Amid growing scrutiny over Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos’ approach in the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, insiders suggest that his early decisions removed the department’s most seasoned investigators from the investigation.
According to sources who spoke to Fox News Digital, at the time of Guthrie’s alleged abduction, only one detective on the homicide team had more than three years of experience. The remaining five detectives had under two years each, and their supervising sergeant was leading the unit with only six months of sergeant experience, without having personally handled a homicide case before.
Additionally, another detective with less than a year of experience was reassigned elsewhere.
Furthermore, at least two experienced homicide detectives had been moved aside because they were not in favor with Nanos’ leadership, one source claimed. These detectives were reassigned to the cold case division.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is pictured at a press briefing on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, in Tucson, Arizona, where he gave updates on the case of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie. (Sejal Govindarao/AP Photo)
Eventually, one of these sidelined detectives was brought back into the fold when the investigation transitioned to a task force in late February. This task force, which includes county detectives and FBI agents, operates separately from the initial homicide team that was assigned to the case.
Guthrie’s whereabouts remain unknown, and Nanos has publicly maintained optimism that she could still be alive, telling Fox News Digital previously that “anything’s possible.” Homicide detectives, however, have been part of the case since the first week.
The homicide sergeant’s apparent lack of experience is not necessarily a problem, either, according to Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and former professor of criminal justice.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Pima County Sheriff’s helicopter scours the desert in Tucson, Arizona, for clues in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, Tuesday, February 3, 2026. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“There are other experienced detectives that should be helping,” Giacalone told Fox News Digital. “But also, [Nanos] has two major cities within striking distance, Phoenix and Tucson, who he could’ve asked for some assistance to come in and share their experience and knowledge with his people.”
Doing so would’ve been a sign of leadership, he said.
“A lack of experience can be overcome by mentorship and training,” he added.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos exits the press room past a missing persons poster after giving an update on the investigation after the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of U.S. journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie, who went missing from her home in Tucson, Arizona, U.S. February 5, 2026. (REUTERS/Rebecca Noble)
At the start of the search for Guthrie, the county deputies union blasted the sheriff for a staffing decision that allegedly delayed the flight of the sheriff’s high-tech search and rescue plane — with its pilot reassigned to regular street patrols.
“You have to understand, he terrorizes the entire department and makes examples out of anyone even perceived to be disloyal,” one of the sources said. “I know that sounds hyperbolic. It is not.”
Pima County deputies collect evidence at the home of Nancy Guthrie in Tucson, Arizona, Wednesday, February 4, 2026. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Although Guthrie’s whereabouts remain unknown after more than two months, Nanos said early on in the case that homicide detectives were involved in the case.
Separately, the county board of supervisors has hired outside legal counsel to guide them on how to respond to allegations that the sheriff perjured himself during a deposition in a First Amendment lawsuit brought against him by one of his own deputies.
The board plans to bring Nanos into a hearing and demand he answers questions.
A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department outside of Nancy Guthrie’s home, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
Guthrie is believed to have been taken from her home in the Catalina Foothills in the early morning hours of Feb. 1.
A trail of blood droplets led from her front door to the edge of her driveway, but law enforcement sources said there were no signs of a struggle inside.
Guthrie’s daughter, “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, revealed in her first televised interview since her mom’s disappearance that the back doors were propped open.
DNA testing has so far not led to a publicly identified suspect or any arrests. Digital forensics recovered jarring surveillance images of a masked man at Guthrie’s front door on the morning of her abduction and overnight on Jan. 11.
The family is asking anyone with information on the case to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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