Nancy Guthrie had been missing for less than three days when family members and journalists, and even an Amazon delivery driver, could be seen wandering around her property, with drops of blood still staining the front entrance.
It's been almost two weeks since the 84-year-old mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie was kidnapped. With no suspects in custody as of Saturday, scrutiny is growing over how authorities have handled the case.
Some questions have focused on Pima County (Ariz.) Sheriff Chris Nanos and his department, which was the first to respond when Guthrie was reported missing from his Tucson home on Feb. 1. Nanos has since been the lead police communicator in the investigation, even after reports emerged of ransom notes demanding millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for Guthrie's return.
The world's attention is now on him.
“I'm not used to everyone hanging on my every word and then holding me accountable for what I say,” Nanos said at a news conference at the start of the investigation. “This is really, to me, quite new.”
Critics noted that his department opened the crime scene a day after Guthrie was reported missing and sent vital evidence across the country for free testing, and the sheriff was seen at a college basketball game over the weekend while the rescue deadline still weighed on the family.
A member of the FBI leaves the entrance of Nancy Guthrie's residence after surveying the area on February 11 in Tucson.
(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
President Trump has even weighed in on the issue.
“It was originally a local case and they didn't want to let it go, which is fine,” Trump said when asked about the case at the White House on Friday. “It's up to them, it's really up to the community, but ultimately when the FBI got involved, I think progress has been made.”
Guthrie was discovered missing after she failed to show up at a friend's house to watch a church service. She was taken from her home without any heart medication and it is unclear how long she will be able to survive without it.
Although she was initially considered missing, the urgency of quickly finding Guthrie took over during the first few days of media coverage due to her heart condition. That's why it came as a surprise to some observers that just one day after she was reported missing, Nanos declared the crime scene clear and turned the house over to the family.
News anchors are stationed outside Nancy Guthrie's residence on February 12.
(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Forensic workers had processed the ranch-style home for evidence, including DNA and fingerprints, but were unable to recover footage from a camera because the family did not pay a subscription to back up the recordings, Nanos said.
Afterward, while the house was unguarded, reporters, photographers and others wandered the property, walking up to the front door and capturing video of blood drops along the porch.
The crime scene was eventually closed again so the FBI could conduct its own search, and Nanos told reporters that opening the scene the first time may have been premature.
“Monday morning quarterback. Absolutely. I probably could have postponed that,” Nanos said at a news conference, with top FBI agents flanking him.
Sheriff's deputies eventually stationed themselves outside the house, but a pizza delivery man still walked the food he had ordered for someone in the neighborhood to Guthrie's front door. On Friday, a company showed up to service Guthrie's backyard pool, which was accommodated at the “request of the Guthrie family,” the Sheriff's Department said.
Interruptions in the investigation have come in fits and starts.
After searching the home last week, FBI technicians have been processing evidence in and around it. Tests revealed that blood drops outside the door belonged to Guthrie.
Then, a series of ransom notes arrived in the tip boxes of two Tucson television stations and TMZ, requesting $4 million and $6 million in bitcoin, and including details about Guthrie's home.
The fact that authorities announced Guthrie was missing and then publicly gave credence to reports that she was being held for ransom put authorities at a disadvantage, said Adam Bercovici, who has worked on multiple kidnappings as a former supervisor of the Los Angeles Police Department's special investigations unit.
“It's a debacle,” he said. “This kidnapping is one of the worst cases of incompetence I have ever seen.”
A person visits a makeshift memorial at the entrance to Nancy Guthrie's home.
(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
With so much information circulating, Bercovici said, it would be difficult to verify a legitimate ransom demand. In fact, shortly after news broke about the ransom notes, officials said a man in Hawthorne sent a sham lawsuit to the Guthries. He has been charged with a federal crime.
Much is still unknown about the details of the investigation and exactly what evidence detectives have collected. Because of this, it will take time to fully evaluate your tactics and truly understand the complexity of the case.
The first big news in the case came Tuesday, when the FBI released surveillance videos of someone approaching Guthrie's door with a holstered gun, a ski mask and a backpack. The videos, recovered by Google engineers, provide the first look at Guthrie's kidnapper and last less than a minute. More than 4,000 tips flooded law enforcement agencies in the 24 hours after the images were released.
The next night, sheriff's investigators detained a 36-year-old man after a traffic stop south of Tucson. Sheriff's officials announced they obtained a court-approved search warrant for his home in Rio Rico, immediately raising expectations among those closely following the case.
But those hopes were soon dashed.
Surrounded by a crowd of cameras and reporters, FBI investigators and forensic technicians invaded the man's home. His mother-in-law, under the glare of the camera lights, declared him innocent, saying she did not know who Savannah Guthrie was, and told them “you won't find anything here, we have nothing to hide.”
The next morning, the man was free and his house was free of investigators. The Times is not naming him because he has not been arrested or charged with any crime.
“I hope they catch the suspect because I'm not one,” the man told reporters. “And you better do your job and find the suspect who did it so you can clear my name.”
(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
On Friday night, authorities served a search warrant at a home in Tucson and seized a parked Range Rover. In the end, authorities said no arrests were made.
Investigators are casting an even wider net to find photos, videos and other clues. Other people in the area should expect to be detained and questioned, Nanos told local station KOLD.
On Thursday, authorities revealed a series of images of men in the dark with backpacks near cars and homes. About two miles from Guthrie's home, investigators discovered a glove on the ground and then several others farther from the home, the Sheriff's Department announced Friday. They will all be tested for DNA in the hope it will lead to the 84-year-old grandmother. The department said other DNA found in the home did not match Guthrie or anyone who may have been in close contact with her, and investigators are working to identify who it belongs to.
Meanwhile, the FBI doubled its reward for information this week to $100,000 and released a description of the person seen at his front door.
“The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5'9″ – 5'10″ tall, with an average build. In the video, he is carrying a black 25-liter 'Ozark Trail Hiker Pack' backpack,” the office said. More than 13,000 suggestions have reached the office.
On Friday, the Sheriff's Department sought to quell rumors that there was a split between local and federal investigators, centered on the handling of evidence and which lab it should be sent to.
“Our strong partnership is critical and we remain fully committed to this collaborative investigation. To ensure consistency and expedite testing, evidence requiring forensic analysis is sent to the same out-of-state laboratory that has been used since the beginning of this case,” the Pima County Sheriff's Department said in a statement. “This decision was discussed and agreed upon by local FBI leaders.”
But Nanos himself expressed frustration with the pace of the investigation.
“These ups and downs are exhausting. But we will keep moving forward,” he told the New York Times. “Maybe it's an hour from now. Maybe it's weeks or months or years from now. But we're not going to give up. We're going to find Nancy. We're going to find this guy.”
