A senior representative of the Pima County Sheriff’s deputies has publicly stated that the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie was compromised almost from the beginning. Sergeant Aaron Cross, president of the Pima County Deputies Organization, attributed the problems to a lack of experience among key personnel and decisions made by Sheriff Chris Nanos.
According to Cross, the detective who took the lead on the case had no prior experience investigating a homicide. The officer had been promoted to sergeant only three years earlier, moved relatively quickly from patrol into the homicide unit, and was ᴀssigned to the high-profile Guthrie investigation nearly immediately. Cross described this choice as highly unusual and said it reflected a failure to ensure the case was handled by someone with sufficient background for such a complex matter.
“Command, for whatever reason, decided that despite the fact that he hadn’t been in homicide before, he was the right person for that unit,” Cross said. He added that developing the necessary skills for major investigations takes time and that ᴀssigning an inexperienced detective in this way would have been almost unheard of before the current sheriff took office. Cross placed responsibility for the decision directly on Sheriff Nanos.
Beyond the staffing issue, Cross pointed to early operational shortcomings. He said poor communication and incomplete tracking of interviews led to duplicated efforts among investigators. He also criticized the rapid return of the crime scene to the family, stating that the property was released the day after Nancy Guthrie was reported missing. In his view, and in the view of other detectives and members of the community, the scene was given up too quickly.
Cross acknowledged that friction between local investigators and the FBI was widely known within the department, though he said it was unclear whether that tension had a direct impact on the progress of the case. He further noted a lack of sustained public outreach. Apart from a single billboard and some independent efforts by online content creators, there were few posters, reward materials, or visible community campaigns. In a city he described as having close social connections—“one degree of separation”—traditional street-level investigative work that involves speaking with local networks had not been used as extensively as he believed it should have been.
Sheriff Chris Nanos could not immediately be reached for a response to the criticisms. He has faced separate legal challenges, including a large civil claim alleging dangerous incompetence in another matter.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on the evening of January 31, 2026, when she was dropped off at her home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson. She was reported missing the following day after failing to attend church. More than seven months later, no arrests have been publicly announced. Investigators continue to examine extensive video footage, DNA evidence, and digital records, while a substantial reward remains available for information that helps resolve the case.
The comments from the police union president have added to ongoing scrutiny of how the investigation has been managed as the search for answers continues into its eighth month.
Sources : New York Post
