Backlash grows against police in Nancy Guthrie case after suspension revelation
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has headed the investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance from her Arizona home since day one
Backlash has been steadily building against the lead investigator in the case of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance on February 1, with Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos coming under fire for past disciplinary issues as the investigation approaches its 12th week.
The sheriff's history at the El Paso Police Department in Texas has drawn criticism as he resigned from his position in 1982 in order to avoid disciplinary action. He addressed the allegations that he misrepresented himself when applying for a job at the Pima County Police Department in the '80s, after leaving his job in Texas.
Chris' lawyer responded to the probe into his past with a 22-page document that explained his conduct. "Sheriff Nanos resigned from the El Paso Police Department in 1982. At the time of his resignation, he held the rank of corporal," the document read.
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Sheriff Chris Nanos has come under fire in recent weeks
"His resignation came in the wake of a dispute with a supervisor over the towing of vehicles. The supervisor wanted to impose a three-day suspension for insubordination. Sheriff Nanos appealed that recommended discipline to the Chief, who found in favor of the supervisor."
"Rather than accept a three-day suspension, Sheriff Nanos offered to resign in lieu of discipline. The Chief accepted his offer, and Sheriff Nanos resigned," he continued. The document added that he had not lied about his employment history, and wrote on his resume that he left the job in 1982, despite the Pima County Sheriff's Department website stating that he left in 1984.
Chris' lawyer also acknowledged the disciplinary actions he was subject to at El Paso, including "counselling, reprimands and suspensions". The letter then spoke on the sheriff's previous statement under oath that he had never been suspended as a result of disciplinary action.
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The sheriff has lead the Nancy Guthrie investigation since day one
"It is 100% correct that Sheriff Nanos was never suspended during his four decades of decorated and faithful service with the Pima County Sheriff's Department," his lawyer wrote to the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
"However, Sheriff Nanos was suspended more than forty years ago while employed by [the] El Paso Police Department. In the context of his live deposition, Sheriff Nanos did not understand the question related to discipline with a different agency not governed by the Arizona Peace Officers' Bill of Rights."
Social media users quickly shared their distaste for the sheriff after his past in El Paso came to light. "Everyone wants him gone," wrote one X user, while another added that "people are angry". A third chimed in that Chris had "botched this [case] from the start," while a fourth added: "My gut is telling me it was totally mishandled."
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Chris faced backlash from social media users
Chris did garner support from some social media users, with one writing: "Wasn't this decades ago? [In my opinion] he is working hard to find Nancy Guthrie," while another added that the focus on his past was "fueling a dishonest narrative" about Chris' competency.
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Nancy went missing from her Arizona home in February
The Pima County Sheriff's Department has worked closely with the FBI since Nancy went missing in February. While several suspects have been questioned regarding her disappearance, no arrests have been made, and DNA evidence is still being examined by the authorities.
Nancy, the 84-year-old mother of Today show star Savannah Guthrie, was believed to have been taken by force from her home in Tucson, Arizona, after blood was found on the doorstep, and her personal effects were found inside the house.
I HID MY BABY INSIDE A MAFIA BOSS’S MANSION FOR 3 MONTHS… UNTIL SHE GRABBED HIS TIE, CALLED HIM “DADA,” AND REVEALED A SECRET THAT LEFT NEW YORK’S MOST FEARED MAN SPEECHLESS 💔😱
I Secretly Kept My Eight-Month-Old Daughter Hidden in a Feared Mafia Boss’s Mansion for 90 Days. Then She Crawled Into His Private Office, Tugged His Tie, and Called Him “Dada.” 💔
“PLEASE, MR. BLACKWOOD! I BEG YOU, DON’T HURT ME! MY BABY HAS NO ONE ELSE!”
My trembling voice filled the grand Manhattan mansion as I held my little girl, who was reaching eagerly toward the most dangerous man in New York.
For ninety days, I had kept my daughter hidden under the very roof he owned.
No one was supposed to find out.
Least of all Nathan Blackwood himself.
But the moment Lily gazed into his cold blue eyes and innocently called him “Dada,” I felt the secret I had guarded for months beginning to unravel, threatening to change both our lives forever.
My name is Grace Miller. I’m twenty-six years old, and I’ve spent the past three years working as a housekeeper for Nathan Blackwood.
He was a man whose fortune stretched across towering skyscrapers, prestigious hotels, and countless lucrative businesses worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet his wealth was nothing compared to the power he wielded through his criminal empire, where fear and unwavering loyalty kept everyone in line.
There were three rules inside Nathan’s mansion that nobody dared to violate.
Stay out of his private office. Never disturb his meetings. And under no circumstances bring your personal troubles into his home.
For ninety consecutive days, I had secretly broken that last rule.
That morning, Nathan had made it clear that nobody was to approach his office between nine and ten o’clock.
I was downstairs in the laundry room, carefully folding towels while silently praying that Lily wouldn’t make a sound.
Then I heard her squeal with delight.
“HEY!”
I spun around, but I was too late.
Before I could grab her, Lily crawled across the gleaming marble floor and vanished through the doorway of Nathan’s office.
My heart lurched into my throat.
