The search for Nancy Guthrie has entered its fifth month, and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos says there’s still “a lot going on” in the case.
In an interview with 13 News on Wednesday, Nanos revealed that the investigation is still very active, with investigators working the case from several angles.
“Every day, our teams meet with the FBI,” Nanos said. “It’s about sitting down at the table and talking. What we have working today? And a lot of times it’s maybe working with labs across the country on DNA, it may be working with maybe Google or somebody on our videos, and what we can do with that.”
Nancy Guthrie Update: Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos Shares DNA Evidence Updates
Nanos also gave updates about the DNA evidence in the Nancy Guthrie case. The sheriff confirmed that they’re still working with “a lot of DNA” evidence, praising the efforts of forensic teams.
“It’s not just our lab and FBI lab, these are labs across the country…” Nanos continued. “They understand way better than the sheriff, DNA and concepts and new technology that’s coming, or that exists.”
As for the genetic genealogy, Nanos acknowledged that the process is more complex and takes time.
“Those have a different set of rules, if you will, science behind it to say how they can work with all of that… it’s probably a lot more complex than that, but I just am assured daily that those labs, our teams that are working on it constantly,” he added.
With the search for Nancy Guthrie now in its fifth month, Nanos encouraged the public to keep submitting tips that could help move the investigation forward.
“We still need tips. Every piece of information that is out there can prove vital,” the sheriff pointed out. “You don’t know all the things we know, and we still need to know what you know, because there’s something out there that we don’t know. We think somebody knows something.”
Nanos continued, “Every piece of evidence, every single tip we have, they are worked, they are looked at very seriously, and nothing is dismissed. So, don’t think this is too small, or this was too long ago. Call us.”
Sheriff Chris Nanos Addresses Ransom Notes
In the same interview, Nanos addressed the ransom notes and warned that the FBI is treating each one very seriously.
“They track them down, and if they find it to be fraudulent, they don’t just put aside, they will arrest you,” he said.
On July 2, FBI Phoenix said in a statement that they have received several ransom notes and that some of them may be legitimate.
“The FBI and its task force partners have received several ransom notes over the course of this investigation,” the statement reads. “Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such. This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case. The FBI has and will continue to offer all assistance possible in the investigation – however local authorities remain the lead.”
When asked about the said ransom notes, Nanos said, “I guess there’s something out now that says the FBI or the sheriff dismissed notes – that is not the truth. What we know is we have a number of notes that we are going to continue to investigate.”
It has been 157 days since Nancy Guthrie was reported missing from her home on February 1, 2026.
