EXCLUSIVE ON FOX: The Pima County Sheriff’s Department collaborated extensively with a reality TV crew, granting them access to footage and interactions with deputies. This included recordings of arrests and use-of-force scenarios that triggered internal scrutiny, as revealed by emails obtained by Fox News Digital.
The emails further disclose that the department’s homicide and cold case units underwent leadership changes in the year preceding the alleged kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie from her Tucson home in the Catalina Foothills. Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, is suspected to have been abducted months after the filming concluded.
In an email dated June 18, 2025, show producer Amanda Riley requested contact information for the sergeants overseeing several units. Capt. Robert Koumal responded two days later, stating, “The department has experienced some rotational re-assignments since last year,” and noted that all the team leaders Riley inquired about had been replaced.
Pima County deputies inspect a flyer taped to the mailbox outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson, Arizona home on February 23, 2026. The 84-year-old, mother to “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to have been taken from her residence in the early hours of February 1. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
Spanning over 220 pages, the emails between PCSD officials and the TV producers unveil behind-the-scenes negotiations for a reality show that would soon spotlight the sheriff’s department as the Guthrie case unfolded. Her location remains a mystery as of Friday.
Some episodes featured incidents involving use-of-force and behavioral issues, sparking discussions about the inclusion of bodycam footage where deputies used profanity. In one instance, authorities expressed concern over a situation where a deputy began recording only after a confrontation with a suspect had concluded.
Read the emails:
The emails were shared between members of the PCSD, its public information office, and producers from Twenty Twenty Productions, who worked on the A&E show, “Desert Law.” The series focuses on law enforcement in Pima County’s Sonoran Desert.
Pima County Sheriff’s deputies stand outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson, Ariz., after the 84-year-old woman went missing on Feb. 12, 2026. Nancy Guthrie is the mother of journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie. (Rebecca Noble/Reuters)
While the TV crew went on a series of ride-alongs with PCSD patrols, show producers were generally interested in bodycam and other police-obtained video. They asked for a public information officer to be available to drive a marked SUV in order to create background footage, known as “B-roll.” Koumal agreed in a July 1 email, suggesting a deputy “take our new Tahoe.”
The producers also requested information from an infamous local case, the 1996 murder of Gary Triano.
Pima County sheriff and FBI agents examine a gray Range Rover in a Culver’s parking lot in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 14, 2026, as part of the Nancy Guthrie case investigation. (Ty ONeil/AP)
Triano died in an explosion in the Catalina Foothills after his wife, Pamela Phillips, hired a hitman to plant a pipe bomb in his Lincoln Town Car. It exploded while he was driving home from a golf course. Friends and family were waiting to surprise him with a birthday party.
She was convicted in 2014 and is serving a life prison sentence, as is the bomber, Ron Young, who was arrested after a 2005 episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”
Koumal, the captain overseeing the sheriff’s community services division and records management, also sent out a note encouraging deputies to proactively reach out to the show producers “if any incidents occur.”
A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department stands by his truck looking at Nancy Guthrie’s house in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 9, 2026. (Ty ONeil/AP)
Producer Tom Olney praised the cooperation, writing, “thank you as ever for all your continued support, its amazing and absolutely the best I’ve ever received from any law enforcement department!”
He also repeatedly voiced concerns about the wait time for bodycam records and offered to discuss ways to expedite and prioritize the footage to meet show deadlines. In some cases, he asked for his newer requests to be replaced ahead of older ones, a request that officials granted at least once.
Savannah Guthrie smiles with her mother Nancy Guthrie at the TODAY studio on June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC)
It’s unclear from the provided emails whether any of the TV crew’s requests took priority over those from the public.
It would be unusual for records keepers to allow certain requesters to skip the line. Typically, agencies process public records requests on a first-come, first-served basis.
The emails were sent between July and December 2025, well before the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, whose Feb. 1 disappearance from her home in the Catalina Foothills remains unsolved. PCSD is the lead agency on that case.
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