Annie Guthrie and husband Tommaso Cioni became the topic of discussion once again days after Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos made it clear that none of the family members were suspects in the Nancy Guthrie case.
This came after social media posts claimed the two were the ‘official caregivers’ of Guthrie.
The 84-year-old’s daughter and her son-in-law had been in the public eye for a while after a former News Nation journalist, Ashleigh Banfield, had claimed that Cioni was a suspect. Guthrie reportedly had dinner with Annie and had been dropped off to her home by Cioni the night she was taken. Her family reported her missing on February 1, making Cioni one of the last people to see her before the kidnapping.
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Now, the interest in the duo appears to be renewed amid this viral claim.
“WHY haven’t Nancy Guthrie police told us that…Tomasso and Annie were #NancyGuthrie official CAREGIVERS?. Why all the SECRETS? Why are they being PROTECTED?,” a person wrote on X.
They shared a snippet of a news report where the following quote was visible – “Annie and Tommy are amazing people, dedicated parents who also love and care for Nancy on a daily basis.”
Reactions to viral claim
Several people reacted to the claim made by this individual. “If your mom was 84 and lived a couple of miles from you, you’d likely “care for” her daily, too. Nothing about that says caregiver in a formal way,” one person remarked on X. Another added, “Does not mean they are in home caretakers. Could mean lots of things. She might need helping going to the grocery store. Or cleaning house. Etc.”
Yet another post noted “It was mentioned in the beginning that they moved close by Nancy so they could help with her care.”
Fact-checking viral claim
While Cioni and Annie might have been caring for Guthrie on a daily basis, they have not been officially identified as the caregivers. Thus, the claim that they are the official caregivers seems to have originated online and has no basis.
The person who shared the post, appeared to have interpreted ‘love and care for Nancy’ as being a caregiver. Some picked on this and one individual remarked “Some people love their parents and help them out. Is this a foreign concept to you??”.
Again, there is no indication that Annie and Cioni were the ‘official caregivers’ though being the closest geographically to Guthrie, they might have ended caring for the 84-year-old more.
The claims about Guthrie and Cioni come amid an update on the suspect from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Cops are anticipating there might have been more than one suspect. Sheriff Chris Nanos’ office told Fox News “The sheriff has said all along that while investigators are working to identify the person seen on doorbell video, they are not ruling out that that was the only person involved.”