The disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC Today host Savannah Guthrie, has drawn national attention, yet authorities have released few details and have not named a suspect. At the center of the search is Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, a 50-year law enforcement veteran whose own recent elections, according to reporting, have been accompanied by controversy and legal disputes.
According to Fox News, Nanos and his department are leading the investigation in Pima County, Arizona, where Guthrie was reported missing. While the sheriff oversees the wide-ranging search, questions persist about what investigators know, how they are interpreting potential ransom communications, and how a sheriff who has recently faced election-related scrutiny is managing one of the highest-profile cases of his tenure.
The Veteran Sheriff Behind a High-Profile Search
According to his official biography, cited by Fox News, Nanos entered law enforcement in 1976 with the El Paso Police Department in Texas. He moved to Pima County in 1984 as a corrections officer, then became a deputy the following year. Over the next three decades, he focused on violent crimes, sex crimes, and narcotics interdiction as he advanced through the ranks.
By 2012, Nanos had become chief of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department investigative bureau, and in 2014, he was appointed chief deputy. In 2015, according to the Fox News account, he was appointed sheriff, placing him at the top of an agency that now counts about 1,500 employees and 400 volunteers serving more than one million residents across roughly 9,000 square miles.
The same biography, as described in the Fox report, lists community and advocacy roles, including past service on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Tucson and on the executive board of the Southern Arizona Child Advocacy Center. Those roles positioned him not only as a law enforcement leader, but also as a participant in local child welfare and youth service networks that often intersect with criminal justice work.
From Appointment to Razor-Thin Election Wins
Nanos’ path to the current term has not been straightforward. After his appointment as sheriff in 2015, he sought the office in his own right and lost an elected bid in 2016. According to Fox News, he returned to the ballot in 2020 and won, this time in a partisan race, as a Democrat.
The 2020 contest, as described in the Fox report, was narrow. Nanos defeated Republican Mark Napier by about 0.7%, a margin that underscored how closely divided voters were on who should lead the county’s largest law enforcement agency. Four years later, in 2024, the race was even closer.
In that 2024 election, Fox News reports that Nanos received 49.9% of the vote, edging out Republican challenger Heather Lappin, who received 49.8%. The difference amounted to 481 votes. According to the same reporting, Nanos was declared the winner only after several weeks and a contentious recount, which heightened scrutiny on both the sheriff and the office he sought to retain.
Slim Margins and Election-Year Conflict
Fox News reports that the 2024 campaign period was marked by internal conflict within the sheriff’s office. In the weeks before voters cast ballots, Nanos reportedly placed his opponent, Lappin, a lieutenant at the Pima County Jail, on administrative leave. According to the outlet, she was ordered not to discuss the reasons for that action.
A second internal critic, Sgt. Aaron Cross, then head of the Pima County Deputies Organization, was also placed on administrative leave, according to the same reporting. Cross had publicly opposed Nanos’ reelection and, Fox News states, was seen campaigning with a sign that read, “Deputies Don’t Want Nanos,” shortly before being put on leave.
Nanos has asserted that Cross campaigned against him while wearing his Pima County Sheriff’s uniform, which would violate department rules, according to Fox News. Cross has denied that claim and, the outlet reports, later filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the sheriff violated his First Amendment rights.
That dispute did not end with internal discipline. Fox News reports that Nanos also “reportedly faced a criminal election interference investigation” linked to the handling of his critics inside the department. The article does not specify which authority initiated that investigation, what statutes were at issue, or how, if at all, the matter was resolved, leaving key aspects of that episode publicly unclear.
Handling of a Sexual Assault Case Draws Criticism
The sheriff’s leadership has also been tested by an internal misconduct case involving his own deputies. According to Fox News, Nanos has “faced heat” for how his office handled an internal investigation into the reported 2022 sexual assault of a female deputy by a supervisor.
The Fox report does not lay out the full internal investigative record, the specific disciplinary decisions, or whether any criminal charges were filed in connection with the alleged assault. It does, however, make clear that the episode became a source of criticism directed at Nanos’ management of workplace misconduct and departmental accountability.
Without access to the underlying internal files or any parallel criminal case, it remains publicly unresolved to what extent the handling of that 2022 allegation reflects broader systemic issues inside the agency, or whether it will have any bearing on how the sheriff’s office now manages the Guthrie disappearance investigation.
An Investigation With Limited Public Information
While questions linger about past controversies, the most immediate concern for residents and observers is the search for Nancy Guthrie. According to Fox News, the search has entered its fifth day. Authorities have not publicly identified a suspect, and they have released little information about the nature or direction of the investigation.
#BREAKING Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos blasted media reports that claimed his office had a prime suspect in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, stating they are “irresponsible” and harmful to the investigation. https://t.co/PO5hLekxUh pic.twitter.com/toAaRixxU4
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) February 4, 2026
Fox News reports that law enforcement acknowledged being aware of potential ransom notes sent to several media outlets. The report does not describe the contents of those communications, whether investigators view them as credible, or whether they are being treated as evidence, hoaxes, or something in between.
Nanos and the sheriff’s department, according to Fox News, did not respond to the outlet’s requests for comment about either the Guthrie case or the sheriff’s recent history. In the absence of on-the-record statements from the agency, the public is left to piece together the picture from prior reporting, election records, and limited official releases about the ongoing search.
High Stakes for a Sheriff and a Community
The Guthrie investigation highlights an acute tension for Pima County: the county’s top law enforcement official is simultaneously responsible for navigating a sensitive, high-profile disappearance and managing the fallout from years of electoral conflict and internal dissent. Nanos now leads a search effort that involves hundreds of personnel in a jurisdiction that spans remote desert, busy suburbs, and densely populated neighborhoods.
As of the latest Fox News reporting, there is no public indication of charges filed in connection with Guthrie’s disappearance, and authorities have not described any person of interest. It also remains unclear how, if at all, Nanos’ past disputes over election discipline and internal investigations factor into public trust in the current probe.
Until investigators release more detailed findings, seek charges, or rule out foul play, the procedural reality is that the Guthrie case sits in an early, opaque stage of a major investigation. Whether Sheriff Nanos’ lengthy resume reassures residents, or his contested recent history fuels further questions, will likely depend on what his department discloses next, and how the missing-person case proceeds from here.
Sources
- Fox News: Who Is Chris Nanos Pima County Sheriff With 50 Years in Law Enforcement Leads Nancy Guthrie Investigation
