Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the Guthrie family has been cleared as suspects in the investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.
“To be clear…the Guthrie family – to include all siblings and spouses – has been cleared as possible suspects in this case,” Nanos said. “The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case.
“To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel,” he added. “The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple…please, I’m begging you the media to honor your profession and report with some sense of compassion and professionalism.”
Authorities have received more than 30,000 tips in the Nancy Guthrie investigation, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told Tucson NBC affiliate KVOA.
Nanos said the tips are being routed to both his office and the FBI, adding that investigators believe they are making progress in the case.
He also told the station that several hundred law enforcement officers have been assigned to the investigation.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos talked about Tommaso Cioni and Annie Guthrie an interview with the Daily Mail, pushing back on online speculation surrounding the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie and urging critics not to target family members without evidence.
“I stay in touch with them, mostly Savannah. I’ve not been in touch with Tommaso or Annie too much,” he said. “I have talked to them a little bit, but I know the investigators are in touch with them. But I’ve really told people, this is a lot of stress. If he [Cioni] is guilty, if he’s the one who did it, and we’re able to prove that, then at that time jump on it but don’t come out of nowhere with this.”
Nanos said “nobody” has been cleared in the case – including family members – but warned that online accusations can unfairly “put a mark” on someone who could be innocent. “You’re putting a mark on somebody who could be completely innocent. And more important than that, he’s family,” he told the Daily Mail.
He also acknowledged the swirl of commentary focused on Cioni, saying pundits have pointed to claims that he was the last person to see Nancy Guthrie alive. Nanos said authorities adjusted their public wording to say “family” drove Nancy home after seeing people “attacking everybody” online.
“We know who it is, but … when we saw everybody was attacking everybody and saying it’s this we just thought, you know what? We’ll say it was family,” he said.
Nanos added that the Guthrie family has been “nothing but cooperative” and has provided “everything we’ve asked for” as the investigation continues.
