Sheriff Chris Nanos from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Tucson, Arizona, clapped back at accusations of allegedly withholding crucial evidence from the FBI in the Nancy Guthrie missing case.
Speaking exclusively to NBC’s Tucson affiliate KVOA, Sheriff Nanos shut down allegations against him. He revealed that the accusations were false and “not even close to the truth.”
The officer went on to explain that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is coordinating with the FBI while investigating the case.
The accusations arose after investigators found a pair of black gloves near Nancy’s residence. After the discovery, Reuters reported that the evidence was sent to a private DNA laboratory in Florida instead of the FBI‘s Quantico crime lab.
“The FBI asked Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for physical evidence in the case, including a glove and DNA from the home of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, to be processed at the FBI’s national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, but Nanos has insisted instead on using a private lab in Florida,” a source allegedly told Fox News Digital.
— Dr. Joel P. Rutkowski- President (@RutkowskiDr) February 13, 2026
Sheriff Nanos later clarified the matter about the gloves. He shared that while the FBI wanted to send the gloves to another DNA analysis facility, he thought it would be beneficial if the DNA analysis were done in one place rather than at different locations.
“Actually, the FBI just wanted to send the one or two they found by the crime scene, closest to it — mile, mile and a half … 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 revealed.
This statement seemingly debunks allegations against Nanos and shows he in fact wanted to help authorities and had no intention of withholding evidence.
According to The New York Post, Nanos went on to reveal that the gloves discovered by investigators from the scene might not be as important as authorities initially thought after multiple other gloves were found on the side of the road near Nancy Guthrie’s Catalina Foothills house.
While the exact number of gloves found by officials has not been revealed, Sheriff Nanos confirmed there were “quite a number of them.”
Sheriff Chris Nanos disputes claims that he blocks the FBI from accessing key evidence in the Nancy Guthrie case, advocating for private lab analysis instead of FBI’s. 🔍
The conflict raises concerns about transparency and delays in criminal investigations, impacting suspect… pic.twitter.com/h8jLuFXbPB
— unumihai Media (@unumihaimedia) February 13, 2026
Lastly, Sheriff Nanos revealed that every single development and related to the case is being carefully shared with the FBI. He also urged critics to stop spreading untrue information.
This is especially since speculation could hinder the investigation, which has been going on for nearly two weeks now. Sheriff Nanos expressed his and the FBI’s intention to focus on their work in quickly finding Savannah Guthrie’s mom and bringing her home.
Citing that as a primary reason, Sheriff Nanos said, “Offer your critiques all you want, but right now we have work to do.”
As confirmed by Sheriff Nanos, the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department are currently working together. And they’re doing so without withholding any information from each other.
Speaking of information, authorities continue to urge anyone with relevant information about Guthrie’s disappearance to step forward or report it to the tip line, which has reportedly received 18,000 tips and 4,000 calls.
