In her podcast The Megyn Kelly Show for Tuesday, March 17, Megyn Kelly called out Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos over what she terms “mixed messaging” relating to Nancy Guthrie‘s case. According to the podcaster, Nanos has what she describes as a pattern of “conflicting” and “alarming” changes in his messaging over the investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.
Nancy is the mother of Today show co-host, Savannah Guthrie and has been missing since February 1 after being kidnapped from her Tucson-area home. According to Kelly, Sheriff Nanos has repeatedly shifted the official narrative on several key issues.
“He’s changed his messaging again on whether there’s a threat to the community in a way that I would argue seems to undermine that this is a stalker, that this is an NBC News stalker, uh, or family member,” Megyn said. On the podcast, Kelly played clips of the sheriff during various stages of his investigation into Nancy’s disappearance. She accused Nanos of undermining what may be a security threat to the community at large.
“It’s pretty diametrically opposed. Say at the beginning there is no public safety threat, and then now 44 days in, to say you don’t think for a minute that you’re safe,” Kelly said. “You have to take everything the sheriff says with a grain of salt,” she added.
“All of this is possible, but it all leads into certain directions…”
@ayerscg497 and @JGilliam_SEAL on the likelihood Nancy Guthrie abductor carried police scanner or walkie talkie on night of crime.
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— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) March 18, 2026
According to Megyn, after weeks of being vague about a potential suspect, Nanos said investigators now “believe they know exactly why” Nancy was targeted. However, he also warned the public that the suspect in the case, might “absolutely” strike again. This caused the podcaster to question why he downplayed public risk, if a “targeted” kidnapper was still at large.
According to Kelly, Nanos initially seemed to keep all possibilities open before “clearing” the Guthrie family in the case and labeling them as victims. She also criticized the sheriff for his “weirdly crying” and emotional delivery in interviews. She said these contrast with a professional approach in the case.
Meanwhile, the podcaster criticized Nanos’s changing stance on certain forensic evidence, including bloodstain analysis and DNA, which Kelly says has been inconsistently presented to the media. She claims the shifts are a “pattern” of unreliable communication that may damage the integrity of the case.
“Nanos says he’s intentionally withholding their theory and other details in the case, citing the integrity of the investigation,” Kelly added.
The podcaster also criticized Nanos’s position on Savannah’s brother-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, who was ruled out as a suspect. “The sheriff’s messaging around the brother-in-law has been yet another thing that’s been very confused and ever changing and did the family no favors,” Kelly said.
Megyn Kelly also accused the sheriff’s messaging on the family members being cleared as suspects in Nancy’s disappearance. “So, he’s walking back. They’re cleared to ‘Well, they haven’t been identified as suspects.’ So, I mean, he’s just, I mean, I can’t, like, I’m it’s, it’s annoying me yet again, because he caused this. I’m sorry, but he helped cause this,” Megan added.
During the podcast, Kelly continued to criticize Nanos for mixed messaging, saying he should use his public information officer to deliver a consistent message. “His PIO should be handling this. There should be a clear and concise message every single time. And that’s never what we’ve received,” Kelly said.
“But this guy is so — it’s almost like ADD on steroids. He’s like all over the place. He says something, then he reverses it, then he dials it back a little, then he contradicts that, then he does something that undermines all of it. And in the end, I have no idea about anything,” Megyn Kelly added.
