Lead Cop on Nancy Guthrie Case Reportedly Has No Homicide Experience as Sources Blame Sheriff for ‘Catastrophic’ Fumble in ‘National Embarrassment’ Investigation
When something happens to someone you love, you want to be able to trust law enforcement to investigate the facts and to be able to provide, if not solutions, at least answers. That’s perhaps why it’s so frustrating that over two months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared, it seems like we’re nowhere close to figuring out what happened, why it happened, or who was responsible.
And a lot of people are pointing fingers at law enforcement. Fox News Digital is reporting that Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos pulled the most experienced investigators off the case. According to the outlet, only one detective had more than 3 years of experience investigating homicides at the time of the abduction, with the other five having less than two. And the sergeant supervising them had only six months of experience in the position and had never worked a homicide case.
Related: Who are Savannah Guthrie’s siblings?
Sources even indicate that those seasoned officers were sent to the cold case division because they were not “favored” by Nanos’ leadership team. One of them was later brought in when the investigation went into a task force phase.
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and former professor of criminal justice, told the outlet that the lack of experience from the sergeant isn’t necessarily a problem. “There are other experienced detectives that should be helping,” Giacalone said. “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.”
“A lack of experience can be overcome by mentorship and training,” he added.
But that did not happen. And there have been a lot of rumblings about the Sheriff’s leadership style. “You have to understand, he terrorizes the entire department and makes examples out of anyone even perceived to be disloyal,” one source said. “I know that sounds hyperbolic. It is not.”
This comes after a source told Radar Online that the investigation has been a “catastrophe” and a “national embarrassment for the whole department” because of Nanos. “He’s making us look bad,” the insider said. “The rank and file hate this guy’s guts, and now the whole country sees why – and it’s a tragedy that it has to involve, by all accounts, a good and decent 84-year-old woman who happens to have a famous daughter. That’s the real horror here.”
Nancy Guthrie went missing in the early hours of February 1, with investigators now believing a masked, armed individual took her from her house overnight in what looks to be a targeted kidnapping. The next day, her family found the back doors of the home “propped open” and her wallet, keys, and cell phone still in the house.
So far, police have not identified a suspect or disclosed a motive publicly. Guthrie had limited mobility, and her family indicated she could not have walked out of the house by herself.
The reward for information about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is up to $1 million.
