{"id":168226,"date":"2026-03-19T15:02:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/168226\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:02:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:02:26","slug":"nancy-guthrie-sheriff-chris-nanos-logging-short-days-in-office-as-case-languishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/168226\/","title":{"rendered":"Nancy Guthrie sheriff Chris Nanos logging short days in office as case languishes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The garrulous Arizona sheriff who has failed to find Savannah Guthrie\u2019s missing mother<\/a> has been spending more days pumping iron at the gym than at his desk, The Post can exclusively reveal.<\/p>\n

Chris Nanos \u2014 the embattled chief lawman of Pima County<\/a> leading the hunt for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie \u2014 was spotted at his office in Tucson just twice for a leisurely seven hours a day between Friday and Tuesday this past week.<\/p>\n

Nancy, meanwhile, has been missing for 46 days \u2014 with Nanos and his deputies having yet to identify a suspect or otherwise meaningful lead in the elusive disappearance case.<\/p>\n

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos cuts a casual figure as he leaves the gym on March 13, 2026. New York Post<\/p>\n

The 70-year-old Democrat \u2014 who at first charmed America with his tearful pleas for help, only to begin to contradict himself through public interviews <\/a>as the case began to languish \u2014 hit the gym four times during the five-day period, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n

He has been seen cruising out of his $850,000 manse in a gated community on the outskirts of Tucson in his flashy, newer-model Corvette Stingray \u2014 white, the same color as his hair \u2014 for his roughly 90-minute workouts.<\/p>\n

Criticism ramping up as case gets colder<\/p>\n

The floundering Democrat has been under the microscope for his handling of the Guthrie case \u2014 including criticism that he\u2019s been sending the wrong messages to the public about the case.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also been panned for releasing Nancy\u2019s Catalina Foothills home as a crime scene too quickly in the early days of her disappearance, using a private DNA analysis company instead of working more closely with the FBI, and not deploying critical resources like a search plane or cadaver-sniffing dogs.<\/p>\n

The mother (left) of \u201cToday\u201d show co-host Savannah Guthrie (right) hasn\u2019t been seen in almost 50 days. Facebook\/Savanah Guthrie<\/p>\n

Nanos is facing a recall effort<\/a> after critics branded his handling of the Guthrie case \u201can embarrassment\u201d to the county.<\/p>\n

He has insisted to NBC \u2014 \u201cToday\u201d show co-host Savannah\u2019s network \u2014 that \u201cinvestigators are definitely closer\u201d to finding out who abducted Nancy from her home in the dead of night on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n

Despite that, signs are piling up that the case has gone cold \u2014 and fading out of the public eye.<\/p>\n

Nanos \u2014 seen leaving the gym on March 16 \u2014 has come under attack for his handling of Nancy Guthrie\u2019s disappearance. New York Post<\/p>\n

Nanos taking his foot off the gas?<\/p>\n

A source close to the Guthrie family said Savannah and her brother and sister are still working with investigators \u2014 even as it appears Nanos has taken his foot off the gas.<\/p>\n

He was a no-show at work last Friday \u2014 and only left his house over the weekend to head to the gym.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, he arrived at the office, about 20 miles south of his sprawling home, just after 9 a.m. and left around 4 p.m., taking off in either his $70,000 convertible or his other car, a Ford Explorer.<\/p>\n

The experienced lawman has also been seen driving a $70,000 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray sportscar. New York Post<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, with the case in its seventh week, the FBI has been busy re-canvassing Nancy\u2019s neighborhood, hunting for footage from two specific dates prior to her kidnapping, NewsNation\u2019s Brian Entin reported this week.<\/p>\n

The journalist said he\u2019s finally returning home after being told there were no imminent leads.<\/p>\n

Follow The Post\u2019s live updates on Savannah Guthrie\u2019s missing mom<\/a><\/p>\n

Mixed messages in the media<\/p>\n

The locquacious lawman has been relishing the limelight since Nancy\u2019s Feb. 1 disappearance, giving interview after interview with often confusing or contradictory information.<\/p>\n

Nanos and representatives of the Pima County Sheriff\u2019s Department did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sheriff chooses to deal with the media in a bit of a haphazard way,\u201d Pima County-based Betsy Brantner Smith of the National Police Association told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, in a case like this, you would see regular press conferences, and it would be the sheriff or his designated person, and then somebody designated from the FBI \u2014 usually a public information officer or something like that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When speculation ramped up that Savannah\u2019s brother-in-law, Tomasso Cioni, was potentially a prime suspect, Nanos refused to rule him out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nanos was forced to publicly clear the entire Guthrie family more than a week later.<\/p>\n

Savannah is said to be \u201clivid\u201d over the false claims that have served as a distraction from the case.<\/p>\n

