More than six months after Nancy Guthrie’s initial kidnapping, authorities’ search for the mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie seems no closer to a conclusion, with no arrests made in the case. The investigation may have failed to gain momentum in its crucial first hours due to the response of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal published Saturday evening.
The report, which purports to be sourced from interviews with current and former county and federal officials, people close to the investigation and personnel files obtained from public record requests, states that the Pima Country Sheriff’s deputies initially failed to seal off and protect Guthrie’s property with police tape, allowing reporters, live-streamers and delivery drivers entry onto the porch. Additionally, the report alleges that investigators minimized the significance of spots of dried blood on Guthrie’s porch, suspecting it was not related to the kidnapping. Later testing confirmed the blood was Guthrie’s, and it is now suspected to be related to the abduction.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos denied the findings to the Wall Street Journal, saying, “I can assure everybody that we are working hard every day with all of our partners (including) corporate America (which has) offered up some assistance with some of the brightest minds in this country. … This case is not cold.”
The Journal also reported that Sgt. David Stivers, the appointed head of homicide, was reprimanded two months before Guthrie’s kidnapping for “poor judgment” and his role in delays in securing evidence in a different case.
Additionally, the Journal reported that the sheriff’s surveillance search-and-rescue aircraft did not begin its search until 6:30 p.m. — several hours after its initial missing-person report and too late to search during daylight hours. The report indicates that the senior pilot assigned to the shift had been demoted days earlier, following a workplace complaint.
The Journal also alleged that Nanos “sidelined” deputies who had supported Lt. Heather Lappin, his challenger in a 2024 election.
On Friday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department publicly disclosed two ransom notes received by media in the days following the initial kidnapping, along with a statement: “We know there are individuals familiar with this unidentified male who may have observed changes in his behavior around the timeframe of the videos.”
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department did not initially respond to a request for comment.
