Nancy Guthrie Sheriff Given 10-Day Deadline as Officials Reveal How Close the Case Is to Going Cold
There’s no set amount of time for what we consider to be a cold case, or a set guideline of what happens when the case has indeed gone cold. Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy, was taken from her home over two months ago, though, and there hasn’t really been too much movement on the case for a while. Sure, surveillance photos and videos were released, but no suspect was identified, and no motive was disclosed.
What does that mean for the chances of the case being solved? Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is clear: the case is “far from being cold.”
Related: Who are Savannah Guthrie’s siblings?
In an interview with News 4 Tucson’s Monica Garcia, Nanos stated that investigators are going over thousands of pieces of evidence. “This [case] is by far from being cold. We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Nanos said. “It’s going to take some time.”
A lot of that is DNA evidence, but more than 30,000 tips have come in about the case, which have to be analyzed.
Despite Nanos saying it’s going to take some time, reportedly, he has something of a deadline. Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz said the board has given Nanos 10 days to respond to an investigation that started due to issues with Nanos’ resume. The resume had mistakes about his past work with El Paso Police Department.
At the time, a spokesperson said, “The Pima County Sheriff’s Department recently identified two clerical errors in Sheriff Chris Nanos’ publicly posted resume. Both date discrepancies were administrative in nature and were not intended to mislead or misrepresent Sheriff Nanos’ work history.”
Supervisor Heinz disagreed, and he told Irish Star that, “When you start a four-decade career in a community from a basis of fraud, withholding information to get that position, that changes the entire thing.” Nanos reportedly has to answer for earlier disciplinary records that were not disclosed, including allegations of excessive force, insubordination, and a resignation instead of termination in 1982.
Nanos reportedly has until April 21 to respond, with Heinz saying, “I believe that this board would be well within our legal rights to vacate that office and remove him if he doesn’t comply with the statute.”
And even a response might not be enough. “Even if a response is provided, the board could still pursue a resolution of lack of confidence if they are dissatisfied with the answers,” he said.
It all comes as Nanos is leading the high-profile search for Nancy Guthrie, which has only exacerbated the questions about his leadership. Guthrie was taken from her house sometime between the night of January 31 and the early hours of February 1 by what law enforcement believes was a masked assailant. Multiple ransom notes were sent to several news outlets, but no ransom was ever paid, presumably because police did not believe the notes were authentic or because no proof of life was provided.
The reward for information about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is up to $1 million.
