearing gloves outside Guthrie's home around the time she went missing. The FBI on Thursday released new details about the suspect — described as a male, between 5 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall with an average build, carrying a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.
The bureau doubled the reward from $50,000 to $100,000 for information leading to an arrest or the discovery of Guthrie, noting:
We hope this updated description will help concentrate the public tips we are receiving.
Over 13,000 tips have poured in. The FBI is clearly treating this with urgency. The question is whether the man running the investigation matches that urgency.
On February 7 — one week into the search for an elderly woman who vanished from her home after an armed intruder appeared on her doorstep — Sheriff Nanos attended a University of Arizona men's basketball game.
Nanos holds primary jurisdiction over the case. The sheriff's department can request FBI assistance, but federal investigators are legally prevented from taking part in the investigation without that invitation. That makes Nanos the gatekeeper. Every decision about evidence handling, lab selection, and inter-agency cooperation flows through him.
It is a remarkable amount of power to hold over a case this serious — and a remarkable amount of trust to ask of a public that is watching an 84-year-old woman's family wait for answers.
Nanos attended a Thursday meeting with an FBI official and, according to KOLD, attributed this statement to the federal agent:
we do not want the media to divide us
That's Nanos's characterization of a private meeting — not a statement the FBI has independently confirmed. It is a convenient quote for a sheriff facing public scrutiny over his evidence decisions. Whether the FBI shares Nanos's sunny assessment of their working relationship, or is simply maintaining professionalism while a local official controls access to their case, is something the public has no way to verify.
Nanos wrapped up his Thursday media appearance with a request for patience:
When this is all done with, offer your critiques all you want, but right now we have work to do.
This isn't about whether Chris Nanos is a bad person. It's about whether the institutional structure of this investigation is serving Nancy Guthrie or serving the man who controls it.
A local sheriff with primary jurisdiction chose a private lab over the FBI's own facility. He spent $200,000 of public money doing it. He minimized the evidentiary value of gloves found near where an armed suspect was captured on video. He attended a basketball game a week into the search. And when pressed on all of it, he told reporters the criticism wasn't "even close to the truth" — then described a sequence of events that largely confirmed the reporting.
The FBI has its hands tied by jurisdictional rules that give local law enforcement the lead. Those rules exist for good reason — federal overreach into local policing is a legitimate concern. But the flip side is that when local leadership falters, the feds can only watch.
Thirteen thousand tips. A doubled reward. A masked, armed suspect is still unidentified. An 84-year-old woman is still missing.
Nancy Guthrie's family doesn't need a turf war. They need answers. And right now, the man standing between the FBI and the evidence is asking everyone to just trust him.
