Every single deputy in the Pima County Sheriff's Department just voted no confidence in their own sheriff – not one voted to keep him.
Now the Wall Street Journal has revealed what those deputies already knew about the man running the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation.
What his detectives did in the first 48 hours is the reason there are still no suspects.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos Had No Business Running This Investigation
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has been the face of the Nancy Guthrie investigation since day one – running every press conference, defending every decision his detectives made.
According to internal affairs records from El Paso, Nanos was suspended eight times – totaling 34 days – while serving as a police officer in that city. Infractions included excessive use of force and insubordination. He ultimately resigned rather than face termination.
When asked about that history under oath during a deposition, Nanos denied ever being suspended.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors referred the matter to the Arizona attorney general for a potential perjury prosecution. His own deputies' union – representing more than 300 officers – held an internal vote: 241 members demanded his resignation. Zero voted confidence.
"He has definitely lost the confidence of the community," one supervisor told CBS News.
Nanos has remained in office. The board attempted to oust him but lacked the legal authority. He submitted a notarized statement rather than answer questions in person under oath.
How Pima County Investigators Mishandled the Crime Scene Blood Evidence
The Wall Street Journal reported that when Sgt. David Stivers – the recently appointed head of homicide – arrived at Nancy Guthrie's Tucson home on February 1, he spotted dried blood near the front entryway and gave it no serious attention.
Investigators concluded the blood was from some prior accidental injury – a bump, a nosebleed. The property went unsecured for two more days.
During that window, members of the press, delivery drivers, and social media livestreamers all moved freely through the area before anyone put up tape. The scene was contaminated before a single piece of evidence had been logged.
DNA analysis later confirmed the blood belonged to Nancy Guthrie – and investigators have since tied it directly to her kidnapping.
Stivers, the detective in charge that night, had been formally reprimanded just two months earlier for displaying "poor judgment" in a prior homicide case – specifically for delaying the securing of crime scene evidence.
Charges in that previous case were dropped due to insufficient evidence.
The department's senior surveillance pilot had been demoted to patrol duty days before Nancy's kidnapping following a workplace complaint. When search teams needed the department's $1.7 million Cessna surveillance aircraft on the first day, no available deputy was trained to operate it. Darkness had set in by the time the plane got airborne, rendering its zoom cameras useless.
Six Months Into the Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping and Still No Arrests
The ransom notes told the family they had seven days to pay or Nancy would be killed. The first note addressed Savannah Guthrie directly and demanded payment in bitcoin.
A second note arrived days later claiming Nancy had died accidentally – "She perished shortly after she was taken" – and that her body had been buried "in nature."
No third note has arrived. No suspect has been named, and the Guthrie family is now offering more than $1.2 million in rewards for anyone who can change that.
The FBI is involved, but jurisdictional tensions between federal agents and Nanos' department have been reported since early in the investigation.
An insider with law enforcement ties told NewsNation that one of the lead detectives had "never investigated a homicide before."
The JonBenét Ramsey case went cold in part because Boulder police let the crime scene get contaminated in the first 48 hours. The Jacob Wetterling kidnapping went unsolved for 27 years – and when Stearns County finally came clean, Sheriff Donald Gudmundson admitted "the right hand literally did not know what the left hand was doing."
Pima County is running the same play. A Democrat sheriff with a perjury problem is still running this investigation. His hand-picked detective had been formally reprimanded two months earlier for the exact same failure – ignoring crime scene evidence – and Nanos put him in charge anyway.
Every one of those decisions belongs to Chris Nanos – and his own deputies made that judgment official with a unanimous vote.
An 84-year-old woman is still missing.
Sources:
- Anthony Blair, "Bungling Nancy Guthrie probers ignored blood on porch," New York Post, August 2, 2026.
- "Pima County supervisors move to oust sheriff leading Nancy Guthrie kidnapping probe over perjury claims," Fox News Digital, May 7, 2026.
- "Nancy Guthrie case: Inexperienced Pima County investigators made mistakes, source says," NewsNation, April 3, 2026.
- "Sheriff in Nancy Guthrie Case Accused of Hiding Disciplinary Past," The Hollywood Reporter, March 27, 2026.
- "Pima County deputies' union votes 'no confidence' in Sheriff Chris Nanos," AZPM, March 24, 2026.
- "Nancy Guthrie Case Haunted by Sheriff's Department's Possible Mistakes," The Hollywood Reporter, August 2, 2026.