Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos fired again on claims that he withheld important bodily proof from the FBI within the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
“Not even near the reality,” Nanos instructed NBC Tucson affiliate KVOA on Thursday.
The second-term Democrat pressed that he had been cooperating along with his federal counterparts after Reuters revealed that proof discovered within the high-profile investigation was being despatched to a personal DNA laboratory in Florida as a substitute of the FBI’s nationwide crime lab in Quantico, Va.
“Really, the FBI simply wished to ship the one or two they discovered by the crime scene, closest to it – mile, mile and a half . . . I mentioned ‘No, why try this? Let’s simply ship all of them to the place all of the DNA exist, all of the profiles and the markers exist.’ They agreed, is smart.” Nanos instructed the outlet.
Nanos additionally famous gloves found by FBI investigators — and solely reported by The Put up — is probably not as vital to the case as beforehand believed after a number of have been picked up on the facet of the highway close to the Catalina Foothills residence of “Right this moment” present co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mom.
“We don’t even know the true worth of those gloves,” he mentioned, noting there have been “fairly plenty of them.”
The garment seemingly resembled the gloves {that a} masked particular person was sporting after being captured on video outdoors Nancy Guthrie’s residence the evening she disappeared on Feb. 1.
Federal investigators reportedly wished to look at the proof themselves as a substitute of handing it over to Nanos’ groups.
“The FBI requested Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for bodily proof within the case, together with a glove and DNA from the house of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, to be processed on the FBI’s nationwide crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, however Nanos has insisted as a substitute on utilizing a personal lab in Florida,” an nameless regulation enforcement supply instructed Fox Information Digital.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Division has spent roughly $200,000 to ship proof from Arizona to the lab in Florida.
The sheriff’s division maintains main jurisdiction of the case however can request FBI help or federal investigators are legally prevented from participating within the investigation.
Nanos was thrust into the nationwide highlight after Guthrie’s disappearance, assuming the function as chief spokesperson for the investigation.
“When that is all performed with, provide your critiques all you need, however proper now we’ve got work to do,” Nanos instructed KVOA.
The timeline of the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mother:
Nanos claimed that an FBI official instructed him throughout a Thursday assembly that, “we don’t need the media to divide us,” in response to KOLD.
The 50-year veteran officers took warmth for attending a College of Arizona males’s basketball sport in the midst of the seek for Guthrie on Feb. 7.
Guthrie was final seen at her Tucson, Ariz., residence on Jan. 31, when she was dropped off by her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, after she had dinner with him and her daughter, Annie.
On Thursday, the FBI launched new particulars about an armed particular person captured on safety video outdoors Guthrie’s residence the morning she went lacking, and upped the reward quantity from $50,000 to $100,000 for data resulting in an arrest or the invention of Guthrie.
The unidentified suspect is believed to be between 5’9” to five’10” tall with a median construct.
The male, alleged kidnapper, was additionally sporting a black, 25-liter “Ozark Path Hiker Pack” backpack within the doorbell video, authorities added.
Federal officers additionally elevated the reward for data resulting in an arrest from $50,000 to $100,000.
“We hope this up to date description will assist focus the general public suggestions we’re receiving,” the FBI mentioned after receiving over 13,000 suggestions relating to the lacking aged girl.
