Investigators searching for Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, may have made a critical mistake early in the search.
A new report says the Pima County Sheriff’s Office’s failure to quickly launch a high-tech aircraft at the beginning of a desperate search for the beloved mother of a “Today” co-host could have a negative impact on its own investigation.
Sources told the Daily Mail that law enforcement did not use the Cessna, which is said to be equipped with a high-resolution thermal imaging camera, until hours after Nancy, 84, was reported missing in Arizona on Sunday afternoon.
The delay in takeoff and takeoff for the plane, known as Survey 1, was reportedly caused by a lack of personnel.
Insiders who spoke to the newspaper accused Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos of oversight, particularly because the aviator who may have been on the Cessna had recently been transferred from the department’s air operations unit.
A Pima County official told the Daily Mail, “As a result, due to staffing shortages, the department does not have the personnel to respond to the search.” “If someone had been able to fly that plane, they probably could have found her right away, even though she was out in the desert.”
“We have lost the most critical hours and minutes immediately after someone goes missing,” they added.
A helicopter was eventually deployed in its place, the report said, but it said it lacked sufficient sensors and thermal imaging like the Cessna. Meanwhile, the Cessna plane was reportedly launched around 5 p.m.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Nanos remains true to his belief that Savannah’s missing mother is still alive, days after her alleged midnight abduction, and revealed the exact timeline of Nancy’s disappearance at a press conference on Thursday.
He revealed that the 84-year-old left her home in an Uber shortly after 5:30pm local time on Saturday, January 31st, to spend time with her daughter Annie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni. She returned home late that night, around 9:48 p.m., when the garage door opened.
But Nancy’s doorbell camera disconnected at 1:47 a.m. Sunday, and less than 30 minutes later, at 2:12 a.m., the software detected a person walking past the camera. Video was not available.
Savannah’s mother’s pacemaker was disconnected from the phone app at 2:28 a.m., and she was not discovered missing until her family arrived at her Catalina Foothills home to check on her at 11:56 a.m.
Nancy was officially reported missing at 12:03pm on Sunday, and police arrived on the scene 12 minutes later.
Five days after Savannah’s mother’s mysterious and shocking disappearance, it has been revealed that a short trail of Nancy’s blood was found just outside her front door.
TMZ and some Tucson stores were also sent ransom demands demanding millions of dollars in Bitcoin in exchange for Nancy’s safe return.
On Wednesday night, hours before the original Thursday 5pm deadline for the alleged ransom note passed, Savannah and her siblings released an emotional video pleading for their mother’s safe return.
The FBI subsequently announced a $50,000 reward for “information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of those involved in her disappearance.”
