Exclusive: Arizona sheriff blocks FBI access to evidence in Nancy Guthrie abduction, source says
WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) – An Arizona sheriff is blocking FBI access to key evidence in the investigation into the abduction of U.S. television journalist Savannah Guthrie’s mother, impairing its ability to assist in the probe, a U.S. law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told Reuters on Thursday.
The FBI asked Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for physical evidence in the case, including a glove and DNA from the home of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, to be processed at the FBI’s national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, but Nanos has insisted instead on using a private lab in Florida, the official said.
Nanos did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters. But in an interview with Tucson television station KVOA late on Thursday, he said the FBI agreed with his decision to send newly discovered evidence to the lab, which has worked with his office for years.
The U.S. law enforcement official said outsourcing forensic analysis to a Florida contractor, effectively denying the access of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to crucial evidence in the case, is delaying the FBI’s ability to assist in the case.
Nanos denied the allegations, calling them “not even close to the truth” in the interview with KVOA, an NBC affiliate. He told the station that he discussed the matter with the FBI on Thursday morning.
“Actually the FBI just wanted to send the one or two they found by the crime scene,” he said, according to KVOA. “I said ‘No, why do that? Let’s just send them all to where all the DNA exist, all the profiles and the markers exist.’ They agreed, makes sense.”
In a daily press update released earlier in the day, the sheriff’s department said investigators had “recovered several items of evidence, including gloves,” adding that all viable evidence is submitted for analysis.” The agency did not elaborate.
The Pima County sheriff has primary jurisdiction over the case, and FBI assistance must be officially requested by the county, otherwise the FBI is legally precluded from taking part in the investigation. The official said the county has spent some $200,000 so far to send evidence in the Guthrie case to the Florida lab.
“It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute,” the official told Reuters earlier on Thursday, citing unspecified “earlier setbacks” in the investigation.
Nanos told KVOA that the lab’s DNA analysis in the Guthrie case was pro bono.
The U.S. official also criticized the sheriff for not seeking FBI assistance in the investigation sooner.
Item 1 of 2 Well-wishers sign a banner that reads “Bring her home” and shows a photo of Nancy Guthrie, U.S. television journalist Savannah Guthrie’s abducted elderly mother, at the KVOA newsroom, where Savannah worked earlier in her career, in Tucson, Arizona, U.S., February 12, 2026. REUTERS/Rebecca Noble
[1/2]Well-wishers sign a banner that reads “Bring her home” and shows a photo of Nancy Guthrie, U.S. television journalist Savannah Guthrie’s abducted elderly mother, at the KVOA newsroom, where Savannah worked earlier in her career, in Tucson, Arizona, U.S., February 12, 2026. REUTERS/Rebecca Noble Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
“It’s clear the fastest path to answers is leveraging federal resources and technology. Anything less only prolongs the Guthrie family’s grief and the community’s wait for justice,” the official said.
Signs of friction between the FBI and sheriff’s department emerged as the search for Nancy Guthrie stretched into its 12th day, as investigators intensified their search for clues in the presumed kidnapping for ransom.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31 when family dropped her off at her home following an evening dinner with them, and relatives reported her missing the following day, authorities said.
The sheriff has said the elder Guthrie had extremely limited mobility and could not have wandered off far from home unassisted, leading investigators to conclude early on that she had been abducted by force.
SOURCE: REUTERS
