Sheriff Accused Of Letting His 'Ego' Derail Nancy Guthrie Case As Fbi Pushes To Take Control

As Nancy Guthrie's loved ones anxiously await her return, the investigation intended to provide answers has instead descended into turmoil.

Reports allege that Chris Nanos, the sheriff overseeing the case, has allowed personal ego to interfere with the investigation, particularly through a recent wave of media interviews and his alleged feud with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI is said to be eager to assume control of the case but is unable to do so without authorization from Nancy Guthrie's family.

The sheriff overseeing the investigation into Nancy Guthrie has come under fire for allegedly allowing the case to turn into a personal ego trip.

"It is a common belief in this agency that this case has become an ego case for Sheriff Nanos," said Sgt. Aaron Cross, who presides over the Pima County Deputies Organization, per the New York Post.

Part of the reason Nanos is believed to have derailed the case with his ego stems from his decision to grant multiple interviews to news outlets.

In those appearances, he appeared more focused on damage control than on providing substantive answers about Guthrie's kidnapping, while also giving the impression that he lacked a firm grasp of the investigation.

"The sheriff turned a serious investigation into a rolling spectacle, from questionable decisions to shifting narratives and a disastrous media cleanup tour that raised more questions than it answered," an anonymous source remarked about the case.

"Leadership in moments like this requires discipline, not damage control," the insider added.

Amid the ongoing controversy, the FBI is reportedly eager to take over the case. However, despite the agency's greater expertise in investigations of this nature, Nanos is said to be reluctant to relinquish control due to his longstanding feud with the FBI.

According to reports, the feud dates back to 2015, when the FBI launched an investigation into the Pima County Sheriff's Department over the alleged misuse of civil asset forfeiture funds.

At the time, Nanos had just assumed leadership of the department and went on to lose the next election the following year.

He is now said to harbor resentment toward the FBI still, as he allegedly believes the agency played a role in costing him his election.

"It is widely believed he thinks the FBI cost him his election," Cross alleged about Nanos, who returned as sheriff in 2020.

Nearly three weeks have now passed since Nancy Guthrie mysteriously disappeared from her home.

Aside from a video of a potential suspect recovered from the home's security camera, no other substantive evidence has emerged.

DNA material collected from a glove found near Guthrie's home has yielded no matches in the FBI's database, and the same has been reported for DNA recovered from inside the residence.

All of this, combined with Nanos's handling of the case, has reportedly led to the FBI "growing frustrated,"

"Over two whole weeks into this, the police have made no leads, no progress," a federal source revealed.

"They were never confident in the glove," the source continued. "The press conferences are not going well. Giving press conferences without saying anything. It's not helpful."

For the FBI to fully take over the case, the agency would require explicit permission from the Guthrie family, which has not yet been granted.

As the public waits to see whether that will change, Cross, an outspoken critic of Nanos, has argued that the agency should have led the investigation from the outset.

"They [the FBI] should have taken the case over within the first few days. We have been treating this as a kidnapping, and the FBI is the premier agency to deal with kidnappings in the world," Cross revealed, before emphasizing how Pima County's resources and personnel are limited.

"The FBI has way more resources than that, way more personnel. They should have taken the lead, in my opinion, and the opinion of many. We should have gone through a supporting role," he added.

As the investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance continues, Sheriff Nanos revealed that he had cleared her relatives and loved ones as suspects while calling at people who tried to paint them as the culprits.

"We talked to them, we took their phones, we took their computers," Nanos said, per reports. "I mean, we did everything. We processed their vehicles, we processed their homes. They have been really... They're victims."

The sheriff also noted how "cooperative and gracious" the Guthries have been throughout the investigation.