The United Cajun Navy, a renowned volunteer search and rescue organization, is ready to adjust its search strategy for Nancy Guthrie to meet the requirements of local officials. This proactive step highlights the group’s commitment to collaboration and thoroughness in their mission.
Concurrently, an independent journalist has initiated a petition urging Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos to endorse the group’s efforts. This appeal reflects the community’s eagerness to see progress in the search for Guthrie.
“We seek permission from the lead agency,” expressed Josh Gill, an incident commander with the United Cajun Navy. Gill was present in Tucson, Arizona, in February, poised to begin the search but hindered by lack of authorization. “I believe our involvement could bring a step closer to closure, not only for the family and community but for the entire nation,” he added.
Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home on Sunday, February 1, 2026, following a dinner at her daughter’s nearby residence. Her disappearance has drawn significant attention, partly due to her daughter, Savannah Guthrie, who is co-host of NBC’s “Today” show.
Josh Gill submitted a comprehensive 41-page search plan to the sheriff’s department shortly after Guthrie’s suspected abduction. The plan emphasizes that the United Cajun Navy would operate under the direct command of the sheriff, ensuring coordinated and controlled efforts.
According to the 41-page document, the UCN would have no independent authority and operate under the sheriff’s command.
Read the plan:
“We have not been contacted on the plan that we provided,” Gill told Fox News Digital. “I’m open to developing a new plan with law enforcement.”
Fragments of surveillance video show a masked man at her front door, where blood drops were found the following morning. Her back door had been propped open. No valuables were taken. Although the family offered to pay a ransom demand in the early days of the investigation, Guthrie has not been returned.
Investigators stand in the entrance to the home of Nancy Guthrie in Tucson, Ariz., Wednesday, February 25, 2026. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
Last week, authorities revealed that a hair sample was found inside the home and has been sent from a private DNA lab in Florida to the FBI for more advanced testing.
The initial plan called for the use of certified cadaver dogs over land in around local bodies of water, a tracking dog trained to find specific scents, heat-detecting drones and GPS-tracked volunteers for a grid search from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
People conduct an unofficial search flr clues in the Nancy Guthrie case, Tucson, Arizona, Sunday, February 22, 2026. Guthrie was last seen alive at the end of January. (Kat Ramirez/Fox News Digital)
The plan even included volunteer EMTs on standby in case any searchers suffered injuries from the terrain or sun and heat.
Gill said the group had also proposed deferring all media inquiries to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
“We’ve got some of the best and brightest, and our network is huge,” he told Fox News Digital. “Let us work [with the sheriff’s department] to do what’s best.”
Savannah Guthrie visits the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
He proposed searching the desert outside town, many drainage ditches known as “washes” in the area, a series of “remote access areas” and abandoned structures. Searchers were preparing for harsh conditions including extreme heat, wildlife hazards, uneven terrain and dark nights due to local ordinances designed at limiting light pollution.
According to the plan, if volunteer searchers find any evidence they would not handle it and report it to the sheriff’s department.
Australian-born presenter, Savannah Guthrie poses alongside her mother Nancy Guthrie during a production break whilst hosting NBC’s “Today Show” live from Australia at Sydney Opera House on May 4, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Don Arnold/WireImage)
UCN has submitted similar plans for other searches to law enforcement agencies around the country.
Cherise “Pebbles” Wilson, an independent journalist who focuses on missing persons and human trafficking cases, is behind a Change.org petition calling on PCSD to accept Gill’s plan.
“I lost my vulnerable grandmother a couple of years ago, and Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance pulled at my heartstrings,” she told Fox News Digital. “Knowing that somebody took advantage of a loving lady, an elderly lady like that, is really disturbing.”
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