If you thought the saga surrounding missing Tucson matriarch Nancy Guthrie couldn’t get messier, think again. The already embattled Pima County Sheriff’s Department just poured gasoline on its own PR fire—with a late-night social media post that left jaws on the floor and critics seeing red.
At 10:50 p.m. Thursday, the department chirped out a breezy: “Update: Nancy has been located.”
Sounds like good news, right? Not so fast. Turns out, the “Nancy” in question wasn’t Nancy Guthrie—the 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie whose disappearance has gripped national headlines for weeks. Instead, deputies were referring to a completely different missing person: 82-year-old Nancy Radakovich, who had been reported missing just hours earlier.
“Ok now you’re all just being a–holes on purpose,” one user fumed. “Thank god she was found but COME ON. Can you be anymore tone deaf???”
Another piled on: “What a miserable tone deaf out of touch police dept. WTF is wrong with you people? And the post is STILL up with NO EDITS. Morons.”
And a third asked the obvious question: “Are you kidding? So unprofessional! You couldn’t list the last name?”
Even by today’s rock-bottom standards for government social media competence, this one raised eyebrows. Some users went further, accusing the department of being “deliberate” or even “evil.” Others wondered if the agency was outright trolling the public.
The Guthrie case has been a slow-motion train wreck for weeks, with Chris Nanos—the county sheriff—taking heat from all sides. Critics say his department dragged its feet early on, failed to coordinate effectively with federal authorities, and made questionable calls that may have cost valuable time.
Meanwhile, federal investigators—including the Federal Bureau of Investigation—have reportedly obtained DNA evidence tied to the case, including hair samples from Guthrie’s home. But even that effort hasn’t escaped controversy.
According to law enforcement sources, the FBI wanted key physical evidence—like a glove recovered from the home—sent to its elite lab in Quantico, Virginia. Instead, Nanos allegedly insisted on using a private lab in Florida, a decision critics say could slow things down.
One source noted, “It’s just the FBI developed this method and can do it so much better without destroying the evidence… they are not as fast, and in this case, time matters.”
Another federal official went further, accusing the sheriff of effectively blocking access to evidence—warning it “risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute.”
The department, for its part, insists everything is above board. In a follow-up post, it stated: “PCSD has worked with the FBI since the beginning of the Guthrie investigation. This is not new information… DNA analysis remains ongoing.”
But that reassurance rings hollow for many watching this unfold—especially given the department’s growing list of controversies.
For a family still waiting for answers—and a public watching every move—the sheriff’s office might want to start with the basics: clarity, competence, and maybe, just maybe, a little common sense before hitting “post.”