Last month, after images from Nancy\u2019s doorbell camera emerged, Nanos ominously suggested<\/a> that she could\u2019ve been kidnapped in \u201crevenge for something.\u201d He did not elaborate.<\/p>\n

And just last week, he claimed he knew why the suspect \u201ctargeted\u201d Nancy<\/a> \u2014 warning that the abductor could \u201cabsolutely\u201d strike again in the largely retirement-age community, without giving more details.<\/p>\n

Nanos has been criticized for giving contradictory information on the case in his many media appearances. Rebecca Noble for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted, but we, we can\u2019t, we\u2019re not 100% sure of that,\u201d Nanos told NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nanos has not responded to numerous requests for interviews since the case began.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sheriff speaks to whoever he wants to speak to at that moment, which is just not the way that law enforcement should be doing things,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

The timeline of the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie\u2019s mom:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe recently made a statement that, yes, he believes Nancy was personally targeted, but then he made another statement saying that there is still a danger to anybody living in the county, and that you could be next,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Pima County, we have a lot of terrified elderly residents. I was just talking to a friend of mine whose mother is in her 90s, and the mom is petrified that the man that she heard about on the news is going to come and get her,\u201d Smith said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was very irresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

FBI agents searching the area around Guthrie\u2019s home on Feb. 11, 2026. Andy Johnstone for NY Post<\/p>\n

Shunning help from the feds<\/p>\n

Nanos has also been forced to address concerns that he wasn\u2019t playing nice with the FBI \u2014 after sending DNA evidence to a private lab in Florida, instead of the agency\u2019s top-of-the-line facility in Quantico, Va.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, the FBI just wanted to send the one or two they found by the crime scene, closest to it \u2014 mile, mile and a half \u2026 I said \u2018No, why do that? Let\u2019s just send them all to where all the DNA exist, all the profiles and the markers exist.\u2019 They agreed, makes sense,\u201d Nanos told KVOA-TV.<\/p>\n

DNA recovered from Nancy\u2019s home<\/a>\u00a0does not match her, her family members, or people who worked in her home.<\/p>\n

Surveillance footage of a suspect seen outside Guthrie\u2019s home on the night of her disappearance. FBI via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Critics have said Nanos\u2019 decision is detrimental to ever finding Nancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen time is of the essence with a missing person who\u2019s likely been kidnapped, it\u2019s challenging because you can\u2019t wait for multiple agencies to orchestrate interagency cooperation,\u201d former FBI agent Michael Harrigan told The Post.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAgencies have begun contracting with these private labs because of the backlog in state, local, or federal DNA labs. Labs have been overwhelmed, especially due to the move to cold cases, historic missing person cases, and sexual assault cases. There\u2019s a crush of DNA examinations to be done,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody\u2019s got to take the lead and get this stuff done because she could be alive. Pima County was under an incredible amount of pressure because of the time to get in there and get it done. They may not have teamed with the FBI early on, but that\u2019s excusable since the fact is that life hangs in the balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guthrie\u2019s house in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood north of Tucson, Arizona. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

Nanos dogged by other problems<\/p>\n

The Guthrie case is not Nanos\u2019 only concern.<\/p>\n

Dan Butierez, a Republican congressional candidate, has launched a\u00a0recall campaign against him <\/a>\u2014 and has an army of volunteers working to gather the 120,000 signatures required to force a vote.<\/p>\n

Butierez told The Post that ordinary sheriff\u2019s deputies have wanted to oppose Nanos but were afraid of repercussions.<\/p>\n

Republican Dan Butierez has launched a recall campaign against Nanos. Butierez For Congress<\/p>\n

Rank-and-file police officers in Pima County reportedly issued a vote of no confidence in the sheriff on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would encourage people to separate the leadership from the \u2018boots on the ground\u2019 cops. Just because you have a lousy leader doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re a lousy cop,\u201d said Smith, who served as a police officer in Chicago for over two decades before moving to Arizona.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Nanos, who was elected in 2024, faces<\/a> a $1.3 million lawsuit<\/a> from an inmate at the Pima County jail. The sheriff\u2019s department has said Nanos can\u2019t comment on pending litigation. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s also drawn criticism for his previous\u00a0suspensions from duty<\/a>, which he is accused of concealing from the public.<\/p>\n

The Pima County Sheriff\u2019s Department did not return messages from The Post.<\/p>\n

Sara Nathan contributed additional reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The garrulous Arizona sheriff who has failed to find Savannah Guthrie\u2019s missing mother has been spending more days…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1458,68,7373,53442,9,11,10,104,29717,58],"class_list":["post-168226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-arizona","tag-exclusive","tag-missing-persons","tag-nancy-guthrie","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-police","tag-savannah-guthrie","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}