Sheriff leading Nancy Guthrie investigation responds to recall efforts after being labeled ‘an embarrassment’
The Arizona sheriff leading the hunt for Nancy Guthrie has responded to efforts to recall him for being “an embarrassment” for his handling of the high-profile kidnapping case.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos addressed the effort to oust him soon after it was first revealed by The Post on Tuesday.
“We’re aware of the recall, and it’s the right of the people,” Sheriff Nanos told 13 News.
“We’ll always honor the will of the people, and that’s what makes democracy,” he added, suggesting he would abide by the decision.
Republican congressional candidate Daniel Butierez told The Post on Tuesday that he had launched the recall campaign over Nanos’ handling of the Guthrie case as well as allegations he misrepresented his employment history.
There is increasing disquiet over his conduct among rank-and-file Pima County police officers as well as Sheriff Nanos’s fellow Democrats, according to Butierez, who is standing in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District this November.
Nanos “has been an embarrassment to Tucson and to Pima County with this Nancy Guthrie case,” Butierez said. “Everyone’s pretty disgusted, Democrats and Republicans.”
Starting last Thursday, when he officially began recall proceedings, Butierez has 120 days to collect the necessary signatures to oust Sheriff Nanos.
Follow The Post’s live updates on Savannah Guthrie’s missing mom
The country’s Board of Supervisors is due to meet on March 24 to discuss Sheriff Nanos’s employment history.
During a sworn deposition in December, Nanos was asked whether he had ever been suspended during his law enforcement career and answered “no.”
However, records in his former police department in El Paso show he was suspended eight separate times as a young officer.
“When you see something this troubling and serious going on with one of the county officeholders, it’s very, very important for us to investigate as fully as possible and to find out more information,” Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz, a fellow Democrat, told the Arizona Republic.
“This man has been living a fraud for the past 43 years in Pima County. I would like to see him removed,” Heinz added.
This is the latest headache for the lawmaker in charge of Nancy Guthrie’s case, as he also faces an unrelated $1.35 million lawsuit from an inmate at the Pima County Jail.
The timeline of the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mom:
It comes as the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show presenter Savannah Guthrie, 54, approaches the 50-day mark with no suspects or persons of interest identified.
She was last seen on Jan. 31 after being dropped off at her home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood north of Tucson, Ariz., by relatives.
Bluetooth data from her pacemaker indicates she may have been taken in the early hours of Feb. 1.
