In a one-on-one interview with KGUN 9’s Pat Parris, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos forcefully denied suggestions that his office has not cooperated with the FBI in the investigation into missing woman Nancy Guthrie.
VIDEO: Watch full interview below:
“Sheriff, first of all, are you being unfairly portrayed as not working with the FBI or cooperating at all?” Parris asked.
Nanos replied: “For someone to say that we're not working with the FBI or that the sheriff is stopping evidence from going up, that's just crazy. That's ludicrous. Why would I not use the FBI and their free services?” He said the suggestion was “an insult to my team,” and repeatedly stressed a long-standing working relationship with federal agents: “The relationship between the Sheriff's Department and the FBI is valued, not just by the FBI, not just by the Sheriff's Department, but by this community.”
Addressing a report about a glove and DNA testing, Nanos provided a detailed account of how his office handled evidence. “So it was about some DNA on a glove that Quantico wanted or the FBI wanted. And we said, no, it's coming here. That's so far from the truth of what happened,” he said, adding that the glove was recovered two miles from the property after a tip: “That glove was found two miles away. Somebody called it in as a tip.”
He said the department had already submitted biological evidence to its contracted lab: “All of our DNA evidence is already at our lab. They've come back with reports. Those reports have been shared with you.” Nanos explained why he chose to send evidence to the county lab rather than adding a second laboratory into the chain of custody: “Why would you add a second lab to this? Because now that lab, if they get a marker, say they get a profile, what are they going to do? Call our lab to send stuff over. You've added a step there that's not needed.”
Related: Nancy Guthrie investigation: DNA found
On the pace of the investigation, Nanos said video evidence was the crucial lead and was released quickly. “The biggest key right now for me, the biggest piece of evidence right now, was that video. I looked at that, you looked at it. People say, oh, they held it for days. We held that video for less than two hours.” He said releasing the video prompted a surge of public response: “We generated in an hour's time almost 5,000 tips. You've got over — there were 30-some thousand tips there from between the FBI and us, and it's growing.”
Parris pressed on other specifics: “Tell me about the D.A. evidence that you may have found inside Nancy Guthrie's home?”
“We've submitted all our evidence and we have gotten back results with DNA. That's all I can speak to,” Nanos answered. “If we get a suspect, we hope to get a swab and validate it with the DNA.”
When Parris asked about an additional piece of video tied to a January 11 sighting — “Can I ask you one last question? And that is January 11th, we've got word that there may have been another video showing this similar person… dressed like that at Nancy's home?” — Nanos said his team is continuing to gather and analyze incoming footage and tips. “I really don't know the dates and stuff, but yes, we put out another ring message today. Guys, please, please, please, look, look, look, don't miss something,” he said, urging the public not to dismiss small details: “There's no lead too small. Call us on it. Let us work it.”
Related: UPDATE: FBI ups reward to $100,000 for info leading to Nancy Guthrie's return
Nanos also described the scale of the search effort: “400 cops are out there right now doing work, hard work… It is 24-7.” He stressed that the priority remains finding Guthrie: “We are in the lead, we being all of these agencies. We're just trying to find Nancy. Once it's done, we'll take it to the county attorney. The FBI will take it to the U.S. attorney. Those two can decide which way to go with it. All I'm saying is we don't care about that. We just want to find Nancy.”
The investigation continues and authorities ask anyone with information or video footage to contact law enforcement.