Inside, Nathan was holding a meeting with several of his most dangerous associates. He sat dressed in a flawless charcoal-gray suit, a crisp white shirt, and a burgundy silk tie.
Two armed guards stood watch at the entrance.
And right in the middle of that room filled with powerful, ruthless men was my eight-month-old daughter.
Lily pulled herself up against Nathan’s leg, seized his expensive tie with both hands, and gave it a determined tug.
Every conversation stopped.
“Ba-ba!” she babbled cheerfully, patting his polished leather shoe as if she had just discovered her favorite person in the world.
Nathan slowly lifted his gaze toward me.
“Grace. Care to explain?”
His guards immediately reached toward their weapons.
I couldn't move.
My entire body shook beneath my cream-colored cardigan, and my mind raced through every terrible possibility.
I had only $480 in savings. If Nathan threw us out, that money might keep Lily and me alive for seventeen days at most.
“I’m terribly sorry, sir,” I managed to whisper.
His expression remained unreadable.
“How long has this been going on?”
I lowered my eyes.
“Ninety days.”
His jaw clenched.
“Take me to wherever you’ve been keeping her.”
Holding Lily tightly against my chest, I led him back to the laundry room.
With shaking hands, I moved a large laundry cart aside.
Behind it lay the entire world I had managed to build for my daughter.
A thin quilt. Two pillows. Three diapers. A packet of baby wipes. A feeding bottle. A handful of cheap plastic toys.
And Lily’s worn-out stuffed rabbit, the one possession she refused to sleep without.
Nathan stood staring at our miserable little hiding place, saying nothing.
Then Lily stretched out her arms toward him and offered him her beloved rabbit.
What happened next was something I never could have imagined.
Manhattan’s most feared mafia boss carefully took the battered toy from my daughter’s tiny hands.
His tattooed fingers closed gently around it.
Then his voice turned hard again.
“Who else knows about this?”
“Walter, the doorman. Denise from housekeeping. Mrs. Parker sometimes helps me warm Lily’s bottles. And the delivery driver brings us bananas.”
His expression grew darker with every name.
Ordinary people, most of whom struggled to make ends meet themselves, had risked helping me protect my little girl.
Meanwhile, I had spent three months living in terror of asking Nathan for even the smallest favor.
“Why didn’t you come to me?” he demanded.
“My childcare arrangements fell apart.”
“When?”
“Ninety days ago.”
He examined me closely, as though searching for something I was desperately trying to conceal.
“You’ve worked for me for three years, Grace. You’ve never been late. You’ve never complained. And you’ve never asked me for a single dollar.”
“I took care of it myself.”
His eyes shifted toward the laundry cart.
“By hiding your baby behind a pile of laundry?”
Something inside me finally snapped.
All the fear, exhaustion, and humiliation I had swallowed for three months suddenly burst through my defenses.
“I NEVER ASKED YOU TO FEEL SORRY FOR ME!”
His icy blue eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t say I felt sorry for you.”
Then he reached behind him and shut the laundry room door.
The sharp click echoed through the tiny space like the sound of a gun being cocked.
“Grace,” he said, his voice unexpectedly quiet, “what happened ninety days ago that convinced you hiding your daughter in my mansion was safer than telling me the truth?”
My eyes filled with tears.
I wanted to tell him everything.
I wanted to explain the photograph I kept hidden beside my bed.
I wanted to confess the truth I had carried with me since the day Lily was born.
Most of all, I wanted to stop living in fear that Nathan Blackwood would someday discover what I had kept from him for eight long months.
But when I tried to speak, my throat tightened, and not a single word came out.
Suddenly, Lily wriggled in my arms.
She raised one tiny finger and pointed straight at Nathan.
“Da...da!”
The color drained from my face.
Those were the same sounds she made every morning when I showed her the photograph hidden beside my bed.
“The picture...” I murmured before I could stop myself.
Nathan’s attention snapped toward me.
“What picture, Grace?”
I stumbled backward, clutching Lily closer.
He took a step forward.
“Whose photograph have you been showing my daughter?”
My lips trembled uncontrollably.
I couldn't bring myself to answer.
Then Lily leaned toward him, stretching both arms out with a bright, trusting smile. She looked at him as though he were someone she had known long before this moment.
“DADA!”
Nathan went completely still.
For several seconds, he simply stared at her.
His gaze traveled over Lily’s little face, lingering on her bright eyes as though he had suddenly noticed something he could no longer explain away.
Then, slowly, he turned his attention back to me.
For the first time in the three years I had worked beneath his roof, I saw an expression on Nathan Blackwood’s face that frightened me more than any threat or burst of anger ever could.
He recognized something.
His voice fell to a chilling whisper.
“Grace...”
I tightened my hold on Lily, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Nathan drew a slow breath, his eyes fixed on my daughter as if the foundations of everything he believed had just collapsed beneath him.
“Are you telling me this little girl is...?”
He stopped before finishing the sentence.
And in that terrible silence, I understood that the secret I had desperately buried for eight months was no longer something I could hide.
It was standing right between us, wearing a tiny smile and reaching for the one man I had spent months trying to keep away from her.
SAY “WOW” IF YOU’RE READY TO DISCOVER THE FULL STORY! 💖
