CATALINA FOOTHILLS, Ariz. (KGUN) — It has been 100 days since Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in the Catalina Foothills, and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos says the investigation is far from over.
Mother’s Day was not the same for Savannah Guthrie and her siblings.
Savannah posted on her Instagram a special tribute to her mom with the caption, "Mother, daughter, sister, Nonie - we miss you with every breath. We will never stop looking for you. We will never be at peace until we find you."
Sheriff Nanos says it weighed heavy on him not just on Mother's Day, but everyday and his department has not stopped looking for her.
"Every passing second to that family probably seems like 100 days. So yeah, there's a lot of stress there for them, but they just need to know that we're not giving up," Sheriff Nanos said.
Despite FBI Director Kash Patel's criticism of how the sheriff's department has handled the investigation, Sheriff Nanos said his office continues to work closely with their FBI partners.
"I don't want to get into politics. Politicians are politicians, they are gonna do what they say. That's not our focus. The pundits, the experts, the thousands of keyboard experts, everybody has their opinions. That's OK. That's not our concern," Sheriff Nanos said.
"Our concern is we're focused on solving a crime and we have a great relationship with the FBI from day one and actually before day one. We belong to a task force with the FBI, have for decades," Nanos said.
As questions mount over why it is taking so long to find Nancy, Sheriff Nanos wants the public to understand why the DNA process is tedious.
"We know we have some very good DNA and that DNA is being worked with by several labs," Sheriff Nanos said. "You know I get the frustration. Everybody wants to know what's going on, what do you have, but we have rules and science has rules. They have guardrails in place to make sure that that science is solid, that they understand the importance of their DNA analysis."
He goes on to say, "DNA is not just something that can identify a suspect. But it's also a tool equally as important to exonerate those that are innocent."
Sheriff Nanos acknowledged that some information is being withheld from the public.
"I've got to protect the integrity of the case. It's not that the sheriff is trying to hide something or be secretive. It is about if whoever it is that did this, when we make an arrest - that individual has the right to a fair trial," Sheriff Nanos said.
Video footage remains a key element of the investigation.
"That video of the individual on the porch generated a lot of leads for us and we're still working those leads and we'll continue to, but we're not done," Nanos said. "We're still analyzing a lot of video just as with DNA, so there's a lot of forensic analysis going on in a number of different arenas."
When asked at what point the case would be considered cold, Sheriff Nanos said, "When we are at all dead ends. There are no leads to follow. We have run out of all of our evidence."
He said we can't worry about how long this is going to take to solve.
"What we worry about is are we moving this case forward everyday. Is there something we’re learning that we might be able to do more with? And that’s what is happening, is until those detectives come to me one morning and say sheriff we’re out of leads, we have nothing else to do, then I’ll worry about it.”
Nanos said calls to the tip line have slowed down, but he remains hopeful that the call to break the case open will come.
"I've just got all the confidence in the world. This case will not go cold. We will, we will resolve it," Nanos said.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Callers may remain anonymous.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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