Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos refused help from search and rescue teams in the early days following Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, according to a volunteer group.
The United Cajun Navy, an organization that frequently partners with law enforcement for disaster response and search and rescue, offered several times to help with the Guthrie search but was denied, according to their vice president, Brian Trascher, in a Monday interview with NewsNation.
Trascher claimed this was due to a “blanket declaration from the sheriff’s office” not to accept outside help.
“We really felt strongly that there was a good chance that she could have ended up somewhere along the border,” Trascher said, hoping their help could bring “some closure” to the 84-year-old’s ailing family members.
He explained that the group sent a detailed plan to Nanos outlining the resources they could provide, including K-9 and drone teams to offer an “extra set of eyes, ears, hands, and feet.”
“We’re very good at search and rescue. We have a lot of good resources we could have brought to the area, other partner groups that we work with in the area are willing to come to the area and help us search.”
At this point, Trascher believes their resources would be far less helpful this late in the investigation.
“I think early on when we were closer to the abduction date, it would have been a lot more beneficial,” Trascher said, adding that now he believes they would “just be looking for remains.”
This is not the first time Nanos has faced criticism for refusing help.
FBI Director Kash Patel claimed earlier this year that the agency was not allowed to investigate the crime scene until four days after Today show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother was reported missing, even though agents were on the ground immediately.
Patel also claimed that Nanos didn’t take up the FBI on their offer to analyze DNA found at the crime scene.
“We offered our assistance to go test the DNA. And it’s up to them. They chose to use a private laboratory,” Patel told NewsNation.
The sheriff’s office denied these allegations in May, telling Entertainment Weekly that the FBI was immediately notified and that a member of the agency was working alongside police from the beginning.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the sheriff’s office for further comment.
