As the search hit its 11th day, Lindsay Richards, a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, revealed the most glaring missteps in the investigation – some of which have seemingly been admitted to by Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos himself.

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Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy Guthrie, was taken from her Tucson home in the early morning hours of February 1Credit: Instagram/savannahguthrie
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Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos and other investigators have made several apparent missteps in the case, former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney Lindsay Richards told The U.S. SunCredit: Reuters
As Richards explained, an investigation always begins first with local law enforcement, which, in the case of missing Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy, is the sheriff’s department.

“So it starts with local law enforcement when you don’t really know what’s going on. But, and this is just my opinion, it did seem, very early on, that this sheriff’s office was ill-equipped to handle this.”

Richards also said it would make sense that the local sheriff’s office was apparently immediately out of its depth with the missing Nancy Guthrie case because abduction cases rarely happen.

CRIME SCENE RELEASE

She believes that the sheriff’s office released the main crime scene of Nancy Guthrie’s home too soon.

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“That’s just officer 101, that you properly secure the crime scene and that’s a crime scene from then on, like you don’t get to just say, ‘Oh, we searched the house, and now we’re done,’ and anyone can go in and do anything,” Richards said.

“You have not found her. You have no idea, really at that point, what is relevant and what’s not. You’re just kind of doing a cursory review of the house to kind of figure out what happened, but it’s still a crime scene, because you don’t know yet what was really important and what isn’t.”

This was something Sheriff Nanos seemed to admit in one of the very early press briefings on February 5th.

He responded to a reporter who asked about the scene already being returned to the Guthrie family, after she had just been reported missing on February 1.

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“We got what we thought was complete,” he said, before adding, “I have to have all faith and trust in [our staff’s] abilities and skills.”

He said that once they believed the scene had been completely searched, they followed their standard protocol.

“When we process a scene and we’re done, we return that scene to the homeowners, in this case, the [Guthrie] family,” Nanos said.

“At the start of this thing, we weren’t sure what we had.”

The FBI would then return to Nancy’s and do a more thorough sweep of the house.

During their search, the FBI recovered a camera on the home’s roof that appeared to have been overlooked by the sheriff’s office’s initial search.

What we know about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance

Today host Savannah Guthrie’s mom is missing after she was abducted from her home Tucson, Arizona on February 1
Blood drops were seen on the front steps of her home
Nancy’s son-in-law was the last person to see her as he dropped her off following a family dinner
Local and federal authorities initially admitted they had no suspects, and no leads
Multiple news outlets have been sent ransom letters that contain specific details about Nancy’s home and clothing
The first ransom deadline passed five days after the abduction, and a second deadline which was said to have “much more serious” conditions also passed
911 reports were made of a suspected trespasser lurking in a neighbor’s yard weeks before the abduction
Cops seized a car from Nancy’s home and removed a roof camera
Eerie new footage was released showing a masked and armed intruder at the home
A delivery driver was detained in connection to Nancy’s disappearance, but he was released hours later

“I think that the fact that there wasn’t a thorough enough search conducted to make sure that every camera was found, because that’s all the potential evidence that could have helped you,” Richards said.

“And we all know too that the longer an investigation goes on, the worse it gets, the harder it’s going to get.

“So, those first few days are vital, and to miss a key piece of evidence, like a camera, is a huge it’s a huge deal.”

FBI DELAY

The former prosecutor also said she believes the FBI should have been called in by the Pima County Sheriff’s Office sooner.

She said it appears they were not officially looped in during the first couple of days of the investigation, where every second counts.

Richards said Nanos appeared “overwhelmed,” but she believes that is exactly why the FBI should have been looped in sooner.

She also noted that more FBI agents were sent to the area in the days after Nancy’s disappearance, and she wondered why the area wasn’t already flooded with federal support.

“Why did it take that long? It should not have taken that long,” she said.

“People should be working around the clock and even reverse geo tracking of phone numbers and stuff like that, yes, that is very time-intensive, but there should be so many people working on it that we can get it done faster.”

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A crucial piece of evidence was missed in the initial search, said the expert, when a camera on the roof of Nancy’s home was only discovered days after the sheriff’s seachCredit: BackGrid
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Richards also believes delays in calling in the FBI may have hampered the search for NancyCredit: The U.S. Sun

VIDEO CLUES

While Richards is relieved the videos of the suspect were finally released on Tuesday, she questions what took so long, given the deluge of resources dedicated to the case.

“My first thought was how come it took 10 days to get it, and then, it still seems like they have nothing,” she said.

“I’m just hoping and praying that there’s more that they have done that we don’t know about, and they’re just being strategic and what they’re releasing, but from where I’m sitting, it sounds like they just have nothing.”

Once that video was finally obtained, more items at the scene came into focus as possible evidence that may not have been understood previously.

Immediately after the scene was released to the family, journalists were able to get close-up photos of the house showing a pile of foliage on Nancy’s doorstep.

