Nancy Guthrie case: Retired lieutenant suggests Mexico ties were downplayed to keep feds off case early

Just a mates of miles from Nancy Guthrie's location successful Tucson is simply a godforsaken "wash," a earthy drainage ditch, heavy with brushwood truthful dense that 1 tin hardly spot the surrounding homes, galore of which outgo 7 figures.

That terrain is emblematic of the portion — carved done the metropolis and the remainder of Pima County. Outside town, the godforsaken stretches for miles successful each direction.

That expanse is 1 of the challenges facing investigators trying to find Guthrie, the 84-year-old parent of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, said Dave Smith, a retired lieutenant with the Arizona Department of Public Safety and a instrumentality enforcement consultant.

"The full Tucson Valley is virtually built astir these arroyos, these ephemeral rivers," helium said. "This is virtually your greenish loop here, lone alternatively of parks and things similar the remainder of the federation has, we person this fantastic godforsaken area. But again, it works betwixt houses. It's similar a elephantine alley done the neighborhoods."

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Well-wishers permission flowers extracurricular the location of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old parent of writer and tv big Savannah Guthrie, aft her disappearance successful Tucson, Ariz., connected Feb. 11, 2026. (Rebecca Noble/Reuters)

They tin marque bully hiding places, but grounds besides washes distant rapidly successful the rain, helium said.

"The grounds is transitory," helium told Fox News Digital. "Once it rains, your footprints spell away, the prima is hard connected different forms of grounds and frankly this is simply a pugnacious spot to analyse crimes."

However, helium said, helium believes the missing pistillate was taken farther away.

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Undated photos of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie provided by NBC. (Courtesy of NBC)

The suspect, who appeared connected surveillance video recovered from Guthrie's Nest doorbell camera, appeared to beryllium wearing his holstered pistol "Mexican carry" style, Smith said.

"My archetypal thought is ever Mexico successful a large crime, due to the fact that it's a large haven, and it's hard for america to travel up on," Smith told Fox News Digital. "But successful this lawsuit evidently determination was idiosyncratic was taken with intent. And I deliberation that that's wherefore we request to wonder, perhaps, was she taken to Mexico?"

Sheriff Chris Nanos and FBI Director Kash Patel person traded barbs implicit the timing of erstwhile the bureau was asked to assistance successful the case. Federal authorities person said it was days earlier they were brought in, and earlier they arrived, the transgression country had been concisely released, allowing journalists and transportation drivers to locomotion up connected the beforehand porch, wherever determination was a way of humor spatter.

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Pima County deputies analyse a flyer taped to the mailbox extracurricular Nancy Guthrie's location successful Tucson, Ariz., connected Feb. 23, 2026. Guthrie, the 84-year-old parent of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to person been abducted from her location successful the aboriginal hours of Feb. 1. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

"My idiosyncratic mentation is, if Mexico was suspected, that would marque it a national investigation," Smith said. "There seemed to beryllium a large woody of effort to support the feds retired of this case. And the champion mode to bash it was to contradict immoderate anticipation of interstate oregon planetary transport of the person's assemblage oregon kidnapped."

It's lone astir 60 miles from Guthrie's vicinity to the borderline municipality of Nogales, helium said.

"You transverse that border, connected the Arizona side, it's a tiny town, comparatively tiny town," helium said. "You transverse that border, it's large municipality area, 300,000 people."

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That could marque it easier to blend in, helium added.

No suspects person been publically identified since Guthrie's suspected abduction connected Feb. 1. Two men were concisely detained and aboriginal released successful transportation with the investigation. No charges person been filed and Guthrie's whereabouts stay unknown.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaks to the media successful Tucson, Ariz., connected Feb. 3, 2026, astir the hunt for Nancy Guthrie, the missing parent of NBC big Savannah Guthrie. (Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)

In February, Nanos said the probe hadn't developed immoderate steadfast grounds to bespeak Guthrie was taken implicit the border.

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Days later, Fox News Digital reported that the FBI had contacted Mexican authorities successful transportation with the hunt for Guthrie.

Patel said connected Fox News' Sean Hannity's podcast "Hang Out with Sean Hannity" that the FBI wasn't asked to assistance for days.

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WATCH: Nancy Guthrie's Nest doorbell cam records masked suspect

"What we, the FBI, bash is say, ‘Hey, we're present to help. What bash you need?’" helium said. "What tin we do? And for 4 days, we were kept retired of the investigation."

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Within days, the FBI teamed up with Google to retrieve video that showed a masked fishy connected Guthrie's beforehand steps — contempt the information that her Nest doorbell was unaccounted for and she didn't person a unreality subscription to store images.

An equipped idiosyncratic reaches toward a Google Nest camera astatine Nancy Guthrie's beforehand doorway successful Tucson, Arizona, successful photos released connected Feb. 10, 2026. (Provided by FBI)

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However, tensions rapidly emerged betwixt the feds and the sheriff's section implicit however to grip carnal evidence, including DNA recovered wrong the home.

"I had a fixed-wing craft connected the crushed acceptable to determination it instantly done the night," Patel told Hannity. "And they said, 'we're sending it to Florida,' and then, I don't know, 60 days. They person jurisdiction, truthful it's their call."

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A hairsbreadth illustration was sent to the sheriff's preferred backstage laboratory successful Florida aboriginal successful the probe. Eleven weeks later, with nary publically disposable progress, the laboratory yet shared the illustration with the FBI for much precocious testing.

FBI Director Kash Patel spoke during a property league astatine the Department of Justice connected April 21, 2026. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

"We would person analyzed it wrong days and possibly gotten amended accusation oregon much information," Patel said. "Our lab's conscionable amended than immoderate different backstage laboratory retired there, and we didn't get a accidental to bash that."

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Nanos responded with a written connection saying "coordination" with the FBI "began without delay."

"The laboratory utilized by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI Laboratory successful Quantico person worked successful adjacent concern from the outset and proceed to collaborate successful the investigation of evidence," helium said. "A subordinate of the FBI Task Force was besides notified and contiguous astatine that country moving alongside our personnel. The FBI was promptly notified by some our section and the Guthrie family."

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There is simply a combined reward of much than $1.2 cardinal for accusation that breaks the case, and it remains unclaimed.

The household is urging anyone with accusation to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.