Nancy Guthrie Investigators Are Keeping ‘Secrets’ From Public, Sheriff Admits—as Khloe Kardashian Questions ‘Weird’ Circumstances Around Case

To see our latest updates on the Nancy Guthrie case, please click here.

Authorities investigating the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie are intentionally holding back information about their progress from the public in a bid to "protect" the integrity of the case, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has claimed.

Nanos, who has been leading the investigation into Guthrie's abduction from her Arizona home, hit back at criticism over the apparent lack of progress in the case, telling local outlet KOLD that there is more going on behind the scenes than authorities are willing to share.

When asked whether there are details about the case that have not been revealed, Nanos said: "Yes, absolutely there are. But it's not done because we got [to] keep it a secret. It's done because we got to protect our case."

More than 100 days in to the investigation, Nanos then doubled down on his insistence that his department—in collaboration with the FBI—is getting closer to identifying and finding those responsible for Guthrie's disappearance.

"I believe, at some point in time, we will make an arrest on this case," he said. "And whoever that individual is, that individual will have a right to a fair and impartial trial. We continue to work with our labs, whether it’s on the digital end or the biological end, DNA."

Anyone with any information about Nancy Guthrie's case should call 1-800-CALL-FBI, 520-351-4900, 88-CRIME, or visit https://tips.fbi.gov/.

His comments came as reality star Khloe Kardashian pulled fresh focus onto the investigation during an episode of her podcast, "Khloe in Wonder Land," in which she discussed her interest in the case with true crime podcaster Ashley Flowers.

Kardashian described the disappearance of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie's mother as "heartbreaking," before questioning how authorities still haven't publicly produced any significant leads.

"Nancy Guthrie, I mean, is that not heartbreaking?" she began. "I don't know. I'm just like, this is 2026. There is nothing? That is mind-blowing."

She then called attention to the alleged ransom notes that were sent to multiple media outlets in the weeks after disappearance, which have yet to be publicly verified by the sheriff's department or the FBI, despite Savannah previously admitting that she believes at least some of the notes to be real.

"How weird was that?" she went on. "It’s so much, and I just can’t understand that in 2026 there’s not—like you said—that’s what I don’t believe, that there’s not one piece of information. They’re not telling us."

Nanos has faced mounting criticism of his handling of the Guthrie case—as well as allegations that he lied about his disciplinary record—prompting the Pima County Board of Supervisors to hold a vote on whether to vacate him from his job.

That motion failed during a meeting on May 12, which Nanos did not attend.

Meanwhile, the sheriff has continued to defend the investigation, telling KOLD that he and his team are doing everything in their power to track down those responsible for the grandmother's abduction.

However, he pointed to several hurdles that have come up during that process, including the analysis of DNA recovered from Guthrie's Tucson-area home, which he said is moving at "a snail pace."

"They are working hard to get this resolved, and I think every day they get closer," Nanos went on. "Day one, the FBI was involved in this case, and they continue to be involved in this case. Every single day.

"There’s way too much work to be done, that is ongoing, with some of the physical evidence we have."

That DNA evidence was only recently returned to the FBI's lab after being initially undergoing analysis at a private laboratory in Florida.

On April 16, FBI sources told NewsNation and ABC News that its official laboratory has received a DNA sample that had been undergoing testing in a private lab in Florida.

The insider noted that this DNA evidence is not new, but rather has been extracted from a variety of materials that was collected from Nancy's dwelling in early February. That evidence had previously been sent to a laboratory in Florida by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and has only now been returned to the FBI bureau.

"There is no new DNA evidence in the Nancy Guthrie case. The FBI requested this material over two months ago," an FBI official told ABC News.

"The Pima County Sheriff's Office sent it to a private lab in Florida. Eleven weeks later, that lab has now transferred an original hair sample to the FBI Laboratory for testing. We remain fully committed to this investigation."

According to the outlet, the FBI was planning to use "new technology to conduct advanced analysis on the DNA sample" in order to see whether it might provide information about Nancy's alleged kidnappers.

Sheriff Nanos had previously revealed in March that authorities had collected a number of DNA samples from Nancy's home, but that authorities were struggling to extract individual profiles from that evidence.

"It’s a challenge because we know we have DNA, but now we have to deal with that mixture and how we’re going to separate it," he said.

He also told NBC that investigators had run into "challenges" in their examination of the evidence, stating: "We listen to our lab, and our lab tells us that there’s challenges with it, and we understand those challenges.

"But our lab also knows that the technology is moving so fast and in such a frenzy that they think some of this stuff will resolve itself just in a matter of weeks, months or maybe a year, to allow them to do better with, say, a mixture of that kind of thing."

What is the full timeline of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance?

Nanos noted during a media briefing on Feb. 5 that, while times are approximate, his team has pieced together several pieces of evidence that indicate Nancy's movements—and the timeline of her apparent abduction.

Nancy was reported missing at around 12 p.m. local time on Feb. 1, around 14 hours after she was dropped off at the property following a family dinner. When she failed to turn up at her usual church gathering on Sunday, her friends alerted her family, who found her home was empty.

SATURDAY, JAN. 31

5:32 p.m. Nancy travels to Annie's house in an Uber for "dinner and playing games with the family."

9:48 p.m. A garage door at Nancy's house opens when she was dropped off at the property by her daughter.

9:50 p.m. The garage door closes, indicating that Nancy was inside the home.

SUNDAY, FEB. 1

1:47 a.m. Nancy's doorbell security camera is disconnected.

2:12 a.m. Movement is detected on a security camera at the home. No footage of this is currently available.

2:28 a.m. Nancy's pacemaker app indicates that the device has been disconnected from her phone.

11:00 a.m. Nancy fails to arrive at the home of a friend, where she had been due to watch a church service livestream.

11:56 a.m. Nancy's family travels to her home to check on her and finds the property empty.

12:03 p.m. The family calls 911 to report Nancy missing.

12:14 p.m. Police officers arrive at Nancy's home.