A Republican congressional candidate has launched a formal recall effort against Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, moving to remove the embattled lawman whose handling of the Nancy Guthrie abduction case has drawn fierce criticism from investigators, deputies, and the public alike.
Daniel Butierez confirmed he has initiated the recall process and says he already has 500 volunteers collecting signatures across the county. He needs approximately 120,000 signatures within 120 days, a threshold equivalent to 25 percent of the ballots cast in the 2024 Pima County sheriff election. Butierez is aiming for around 135,000 to build a cushion.
According to the Daily Mail, the move comes as a source close to the investigation delivered a grim assessment of the case: more than six weeks after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was snatched from her home in the affluent Catalina Foothills area of Tucson, investigators believe the chances she is still alive are vanishingly small.
"Is she alive? I think that's very unlikely. Everybody is coming to grips with that."
The source added that Nancy's age and health problems make survival in captivity for this long nearly impossible without what they called "a miracle."
Butierez did not mince words about the man at the center of the investigation.
"He has been an embarrassment to Tucson and to Pima County with this Nancy Guthrie case."
According to Butierez, Pima County police held a unanimous vote of no confidence in Nanos on Friday. He also revealed that deputies within the sheriff's own department had wanted to initiate the recall themselves but held back out of fear.
"Pima County deputies had wanted to begin the process to recall Nanos themselves, but they were worried about retaliation from the sheriff."
That detail alone tells you everything you need to know about the internal climate. When the people tasked with enforcing the law are afraid of their own boss, something has gone deeply wrong. Butierez, noting his status as a congressional candidate, said he doesn't expect the sheriff to target him the same way.
The recall effort is not happening in a vacuum. Multiple sources within the sheriff's department have described an investigation hamstrung by poor leadership. A source at the department said flatly that "this case had been at a standstill."
Nanos has been accused of locking down the probe and sidelining investigators. The crime scene itself was reportedly mishandled when it was opened up too quickly, potentially destroying forensic evidence. A source described the suspect as "a very careful suspect who did not appear to leave a huge footprint on the crime," then added the devastating kicker:
"And then the scene was mishandled when it opened up so quickly. Who knows what forensic clues were lost."
The one silver lining, according to sources, is that the FBI has stepped in. Four Pima County detectives are now working out of the Tucson FBI building, and while Nanos technically retains overall control, his day-to-day involvement has been curtailed. A source at the department called this development "good," noting there will be "less meddling from command staff."
DNA results from the crime scene, which has been probed on four occasions, are being processed at a lab in Florida. Sources say the lab is attempting to accelerate technology that wasn't scheduled for rollout until next year in order to untangle what has been described as a complex mix of DNA samples.
Perhaps the most chilling element of this case is what investigators say about the man who took Nancy Guthrie from her bed in the early hours of Sunday, February 1. An armed and masked man was captured on porch video at her $1 million home, but beyond that, the trail has been difficult to follow.
A source close to the investigation offered a candid and unsettling assessment of where things stand:
"This guy is emboldened. We've thrown everything at him, and we haven't caught him yet. He's probably watching the news and thinking, man, they're not even close to me."
That is not the profile of a case that was handled competently from the start. When law enforcement sources openly acknowledge that the suspect likely feels untouchable, the public deserves to ask hard questions about how the investigation was managed in its critical early hours and days.
Meanwhile, the tipline that once received up to 4,000 calls a day has dwindled to around two dozen, manned by just two people. Ransom demand letters seeking $6 million in Bitcoin arrived with two deadlines, but investigators now believe those were fakes, likely crafted by scammers who pieced together details from social media, including a video Nancy herself had made touring her bedroom.
NBC Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, Nancy's 54-year-old daughter, has carried the weight of this case publicly with remarkable composure. In a social media video on February 24, day 24 of the search, she announced a family reward of up to $1 million and made a plea that was equal parts grief and determination.
"It is day 24 since our mom was taken in the dark of night from her bed. And every hour and minute and second and every long night has been agony since then. Worrying for her, fearing for her, aching for her."
She acknowledged the possibility that her mother may already be dead, saying "she may be lost, she may already be gone," while still holding onto faith that someone with information would come forward. Savannah has since returned to New York City after spending several weeks in Tucson and was seen visiting NBC colleagues at Rockefeller Center last week.
Her elder sister Annie, 56, has remained closer to the situation. Savannah quoted her in the video, saying the family is "blowing on the embers of hope."
If Butierez and his 500 volunteers hit the signature threshold, the Pima County Recorder will have 60 days to verify the names against voter registration records. After verification, Nanos would have just five days to decide whether to resign or request a special recall election.
The recall mechanism exists for exactly this kind of situation: a local official whose performance has so thoroughly eroded public trust that the community cannot afford to wait for the next election cycle. When your own deputies are voting no confidence and an elderly woman's abduction case sits at a standstill while the suspect roams free, the question isn't whether accountability is warranted. It's why it took this long.
Somewhere in Tucson, a family is waiting for answers. The people responsible for finding those answers failed them. Now the people of Pima County are deciding what to do about it.