Polygraph tests are being conducted at the Pima County Sheriff’s Office today, as per Fox News. This comes amid an ongoing search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie.
Naturally, reports of the test sparked buzz whether it was linked to the Guthrie investigation.
“It’s unclear who is being tested or whether the activity is connected to the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie at this time,” Michael Ruiz of Fox News wrote on X. The news of the test comes days after Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld had called for the entire Guthrie family to undergo polygraph tests. In the time since then, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos cleared the family name, saying they were not suspects. This came after weeks of online speculation surrounding son-in-law Tommaso Cioni and wife, Annie Guthrie.
However, the news of the polygraph test has sparked backlash against Nanos with many questioning his methods. “Why / How did Sheriff Nanos clear the family but just now are doing polygraph tests?! The back & fourth is ridiculous. Make it make sense!,” a person wrote. Another claimed “polygraph tests are reportedly being conducted today at the Pima County Sheriff’s Office in connection to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.”
Also Read | Nancy Guthrie case update: New ransom note received on day 18; Mexico angle in focus
Meanwhile, Fox News said that while authorities did not confirm if the polygraph test was linked to the Guthrie case, they promised that an ‘update’ was ‘coming soon’.
Brian Entin of News Nation reported that the polygraphs had been conducted to clear people in the Nancy Guthrie case.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos under fire
The news of the polygraph test comes even as Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has come under fire. When the FBI was asked whether the Guthrie family members had been cleared, they pointed to the fact that Nanos’ team was lead in the investigation.
However, the ire against Nanos comes as independent investigator Steve Fischer alleged that there might have been a ‘breakdown’ in ‘crime scene preservation’, amid reports of a card left by an Adult Protective Services investigator on Guthrie’s doorstep the day of her disappearance.
Fischer wrote on X “Yesterday, the Pima County Sheriff told multiple media outlets that the card left by an Adult Protective Services investigator was placed on Nancy Guthrie’s door on February 1, the day she was reported missing. According to the Sheriff, the investigator was allowed to walk through a crime scene that included blood evidence on the ground and possible DNA evidence on the door where the abductor reportedly made contact, in order to leave a business card, because a concerned neighbor called the Dept on a Sunday even though law enforcement was on scene.”
He added, “If accurate, this would represent a serious failure in crime scene preservation. It would also raise questions about protocol and training, particularly since APS investigators are not law enforcement personnel,” and continued, “I feel the Sheriff is mistaken. However, if the statement is accurate, it represents a significant breakdown in crime scene control that any defense attorney would likely exploit.”
Fischer further said “we are either being lied to by the Sheriff, or if it’s true, then what a complete failure to preserve a crime scene and poor training by APS that an investigator enters an acttive crime scene.”