President Trump slammed the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance Thursday, but told reporters it’s time to pay attention to“other subjects” after weeks of national fixation on the apparent kidnapping.
Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since Feb. 1, when a masked man was filmed at her Tucson-area home’s front door.
Trump said he was perplexed by the fact that authorities told the media they were flying a Pima County Sheriff’s Department helicopter equipped with an FBI Bluetooth “sniffer” to detect Guthrie’s pacemaker.
President Trump slammed the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance Thursday. AFP via Getty Images“I didn’t like when they talked about going after the pacemaker before they even started going after it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Georgia.
“If in fact they could do it that way, the person would say, ‘Well, I’m not going to let that happen’… I can’t imagine why they would have done that, just in terms of strategy.”
Trump added: “We have to start reporting on other subjects also and see what happens. It’s a very sad situation.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has faced significant criticism as the trail goes cold, including for using a private lab in Florida to test a glove found near Guthrie’s home, rather than to a potentially faster FBI lab. The glove contained an unknown individual’s DNA.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos. REUTERS“It is a common belief in this agency that this case has become an ego case for Sheriff Nanos,” said Sgt. Aaron Cross, president of the Pima County Deputies Organization, a labor union that represents employees of the sheriff’s office.
Here’s the latest on Savannah Guthrie’s missing mom Nancy Guthrie
- California man pleads guilty after sending fake ransom note to Nancy Guthrie’s heartbroken family
- Nancy Guthrie case could be solved with help from armchair sleuths: detective
- FBI hasn’t dismissed all Nancy Guthrie ransom notes — but reveals many led to dead end
- FBI determines Nancy Guthrie ransom notes were fake: report
The FBI has assisted in the case but has not commandeered the investigation, which would require their assertion that a federal offense may have been committed.
It’s unclear whether local or federal law enforcement leaked the use of the Bluetooth “sniffer,” which was first reported Saturday by Fox News. An FBI official subsequently told NewsNation that “sophisticated FBI technology” was being used.
Trump told The Post Monday that he wants Guthrie’s captors to face the death penalty if she is not returned alive.
