Nancy Guthrie Case: Retired NYPD Officer Says Homicide Investigators Needed

A retired New York City Police Department (NYPD) sergeant said homicide investigators needed to be involved from the start of the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.

“It’s something that I’ve been preaching for quite a while now, that having homicide investigators respond to missing persons cases on the onset, since many of these cases end that route or they end up as we don’t know where the person is or what happened, having that experience upfront can make a difference,” Joseph Giacalone told Newsweek. “These are your best-trained people. They’re your most experienced. They know the ins and outs of a lot of things.”

He said that Guthrie’s case was not treated as a potential homicide at the start.

“Run the scene like it’s a homicide, because there is evidence that shows that this is not going to end well,” Giacalone said. “You have an 84-year-old woman with health problems, there’s blood outside the scene, we don’t know what’s inside the scene, so the likelihood of this thing ending up as a homicide investigation is really high, and that’s why you bring everything you can to bear at the beginning of these things, to try to lessen the timeframe when this is going on, specifically when you have an elderly victim.”

Why It Matters

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, has been missing for more than a month. Her disappearance has prompted a multiagency search involving local law enforcement and the FBI. She was last seen at her home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, on January 31.

Alleged ransom notes were sent to multiple news outlets after she disappeared.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said at a news conference last month that there were clues at the crime scene indicating that she “did not leave on her own.” He also said Guthrie needs daily medication, and it could be fatal if she does not take it every 24 hours. He also said he believes Guthrie was a victim of a targeted kidnapping.

What To Know

Giacalone said that having homicide investigators involved from the start of the case “would have definitely looked more professional.”

“We have some serious crime scene issues that are at hand here,” he said. “We find gloves, where you have 12 pairs of gloves that were found from searchers. You walked away a day or two from the crime scene and you have everybody taking pictures of the blood droplets and everything else that’s going on there, people peeking in windows.”

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said last month: “Investigators collected approximately 16 gloves in various areas near the house. Most of them were searchers’ gloves that they discarded in various areas when they searched the vicinity.”

The department has also said that blood found on Nancy’s front porch belonged to her.

Giacalone said that “having that temporary headquarters vehicle parked out from there could have kept a lot of the onlookers away.”

He said it is also important for investigators to keep track of which officials are entering and leaving the home and what they did while at the property.

Giacalone said the “biggest lead” is surveillance footage, and “there possibly could be more video that we are unaware of.”

Last month, the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department released surveillance photos and videos of a potential subject.

“Working with our partners, as of this morning, law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.

What People Are Saying

Savannah Guthrie, on Instagram: “We feel the love and prayers from our neighbors, from the Tucson community and from around the country. Please don’t stop praying and hoping with us. Bring her home.”

Timothy Courchaine, U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona, in a statement: “The United States Attorney’s Office, together with the FBI and every other law enforcement agency involved in finding Nancy, will go anywhere, do anything, and persevere always to find her.”

What Happens Next

Anyone with information is asked to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI, 520-351-4900, 88-CRIME or visit tips.fbi.gov. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the recovery of Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.

“To help keep the tip line available for actionable investigative law enforcement leads, please submit only serious and detailed fact-based information, no well-wishes or case theories. The tip line is not for personal messages to the Guthrie family,” FBI Phoenix said.

Additionally, 88-CRIME is offering a reward of $102,500 for the arrest of the person or persons involved in the disappearance.

Savannah Guthrie announced on Instagram that the family is offering a reward of up to $1 million, payable only for her mother’s recovery.

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