The crime scene tape was released. Then it went down. Days later, the toll rose again as law enforcement officials recovered more evidence from the scene.
Then the tape went down again.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said if he had a chance to start over, he would have handled aspects of the investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie differently.
He could have asked other agencies for help in the investigation sooner.
And he may have kept yellow tape around the residence to maintain a chain of custody in case additional evidence was removed, a critical step in a criminal case.
Asked at a Feb. 5 press conference about possible evidentiary issues with items taken from the house the day before, Nanos said, “I’ll let the court worry about that.” “We follow the rule of law.”
Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing from her home in the Catalina Foothills northeast of Tucson on Feb. 1. Two days later, journalists peered into the front of the house from the street after Nanos said at a news conference that the doorbell camera had captured the footage.
Two reporters, including one from the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network, climbed the gravel road to the front door.
There was probably a mount from a Google Nest system. There was also a package in an Amazon envelope.
And on the ground are droplets of a substance that looks like blood, later confirmed to be blood by Nanos. Nanos said DNA analysis determined the blood belonged to Nancy Guthrie.
Other reporters and photojournalists took turns at the door, taking footage with cameras and phones.
It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that a private security guard parked in the driveway to deter intruders.
Nanos said at a Feb. 5 press conference that if he had played quarterback Monday morning, he might have preserved the crime scene for longer.
“I got what I thought was perfect,” he said. “I have to have full confidence in (the agent’s) abilities and skills.”
Nanos said agents followed their normal course of action and returned the scene to the family after processing the scene to the point where it was deemed complete.
But in hindsight, he said, it would be premature to conclude that the house has no more properties to sell.
“When we started this thing, we didn’t know what we had,” he said.
Doorbell camera, pacemaker disconnected at home
Nancy Guthrie went missing after failing to attend a church service on February 1, investigators said.
She was last seen at 9:48pm the night before, after a relative dropped her off at her home. At a Feb. 5 press conference, Nanos confirmed the time based on the opening and closing of the garage door.
At 1:47 a.m., the doorbell camera was disconnected from the home’s security system. About 30 minutes later, another camera connected to the system detected movement and went off, but no footage from that camera existed, Nanos said.
By 2:28 a.m., Nancy Guthrie’s pacemaker was disconnected from the mobile phone application left at home.
What happened during this time will be the key to solving her suspected abduction.
The day after his disappearance was reported, Nanos said Guthrie did not leave on his own because he has mobility issues. He also said something happened inside the home that led investigators to suspect foul play.
Still, Nanos did not call in neighboring agencies or notify the FBI.
The FBI then launched an investigation.
Nanos did not immediately seek law enforcement help.
The story turned into a possible kidnapping with a ransom note.
FBI agents took the tripod to the home of Guthrie’s sister Annie. FBI officials said the Guthrie couple was at their home on February 5 when they recorded a video statement against their mother and her would-be kidnappers.
Asked whether his department or the FBI is leading the investigation, Nanos said he has no ego and it doesn’t matter.
He explained that they are convening critical incident teams from other agencies and sharing as much data as possible.
He thanked the FBI for its assistance and praised President Donald Trump for agreeing to provide the necessary resources.
“I didn’t even have to ask,” Nanos said. “I didn’t have to call anyone. They called me.”
He intended this as a sign of the FBI’s friendship and willingness to solve disappearances. But it also meant admitting that he didn’t seek help sooner.
“Everyone wants to solve crimes at the speed of Twitter.”
Frank Milstead, a former Arizona Department of Public Safety director and former Mesa, Ariz., police chief, said he did not intend to criticize the investigation’s response.
He said whatever mistake the Pima County Sheriff’s Department made initially was not significant.
“We know that everyone wants to solve crimes at the speed of Twitter,” said Milstead, who now works as a consultant for a public safety and security company. “If we could have solved it sooner, we would have.”
Milstead said Nanos’ “mere guilt” for releasing the crime scene too soon and not promptly seeking help from other agencies was unlikely to have any impact on the case.
He said that in both cases, the situation was quickly turned around by re-examining the crime scenes and involving the FBI and other local agencies.
“Everyone is in the right place,” Milstead said. He praised Arizona’s cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, calling it “second to none.”
Milstead said he had no special insight into the case beyond his years of experience in law enforcement. He said he was confident that the suspect DNA had been recovered and was being processed.
And everyone leaves behind DNA, he said.
If it turns out the suspect frequented the house, finding DNA “doesn’t make us a suspect, but it also doesn’t rule us out,” Milstead said.
Milstead warned that while authorities are releasing a lot of information to the public, they are also withholding details that would reveal who took Guthrie.
Every criminal case is different and none can be tied to a chronological order, he said.
“It’s going to take as long as it takes,” he said, adding there was reason to believe Guthrie was still alive. “I just hope they don’t victimize that woman any further.”
