Source claims Arizona sheriff is blocking FBI access to evidence in Nancy Guthrie abduction case — but sheriff pushes back

A U.S. law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told Reuters that an Arizona sheriff is blocking FBI access to key evidence surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s abduction and that it’s hampering the federal agency’s ability to assist in the probe.

The FBI asked Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for physical evidence in the case — including a glove and DNA from the home of the 84-year-old victim — to be processed at the FBI’s national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, but Nanos insisted on using a private lab in Florida instead, the official told Reuters.

‘It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute.’

While Reuters said Nanos didn’t respond to its requests for comment, the outlet noted that Nanos said in a late Thursday interview with Tucson television station KVOA-TV that the FBI agreed with his decision to send newly discovered evidence to the lab, which has worked with his office for years.

However, the U.S. law enforcement official noted to Reuters that move is delaying the FBI’s ability to assist in the case.

Still, Nanos denied the allegations, Reuters said, and called them “not even close to the truth” in the KVOA interview.

“Actually the FBI just wanted to send the one or two they found by the crime scene. … I said, ‘No, why do that? Let’s just send them all to where all the DNA exist, all the profiles and the markers exist.’ They agreed, makes sense,” Nanos told KVOA, according to Reuters.

More from Reuters:

In a daily press update released earlier in the day, the sheriff’s department said investigators had “recovered several items of evidence, including gloves,” adding that all viable evidence is submitted for analysis.” The agency did not elaborate.

The Pima County sheriff has primary jurisdiction over the case, and FBI assistance must be officially requested by the county, otherwise the FBI is legally precluded from taking part in the investigation. The official said the county has spent some $200,000 so far to send evidence in the Guthrie case to the Florida lab.

“It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute,” the official told Reuters earlier Thursday, citing unspecified “earlier setbacks” in the investigation.

RELATED: How the FBI actually got the Google Nest footage of Nancy Guthrie’s alleged kidnapper

The official added to Reuters that “it’s clear the fastest path to answers is leveraging federal resources and technology. Anything less only prolongs the Guthrie family’s grief and the community’s wait for justice.”

More from Reuters:

Signs of friction between the FBI and sheriff’s department emerged as the search for Nancy Guthrie stretched into its 12th day, as investigators intensified their search for clues in the presumed kidnapping for ransom.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31 when family dropped her off at her home following an evening dinner with them, and relatives reported her missing the following day, authorities said.

The sheriff has said the elder Guthrie had extremely limited mobility and could not have wandered off far from home unassisted, leading investigators to conclude early on that she had been abducted by force.

In addition, officials said last week that DNA tests confirmed traces of blood found on Guthrie’s front porch were Guthrie’s blood, Reuters reported, adding that law enforcement and family members have described Guthrie as frail health-wise and requiring daily medication to survive.

What’s more, Reuters also noted that at least two purported ransom notes have surfaced since Guthrie vanished — and both of them initially were delivered to news outlets and set two deadlines that have since lapsed.

However, Reuters noted that no proof of life is known to have surfaced following Guthrie’s abduction.

Savannah Guthrie, 54 — co-anchor of the popular NBC News morning show “Today” — has posted several video messages with her brother and sister that appeal to their mother’s captors for her return, Reuters said.

The siblings even state a willingness to meet ransom demands in the clips, Reuters added.

In addition, authorities released doorbell camera video at Guthrie’s home near Tucson showing an armed prowler in a ski mask and gloves trying to disable the camera, Reuters said, adding that the clip was recorded around the time that Guthrie was believed to have been taken from her residence by force.