In the released video, a potential subject can be seen grabbing a fistful of nearby foliage and attempting to cover the camera with it.

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Foliage sitting on Nancy’s doorstep was seen in photos taken by the media after the sheriff’s office released the home as a crime scene, only for their significane to be revealed a week laterCredit: News Enterprises Inc.
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In images released on Feb 10, the suspect could be seen grasping the foliage in their hand and using it to cover the Nest CameraCredit: Reuters
It appears those bits of shrubbery were left on Nancy’s doorstep, unaccounted for, after the sheriff’s office initially released the scene.

“They had no idea that that would have been an incredibly important piece of evidence to collect, but you just left it because you don’t know. I mean, that was mind-boggling to me,” Richards said.

And investigators are still scouring the surveillance footage, searching for any clues that could lead to an arrest.

Savannah Guthrie reshared the clips on social media with an urgent message: “Someone out there recognizes this person. We believe she is still out there. Bring her home.”

Top security expert Brian Fitzgibbons with USPA Nationwide Security analyzed the footage and expressed his concern regarding the intruder’s appearance and demeanor.

“He is wearing bulky clothing to hide his body shape and thick rubber gloves, a full face mask—this was not a crime of opportunity and was not done in haste,” he told The U.S. Sun.

Fitzgibbons noted that the slow, deliberate movements and the presence of a firearm in the intruder’s waistband suggest a high level of preparation.

“You know, knowingly, on video, not caring just displays a tremendous amount of confidence for this,” he said, adding that the suspect displayed “zero frantic energy” and “no panic,” moving in a slow, methodical manner.

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Savannah and her siblings, Camron and Annie, have begged the kidnappers for their mother’s return and asked the public for helpCredit: Instagram/savannahguthrie

DEPARTMENT MISTEPS

It has also been noted that the sheriff’s department was slow to launch its aviation search unit.

Nanos had reportedly transferred the crew who would have piloted the office’s Air Operations Unit without replacing them.

This left miles of unsurveyed space that could have been searched by air for the 84-year-old in the first hours after she was reported missing.

Nanos also caught flak for attending a basketball game over this past weekend, but the expert tossed that up to inexperience with such a high-profile crime, and just giving off bad optics.

“It’s not a good look, but I do think, I’m sure he has never, ever dealt with anything like this in that county before.

“I just think he doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Richards added.

Timeline of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home on February 1, 2026.

Timeline:

January 31: Nancy is last seen by her family

5:32pm: Nancy travels to her daughter’s home for dinner, about 11 minutes from her own house.
9:48pm: Family members drop off Nancy Guthrie at her home in Tucson. Her garage door closes two minutes later.

February 1: Nancy is reported missing and a search begins

1:47am: Nancy’s doorbell camera disconnects
2:12am: Camera software detects a person moving in range of the camera. There is no video, and Nancy does not have a storage description.
2:28am: Nancy’s pacemaker app disconnects from her phone, which is later found still at her house.
Around 11am: A parishioner at Nancy’s church calls the mom’s children and says she failed to show up for service.
11:56am: Family members arrive at Nancy’s house to check on her.
12:03pm: The family calls 911 to report Nancy missing.
8:55pm: The Pima County Sheriff’s Office gives its first press conference and reveals some clues found at Nancy’s home caused “grave concern.” Sheriff Chris Nanos says helicopters, drones, and infrared cameras are all being utilized in the search.

February 2: Search crews pull back. Nancy’s home is considered a crime scene. Savannah releases a statement thanking supporters for their prayers, which her co-hosts read on Today.
February 3: A trail of blood is pictured outside Nancy’s home, where there were reportedly signs of forced entry. Nanos admits they have no suspects, no leads, and no videos that could lead to Nancy’s recovery. He and the FBI beg for more tips and accounts.
February 4, 8pm: Savannah and her siblings release a heartbreaking video directed at their mother’s abductors asking for proof she is alive and saying they’re willing to work with them to get her back.
February 5: FBI offers $50,000 reward for information on the case.

5pm: First ransom demand deadline for millions in Bitcoin passes. Guthrie family releases demand to speak “directly” to the kidnappers, saying, “We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact.”

February 9, 5pm: Second ransom demand deadline, reportedly with “much more serious” conditions.

THE HUNT CONTINUES

Nancy had dinner with her daughter, Annie Guthrie, and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, hours before she vanished.

Cioni reportedly dropped her off at 9:48 pm and watched her enter her home safely.

The alarm was raised the following morning, February 1, when a parishioner at Nancy’s church alerted the family that she had failed to attend the service.

A heartbroken Savannah initially called for prayers but has since expanded her plea, asking people nationwide to stay vigilant.

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“I’m coming on not just to ask you for your prayers but no matter where you are, even if you’re far from Tucson, if you see anything, if you hear anything, if there’s anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement,” she said.

“We are at an hour of desperation.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/15928903/cops-bungled-nancy-guthrie-search-five-missteps-savannah/