TRUE CRIME NEWSNancy Guthrie Case Erupts as Sheriff Pressured to Grant United Cajun Navy Permission to Join Search for Missing 84-Year-Old Mom
Nancy Guthrie was allegedly abducted.
April 20 2026, Updated 2:46 p.m. ET
The United Cajun Navy (UCN), a nationally known volunteer search and rescue group, has laid out a plan to search for Nancy Guthrie.
However, the plan it submitted to the Pima County Sheriff's department days after the 84-year-old was allegedly kidnapped from her Tucson, Ariz., home on February 1, has gone ignored, according to UCN incident commander Josh Gill.
"We want permission from the lead agency," Gill told an outlet recently. "I don't think there would be any harm, I think it would be one step closer to providing some closure not just to the family or the community, but to the nation."
'I'm open to developing a new plan with law enforcement,' Josh Gill said.
Per the 41-page proposal, the Louisiana-based nonprofit would operate under the sheriff's command, meaning if volunteer searchers found any evidence, they would not handle it and report it to the sheriff's department.
The plan suggested searching the desert outside of town, drainage ditches, abandoned structures and "remote access areas." The group would use certified cadaver dogs and a tracking dog trained to follow specific scents, as well as heat-detecting drones.
"We have not been contacted on the plan that we provided," Gill, who was on the ground in Arizona in February, told Fox News Digital. "I'm open to developing a new plan with law enforcement."
'Our Network Is Huge'
Savannah Guthrie's mom was reported missing on Sunday, February 1.
GPS-tracked volunteers would conduct a grid search from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
"We've got some of the best and brightest, and our network is huge," he added. "Let us work [with the sheriff's department] to do what's best."
With no response from Sheriff Chris Nanos, independent journalist Cherise "Pebbles" Wilson launched a Change.org petition calling on authorities to accept the UCN's plan.
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When Was Nancy Guthrie Last Seen?
The 84-year-old's blood was found at the crime scene.
"I lost my vulnerable grandmother a couple of years ago, and Nancy Guthrie's disappearance pulled at my heartstrings," she said in an interview with Fox News Digital. "Knowing that somebody took advantage of a loving lady, an elderly lady like that, is really disturbing."
Today star Savannah Guthrie's mother is believed to be the victim of a targeted kidnapping, with her last known sighting being January 31. Police believe she was taken during the early hours of February 1.
The Arizona retiree was dropped off at her upscale Catalina Foothills home after having dinner with her local daughter, Annie, and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni.
A masked man was captured on Nancy Guthrie's doorbell camera.
So far, the FBI released footage of a masked man on Nancy's front porch around the time of her disappearance and confirmed that blood found at the scene was hers.
Moreover, investigative reporter Brian Entin revealed on the April 16 episode of his podcast that a source told him "some DNA evidence from Guthrie's home has been sent to the FBI's lab for advanced analysis."
Her later wrote on X, "The hair sample from Nancy Guthrie's house could be significant and comes at a time when scientists are able to get DNA off of rootless hair. This was not possible until recently. The technology is advancing quickly."
