One of the lead Arizona investigators probing Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance had never handled a homicide case before being put in charge of the entire unit, a law enforcement source has claimed.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has faced widespread backlash over its fruitless search for the missing 84-year-old ever since she was snatched from her Tucson home more than two months ago.
A law enforcement insider, who wanted to remain anonymous amid fears of losing his job, told NewsNation’s Brian Entin on Thursday that those initially on the scene were woefully ill-equipped to handle the case.
“The people who were there on the scene were not tenured homicide detectives,” the source said.
“They didn’t have a lot of experience in homicide at that point to include the supervisor who, from my understanding, never investigated a homicide before being installed as the supervisor to the homicide unit.”
As the scrutiny on the sheriff’s office continued to mount, the source alleged that bigwigs in the department would often promote pals over those who are more experienced.
“You have decisions made by people that will install friends and people that can do stuff for them, opposed to people that are there under merit,” the source said in an interview that is set to air in full on “Katie Pavlich Tonight” at 10 p.m. Thursday.
Nancy is believed to have been snatched from her Tucson home during the early hours of Feb. 1.
Chilling security footage later recovered from her doorbell camera captured a masked man loitering around her doorstep the night police believe she was kidnapped.
The timeline of the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mom:
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As the search for the grandmother entered its second month, investigators still hadn’t determined any credible leads or suspects in the case.
