The garrulous Arizona sheriff who has failed to search out Savannah Guthrie’s lacking mom has been spending extra time pumping iron on the health club than at his desk, The Submit can solely reveal.
Chris Nanos — the embattled lawman of Pima County main the hunt for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie — was noticed at his workplace in Tucson simply twice for a leisurely seven hours a day between Friday and Tuesday this previous week.
Nancy, in the meantime, has been lacking for 46 days — with Nanos and his deputies having but to establish a suspect or in any other case significant lead within the elusive disappearance case.
The 70-year-old Dem, who at first endeared America along with his tearful pleas for assist, solely to start to contradict himself by public interviews because the case started to languish, hit the health club 4 occasions in the course of the 5 day interval, The Submit has realized.
He has been seen cruising out of his $850,000 manse in a gated neighborhood on the outskirts of Tucson in his flashy, newer mannequin Corvette Stingray — white to match the colour of his hair — for his roughly 90-minute exercises.
Criticism ramping up as case will get colder
The floundering Democrat has been below the microscope for his dealing with of the Guthrie case — together with criticism that he’s been sending the fallacious messages to the general public concerning the case.
He’s additionally been panned for releasing Nancy’s Catalina Foothills dwelling as against the law scene too shortly within the early days of her disappearance, utilizing a personal DNA evaluation firm as an alternative of working extra intently with the FBI, and never deploying vital sources like a search airplane or cadaver-sniffing canines.
Nanos is now going through a recall effort after critics branded his dealing with of the Guthrie case “a humiliation” for the county.
He has insisted to NBC — “Immediately” present host Savannah’s community — that “investigators are positively nearer” to discovering out who kidnapped Nancy from her dwelling at midnight on Feb. 1.
Regardless of that, indicators are piling up that the case has gone chilly — and fading out of the general public eye.
Nanos taking his foot off the fuel?
A supply near the Guthrie household mentioned Savannah and her brother and sister are nonetheless working with investigators — even because it seems Nanos has taken his personal foot off the fuel.
He was a no-show at work final Friday — and solely left his home over the weekend to go to the health club.
Earlier this week, he arrived on the workplace, about 20 miles south of his sprawling dwelling, simply after 9 a.m. and left round 4 p.m., taking off in both his $70,000 convertible or his different automotive, a Ford Explorer.
In the meantime, with the case now in its seventh week, the FBI has been busy re-canvassed Nancy’s neighborhood, attempting to find footage from two particular dates previous to her kidnapping, NewsNation’s Brian Entin reported this week.
The respected journalist mentioned he’s lastly returning dwelling after being advised there have been no imminent leads.
Blended messages within the media
The locquacious lawman has been relishing the limelight since Nancy’s Feb. 1 disappearance, giving interview after interview with oftentimes complicated or contradicting info.
Nanos and representatives for the Pima County Sheriff’s Division didn’t reply to requests for touch upon Wednesday.
“The sheriff chooses to take care of the media in a little bit of a haphazard manner,” Pima County-based Betsy Brantner Smith of the Nationwide Police Affiliation advised The Submit.
“Usually, in a case like this, you’d see common press conferences, and it will be the sheriff or his designated individual, after which any individual designated from the FBI — often a public info officer or one thing like that,” she mentioned.
When hypothesis ramped up that Savannah’s brother-in-law, Tomasso Cioni, was doubtlessly a major suspect, Nanos refused to rule him out.
Nanos was compelled to publicly clear the whole Guthrie household greater than per week later.
Savannah is alleged to be “furious” over the false claims that’s served as a distraction to the case.
Final month, after photos from Nancy’s doorbell digicam emerged, Nanos ominously advised that Nancy may’ve been kidnapped in “revenge for one thing.” He didn’t elaborate.
And, simply final week, he claimed he knew why the suspect “focused” Nancy – warning that he may “completely” strike once more within the largely retirement neighborhood, with out giving extra particulars.
“We imagine we all know why he did this, and we imagine that it was focused, however we, we will’t, we’re not 100% positive of that,” Nanos advised NBC Information.
Nanos has not responded to quite a few requests for interviews because the case started.
“The sheriff speaks to whoever he needs to talk to at that second, which is simply not the best way that regulation enforcement needs to be doing issues,” Smith mentioned.
The timeline of the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mother:
“He lately made a press release that, sure, he believes Nancy was personally focused, however then he made one other assertion saying that there’s nonetheless a hazard to anyone residing within the county, and that you might be subsequent,” she mentioned.
“Right here in Pima County, we now have lots of terrified aged residents. I used to be simply speaking to a good friend of mine whose mom is in her 90s, and the mother is petrified that the person that she heard about on the information goes to come back and get her,” Smith mentioned.
“That was very irresponsible.”
Shunning assist from the feds
Nanos has additionally been compelled to handle issues that he wasn’t taking part in good with the FBI – after sending DNA proof to an area lab in Florida, as an alternative of the company’s top-of-the-line facility in Quantico, Va.
“Really, the FBI simply wished to ship the one or two they discovered by the crime scene, closest to it — mile, mile and a half … I mentioned ‘No, why do this? Let’s simply ship all of them to the place all of the DNA exist, all of the profiles and the markers exist.’ They agreed, is sensible,” Nanos advised KVOA-TV.
DNA recovered from Nancy’s dwelling doesn’t match her, her members of the family, or individuals who labored in her dwelling.
Critics have mentioned Nanos’ choice is detrimental to ever discovering Nancy.
“When time is of the essence with a lacking one who’s possible been kidnapped, it’s difficult as a result of you may’t look forward to a number of companies to orchestrate interagency cooperation,” former FBI agent Michael Harrigan advised The Submit.
“Companies have begun contracting with these personal labs due to the backlog in state, native, or federal DNA labs. Labs have been overwhelmed, particularly because of the transfer to chilly circumstances, historic lacking individual circumstances, and sexual assault circumstances. There’s a crush of DNA examinations to be accomplished,” he added.
“Any individual’s bought to take the lead and get these things accomplished as a result of she could possibly be alive. Pima County was below an unbelievable quantity of strain due to the time to get in there and get it accomplished. They might not have teamed with the FBI early on, however that’s excusable because the truth is that life hangs within the stability.”
Nanos dogged by different issues
The Guthrie case will not be Nanos’ solely concern.
Dan Butierez, a Republican congressional candidate, has launched a recall marketing campaign in opposition to Nanos — and has a military of volunteers working to assemble the 120,000 signatures required to pressure a vote.
Butierez advised The Submit that extraordinary sheriff’s deputies have wished to oppose Nanos however have been afraid of repercussions.
Rank-and-file cops in Pima County reportedly issued a vote of no confidence within the sheriff on Friday.
“I’d encourage folks to separate the management from the ‘boots on the bottom’ cops. Simply because you’ve gotten a awful chief doesn’t imply you’re a awful cop,” mentioned Smith, who served as a police officer in Chicago for over 20 years earlier than shifting to Arizona.
Moreover, Nanos, who was elected in 2024, faces a $1.3 million lawsuit from an inmate on the Pima County jail.
He’s additionally below investigation for earlier suspensions from responsibility that he’s accused of withholding from the general public.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Division additionally didn’t return messages from The Submit.
— Sara Nathan contributed further reporting.
