Guthrie, the mother of Today host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on January 31 after dining with her oldest daughter and son-in-law at her Tucson home. She is believed to have been taken against her will around 2 a.m. on February 1.
Three weeks after Nancy Guthrie was taken, the investigation into her disappearance has devolved into something no family should have to endure: a turf war. And according to multiple sources within the probe, the man at the center of it is Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos.
The case is now entering its third week with no public resolution. President Donald Trump moved swiftly, posting on social media on February 4:
"I spoke with Savannah Guthrie, and let her know that I am directing ALL Federal Law Enforcement to be at the family's, and Local Law Enforcement's, complete disposal, IMMEDIATELY."
He followed up: "We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely."
The federal government showed up. The question is whether the sheriff let them in the door.
Breitbart report, Nanos has locked down the investigation so tightly that only he and two handpicked command-level officers, Chief Jesus Lopez and Captain Juan Carlos Navarro, are permitted to make decisions on the case. Every other detective working the abduction reports back to that trio, and the trio alone decides what happens next.
One law enforcement source described the arrangement:
"He will only let himself or two of his handpicked staffers make decisions on the case. Everybody else is being told what to do, no one else has a say-so or an opinion. It's just three men making the decisions. It's incredibly unusual to do that, when you have so many people working together and the FBI are involved."
The same source was blunter about the relationship with federal investigators: "They're keeping everything from the FBI — they just aren't sharing."
Another source echoed the concern, noting that no actual detectives are steering the case, only command staff. The source told the newspaper:
"So no actual detectives are steering this, just command staff. This is highly unusual. Normally an experienced detective would steer it and provide updates through the chain of command… It's the tail wagging the dog."
When the President of the United States deploys every federal resource available and a local sheriff responds by tightening his circle to three people, the problem isn't collaboration. It's control.
Nanos was first appointed sheriff in 2015, then lost the subsequent 2016 election. He was reelected in December 2024 by a slim margin following a recount. His tenure has not been without controversy.
Richard Kastigar Jr., the department's former chief who spent 46 years on the job before retiring in 2023, did not hold back in his assessment. Kastigar told the Daily Mail:
"This case should have been turned over to the FBI two weeks ago and the sheriff's department should have followed and supported them."
Kastigar also said that all evidence should have gone to the FBI's state-of-the-art lab in Quantico from the beginning. Instead, according to prior reporting, Nanos sent DNA samples to a private lab in Florida rather than allowing the FBI to process them.
Think about that for a moment. The FBI operates one of the most sophisticated forensic laboratories on the planet. The President personally directed those resources to this case. And the local sheriff shipped evidence to a private lab in another state.
Kastigar pointed to something deeper than mere stubbornness:
"Chris is keeping this tight inner circle and not letting anyone in because he's unwilling to turn the investigation over to the FBI so he can tightly control it himself."
The former chief described Nanos as harboring "great disdain for the FBI" and holding a grudge against the agency. That claim carries additional weight given that the source material references Nanos as having been formerly investigated by the FBI himself.
The investigation's dysfunction became publicly visible when Nanos confirmed that a high-tech Bluetooth "sniffer" was being deployed by helicopter over the Tucson area in an attempt to detect Guthrie's pacemaker. The problem wasn't the technology. It was the fact that the strategy was broadcast before it could be executed.
Trump weighed in on the error while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Georgia:
"I didn't like when they talked about going after the pacemaker before they even started going after it."
He elaborated on the obvious tactical concern:
"If in fact they could do it that way, the person (the kidnapper) would say, 'Well, I'm not going to let that happen'… I can't imagine why they would have done that, just in terms of strategy."
Nancy Grace, the longtime cable crime commentator and former prosecutor, was characteristically direct, saying on Friday that the sheriff is confusing everyone, giving away information to potential kidnappers, and needs to "shut his pie hole."
Nanos has pushed back on claims he isn't cooperating with federal partners, warning against "division" and urging people not to "let the media divide us." The rhetoric is familiar. When an official's actions contradict his words, the fallback is always to blame the people reporting on it.
The Nancy Guthrie abduction is a tragedy first. A grandmother was taken from her home in the dead of night. A family is in agony. Every hour that passes without resolution compounds the anguish.
But it is also a case study in what happens when ego overrides mission. The federal government offered its full arsenal. The President personally intervened. And by multiple accounts from inside the investigation, the local sheriff has responded by circling the wagons around himself and two lieutenants, sidelining both the FBI and his own experienced detectives.
This is not a story about local versus federal jurisdiction. Local law enforcement handles cases capably across the country every single day. This is a story about one sheriff, with a documented history of friction with the FBI, choosing personal control over every available advantage in a case where a woman's life may hang in the balance.
There has been no word from the Guthrie family as to whether they are satisfied with the sheriff's handling of the case. Their silence is understandable. Their patience may not be infinite.
One source inside the investigation captured the frustration plainly: "Nanos is pompous and wants the spotlight, rather than focusing on Nancy and letting the FBI do their job."
Nancy Guthrie has been missing for three weeks. The resources are there. The question is whether the man in charge will use them.