Sheriff Chris Nanos Blew Up Nancy Guthrie Investigation Due to 'Ego and Incompetence,' Ex-NYPD Cop Says

A retired New York City cop blames Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for blowing the case of Nancy Guthrie, the missing 84-year-old mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, due to “ego, incompetence and politics.”

Retired NYPD Lieutenant Michael Gould, an expert in search and rescue and a founding member of the NYPD K-9 unit, has been a vocal critic of Sheriff Nanos regarding the investigation into Nancy’s baffling disappearance.

“I’ve been an outspoken critic of his from the very first few press conferences,” Michael told The New York Post. “He should have assigned a public information officer to go out in front of the press to confirm or deny certain things.”

Michael has highlighted several perceived failures in Chris’ leadership during the ongoing case, including the suspension of K-9 searches, stating that Chris' decision to put cadaver dogs "on hold" defies logic, arguing that these dogs are a primary scientific tool for finding missing persons.

“My biggest trigger was when he started to blame the general public and the media,” he said. “The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was when he said the cadaver dogs are on hold."

Michael added that the decision to do so “either implies she’s alive or they’re not looking for her anymore. Why wouldn’t you answer the question?”

He criticized the embattled Arizona sheriff for acting as the lead spokesperson despite lacking professional media-relations training, claiming the sheriff's "one-off interviews" have fueled conspiracy theories and created public confusion.

“It’s almost like he’s intentionally trying to cloud the issues because you never get a straight answer, the former cop added. “He’s been ambiguous from day one. The community doesn’t know if there’s a serial killer running around.”

Michael accused Chris of allowing his "ego" to interfere, pointing to the sheriff's lifestyle — such as driving a $70,000 sports car and taking mid-day gym trips — as a distraction from the case.

“He’s made this whole case about himself,” Michael said. “It could be only one of these three things: ego, incompetence, or politics, because he’s running for office.”

Based on historical patterns, Michael has predicted that Nancy likely did not leave her house alive and expects her body to be recovered within a five-mile radius of her home.

Nancy was last seen on January 31 and was reported missing on February 1 from her home in Catalina Foothills, Ariz. Authorities believe she was targeted.

Beyond Michael's criticism, Chris is currently facing a formal recall effort led by residents and political figures, as well as a separate $1.3 million lawsuit and allegations regarding discrepancies in his official resume.

Michael doesn’t think the sheriff is long for his job, adding, “He’s done this to himself. All he had to do was be like any other sheriff’s department and take a backset. It was his ego.”

“My ire goes towards Nanos, not the FBI, not the sheriff’s investigators,” he added. “They’re probably embarrassed by him as much as anybody else.”