FBI and Sheriff’s Office Clash as Search Near Tucson Home Resumes in Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. — More than six months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home, a neighbor says FBI agents were recently seen searching the desert brush behind the property, even as tension between federal and local investigators over how the case has been handled continues to surface publicly.

The neighbor, who lives just a few houses away, told Fox News Digital she spotted agents combing the scrubland behind Guthrie’s home in late July, just days before the disappearance reached its six-month mark on Aug. 1. She said she recognized several of the faces from earlier searches conducted in connection with the case. A spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said no task force investigators had recently returned to the area, leaving an unresolved discrepancy between the two accounts.

Weather May Have Reshaped the Search Area

Retired Pima County Sheriff’s Department lieutenant and former SWAT commander Bob Krygier offered a possible explanation for renewed activity near Guthrie’s property, pointing to Tucson’s monsoon season as a factor that could have physically altered the landscape behind her home. “About a month ago, monsoon season started here in Tucson, and a lot of water has come down – a lot of water at once, and it pushes things,” Krygier told Fox News Digital. “So it’s moved the environment. Rocks have been pushed away.”

Krygier said floodwaters in the area can rise as high as 12 feet, generating enough force to sweep away vehicles, trees and even people. “All that water, it’s rushing fast, and it’s taken not only the people, but it’s taken cars, it’s taken trees, branches, rocks, all of this stuff, and basically turned into a big blender,” he said.

Beyond the possibility of weather-altered terrain, Krygier suggested investigators may simply be returning to previously searched ground with fresh eyes now that the case has passed the six-month mark, or responding to new tips pointing toward a specific location. “There’s a couple of different reasons that go through my mind first is going to be they got some leads, they got some new tips that are viable, and they’re out there looking for something specific or in an area specific to that, because I’m certain that they’ve searched those areas already,” he said.

A Public Rift Between the FBI and Local Investigators

Beyond the renewed search activity, the case has also been marked by an increasingly public disagreement between the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department over how the investigation has been managed. In May, Sheriff Chris Nanos said he had stopped speaking directly with the Guthrie family, saying the FBI had taken over those communications. FBI Director Kash Patel later said his agency had been “kept out of the investigation” for four days at one point, a claim Nanos disputed directly, calling it “factually inaccurate.”

A source speaking to RadarOnline offered a blunt assessment of the friction between the two agencies. “Instead of advancing the case, Pima County and the FBI are playing the blame game. That is unacceptable when a kidnapper remains at large,” the source said, adding, “The question on everyone’s mind is simple: Why hasn’t the FBI taken a more active role in the investigation? The reputation of law enforcement is at stake.”

Sheriff Insists the Case Remains Active

Despite the friction and the lack of a named suspect more than six months into the investigation, Nanos has continued to push back against any suggestion that the case has stalled. Speaking last month, he said his department is “working hard every day with all our partners” and reiterated that the investigation “is not cold.” Nanos has separately said investigators continue reviewing what he described as tens of thousands of hours of surveillance video as part of the ongoing effort to identify leads.

What Happened to Nancy Guthrie

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing from her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson on Feb. 1, though investigators believe she was actually taken the night before. Authorities have released doorbell camera footage showing a masked suspect tampering with the camera outside her home around the time of the disappearance, and DNA evidence has been sent to the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for testing. No suspects have been publicly named as the investigation continues.

A Case Marked by Competing Theories

In the months since Guthrie’s disappearance, the investigation has generated a steady stream of competing theories and reports, including allegations that early investigative missteps may have led authorities to overlook blood evidence at the scene, according to separate reporting on the case. Investigators have also released a pair of purported ransom notes, hoping the public might help identify the distinctive linguistic style of whoever authored them, though the notes’ authenticity and connection to Guthrie’s actual disappearance have not been independently confirmed by law enforcement.

A Family Still Searching for Answers

Savannah Guthrie has remained a visible and consistent presence throughout the search for her mother, repeatedly appealing to the public for information and helping build a combined reward pool that has grown to more than $1.2 million, none of which has been claimed. Her continued advocacy has kept the case in the national spotlight even as the investigation itself has struggled to produce a publicly named suspect or a clear breakthrough.

How to Help

Anyone with information related to Guthrie’s disappearance is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous can also submit information to the local Crime Stoppers affiliate at 520-88-CRIME.

With the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department continuing to offer differing accounts of both the current search activity and the broader coordination between the two agencies, the underlying investigation remains difficult to fully track from the outside. Whether this summer’s monsoon rains ultimately uncover new evidence, or the renewed search near Guthrie’s home reflects a fresh lead rather than a reexamination of previously covered ground, remains an open question as the case moves further past its six-month mark without a named suspect or a clear public resolution in sight.