US5 min(s) read
Published 16:00 18 Feb 2026 GMT
The sheriff in charge of the investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance sparked shock for his choice of words when addressing her disappearance.
The 84-year-old mother of TV host Savannah Guthrie has been missing since February 1 after being abducted from her home.
The alarm was raised after Nancy failed to attend a church service after having been dropped off at her home by her daughter and son-in-law the night before.
Splashes of her blood were found leading up to her door, and her home security camera had been removed in the early hours, though footage was later able to be retrieved.
This showed a figure in a balaclava approaching the door before attempting to cover the camera with some weeds they'd grabbed from the front garden.
It is believed that Nancy was removed from the home shortly after, but her whereabouts afterwards are not known.
Fears were raised about Nancy's safety, given that the 84-year-old needs to take medication daily to manage her health.
Several ransom demands were received in the wake of her disappearance, with one that police believe to be credible.
However, the alleged kidnappers have not provided any proof of life for Nancy and there are currently no known suspects.
The sheriff leading the investigation has now shared a concerning question in a new interview with Fox 10 after a glove found around two miles from Nancy's home failed to match suspect DNA found inside her property or to criminal databases.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said that detectives are not losing hope that the 84-year-old could be returned alive to her family.
He said: "They ask me, do I have proof of life? I ask them, is there proof of death?"
This particular turn of phrase - "proof of death" - sparked conversation among the public for its unusual nature.
He added: "I'm going to have that faith, and sometimes that faith, that hope, is all we have... My team, 400 people out there in the field today, woke up this morning and went out there with the hope and the belief that they're going to find Nancy."
Nanos has come under scrutiny for his handling of the case and the fact that over two weeks have passed without coming any closer to her return or catching those involved in her disappearance.
Despite this, he insists that he will not "crush" the Guthrie family's hopes that Nancy will cone back to them alive.
He vowed: "We're going to continue working this case, every minute of every day, and we will find her."
Speaking to the captors, he added: "And we will find you... to the individual doing this, let her go, just let her go. It will work out better for you in the long run, trust me."
A black nitrile glove which appeared to match those worn by the figure on the home security camera was found two miles from the house in what appeared to be the first major break in the case.
However, authorities confirmed on Tuesday that it failed to match both DNA from inside Nancy's home and the CODIS criminal database - a national archive of all DNA collected from people that had been arrested nationwide.
Nanos downplayed the lack of a match as being a setback to the investigation, claiming that detectives have recovered "other DNA evidence from the scene, that is more critical to me than DNA found two miles from the scene. All of that will still be submitted for further analysis."
He clarified: "You take a fingerprint, and you hope to match it right away. But that's not that easy."
He also revealed that a mix of several people's DNA was found at the scene, which he "hoped" that forensics would be able to "separate".
Nanos has faced scrutiny for his handling of the investigation, with some claiming that crucial errors were made in the first hours of the hunt for Nancy.
Authorities had discovered 16 gloves similar to those worn by the suspect, but most had been discarded by the search teams.
They had also arrested delivery driver Carlos Palazuelos in connection with the case before releasing him without charge just hours later.
Pima County SWAT officers also raided a home two miles from Nancy's on Friday but made no arrests.
The FBI said it has received more than 13,000 tips, while the Pima County Sheriff's said it had received at least 18,000 calls in relation to Nancy's disappearance.
Nancy's family members have also been cleared of suspicion in her disappearance, as authorities confirmed they were victims in the case.
Savannah Guthrie shared another heartbreaking appeal to the kidnapper on Sunday, pleading: "It is never too late to do the right thing, and we are here. And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being, that it's never too late."
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