The Nancy Guthrie case enters its fourth month as the sheriff cites lab delays
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The sheriff overseeing the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s alleged abduction blamed lab work, scientific ethics and the judicial process for delays in the investigation, which entered its fourth month Monday, in an interview with local media this week.
“It’s not just a detective going out there, talking to somebody, and we can make an arrest,” he told Tucson-based KOLD-TV. “This is a very serious case, but what makes it last so long is that we rely on labs.”
Detectives rely on lab work to find DNA and digital tests mostly, he said.
Although the interview was published Monday, a spokesperson for Nanos’ office told Fox News Digital he sat for it “a few weeks ago.”
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A separate photo shows Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaking to reporters about the alleged kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, alongside a photo of Guthrie sitting in the middle of a mahjong game. (Rebecca Noble/Reuters, NBC)
“This is an ongoing and ongoing investigation,” the spokesperson said. “Forensic analysis of DNA and video evidence is ongoing. If and when there are significant developments in this case, they will be shared publicly.”
In a controversial move stemming from the public’s split with the FBI, 11 weeks after sending hair samples from Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills to a private genetics lab in Florida, they were forwarded to the bureau’s Quantico lab for more advanced testing. There have also been initial reports of mixed, difficult-to-separate DNA samples, and ongoing digital forensic analysis.
“If you look at those labs and the work they do, you have science there, and science has rules to go by,” Nanos said in an interview with local news. “Even though it’s not – DNA they’ll tell you is not an exact science – it’s 99% plus. So it’s very close, but you still have to follow the rules.”
In addition to scientific protocols, there are rules of the justice system, he said.
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Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaks at the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Tucson, Arizona, Friday, May 8, 2026. Nanos said investigators are getting closer to solving the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie. (Matt Symons for Fox News Digital)
“If I say that there is something good in this, it is that people are working, they are doing their best to abide by those laws so that they understand that, look, no one wants to arrest the wrong person,” he said. “We want to make sure that DNA doesn’t just reveal the suspect. It also frees the innocent.”
NANCY GUTHRIE CASE: SHERIFF NANOS SAYS ‘NEAR TO SOLVING 84-YEAR-OLD WOMAN’S KIDNAPPING’
Although his office declined to answer questions about who outside the family may have been ruled out or remain a person of interest, Nanos told Fox News Digital last month that detectives are making progress in the case. However, no suspects have been publicly identified, no arrests have been made, and Guthrie’s whereabouts are unknown.
“The sheriff needs to give us concrete answers about what’s going on and what he’s doing, not vague ideas about the scientific process,” said RJ Dreiling, a California criminal defense attorney who is pursuing the case.
“Guthrie’s kidnapping has taken the country by storm β not just because Ms. Guthrie’s daughter is so well-known, but because if this beloved and respected woman could be taken from her home, and we’re not going to find anyone who did it,” Dreiling told Fox News Digital. “It makes us wonder how safe we ββall really are?”
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Savannah Guthrie poses with her mother Nancy Guthrie during a production break while hosting NBC’s “Today Show” live from Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)
While Nanos pointed to expert evaluations as the reason for the slow pace of the investigation, federal sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital over the weekend that the FBI is discussing sending new technological tools to the case.
Morgan Wright, CEO and founder of the National Center for Open and Unsolved Cases, said he believes the new tools are likely to focus on one of the three areas, all of which are digital.
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“The solution to this case will be, I think, something technological, something they come up with β new ways of analyzing data,” he told Fox News Digital. “I’m looking at video, video forensics, signal analysis, blockchain type of stuff.”
A woman walks with her dog in a Pima County Sheriff’s Office patrol car outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 8, 2026. Nancy Guthrie, mother of journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie, went missing from her home on Feb. 1. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Genetic testing is still ongoing, and may close the case, he said.
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Guthrie is the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie.
There is a combined $1.2 million reward for information leading to the case, which has yet to be claimed.
The family is asking anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Anonymous tips can be called to Tucson’s 88-Crime hotline at 1-520-882-7463.
