Nancy Guthrie Case: Pima County Sheriff's Department Made Several Mistakes While Searching for Savannah's Mom, Report Claims

Questions are being raised about how the Pima County Sheriff's Department handled the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.

According to a report published on Saturday, August 1, by The Wall Street Journal, several missteps may have slowed the investigation after Guthrie vanished from her Arizona home in February.

The report claimed Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos appointed Sgt. David Stivers to oversee the investigation despite the sergeant having been reprimanded for "poor judgment" just two months earlier. Personnel records reportedly showed Stivers was also criticized for delays in securing crime scene evidence during a previous homicide investigation.

According to a WSJ source, prosecutors later dropped charges in that earlier case because of insufficient evidence.

The report also alleged that investigators initially dismissed dried blood found on Guthrie's front porch on February 1, believing it was unrelated to her disappearance.

After DNA testing was completed, authorities confirmed the blood belonged to Guthrie, and it is now considered relevant evidence in the case.

In addition, deputies "failed to seal off the property with police tape to protect sensitive crime-scene evidence, allowing reporters, livestreamers and Amazon and pizza delivery drivers entry to the porch."

The outlet further claimed the department's senior pilot had been demoted following a workplace complaint just days before Guthrie disappeared. According to the report, that decision contributed to hours-long delays in getting a search-and-rescue aircraft into the air during the critical early stages of the investigation.

Sheriff Nanos disputed the newspaper's findings during an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

"I can assure everybody that we are working hard every day with all of our partners," he said.

He also noted that "corporate America" has "offered up some assistance with some of the brightest minds in this country."

Nanos further insisted that the investigation "is not cold."

Six months after her mother's disappearance, Savannah Guthrie shared a heartbreaking message about her family's ongoing search.

On August 1, the Today host, 54, posted an emotional tribute to Instagram alongside a photo of her 84-year-old mother.

“This is our beautiful Mom,” the television personality wrote. “Six months ago, someone took her out of her bed in the dead of night. We have lived every moment, every breath, and every heartbeat in agony and despair ever since.”

“Every day, we wake up and try to be strong and go on — because that’s what our joyful and resilient Mom taught us to do. But make no mistake — our hearts are in ruins,” she continued.

Savannah said her family "spends every waking moment thinking of her, longing for her, looking for her."

"There is a hole inside us that can never be filled. There is an ache that cannot be softened. And there is a determination in us that cannot be quenched — to find out what happened to her, so that we can give her the dignity of a proper goodbye — a celebration of her remarkable life that she so deserves," the journalist wrote.

"We are real people, facing real grief, doing the best we can, and counting our many blessings along the way — most especially the prayers and love from good people, which we feel deeply. We need your prayers, we need your kindness," she added.

Savannah concluded with a heartfelt plea: "We will never stop looking for answers - and we will never stop looking for the light. We will always be hoping and praying and believing in the best of our world - in spite of circumstance. This is what our faith makes possible. Please. Bring her home."