A retired K-9 officer is raising questions about the public handling of the Nancy Guthrie case, arguing that the decision not to deploy cadaver dogs “defies logic” as the investigation stretches into its seventh week with few answers.
“We’re just chasing shadows,” said Michael Gould, a former K-9 investigator with the NYPD and Nassau County Police Department.
Still, he told Fox News Digital that it’s very likely investigators are following up on leads behind closed doors and may be further along than observers think.
“Cadaver dogs, [or] human remains detection dogs, they are the primary technology available to humans to detect odor of people missing,” he said Tuesday. “They’re considered in court a scientific instrument. So why the sheriff chose not to use them, I don’t understand.“
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Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to have been abducted from her home in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood against her will in the early hours of Feb. 1, according to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, like many local law enforcement agencies around the country, does not have its own cadaver dogs. They borrowed K-9s from the local Border Patrol office earlier in the case but are no longer deploying them as part of the investigation.
“There’s only two assumptions, two implications there, that A, she’s still alive, that’s one implication, or B, they’ve given up searching for her,” Gould said.
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He called on the sheriff to either deploy them in a pattern search or explain why that’s not happening.
“I stretch my head to think, without him guiding us, giving us answers to this, I can’t think of any other rationale why you would say we’re putting cadaver dogs on hold,” Gould said. “It defies logic.”
Nanos, for his part, told Fox News Digital earlier that if he deemed they were needed, he’d send them back out. He declined to discuss specific leads or evidence.
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“Anything is possible,” he said when asked if he believed Guthrie is still alive.
However, with the investigation dragging on for more than 40 days, Gould said the case does not fit the profile of an abduction.
“After six weeks, without proof of life, without anything else, the family has come to terms with the fact, I think, that this is a homicide investigation, and it’s got to be treated like that,” he said.
In a heartbreaking Instagram video posted last month, Savannah Guthrie thanked millions of supporters for their prayers and acknowledged that her mother may no longer be alive.
The elder Guthrie’s pacemaker last synced with her Apple devices around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 1. There was a light trail of blood outside of her front door, which authorities later said belonged to her. And nothing significant had been stolen.
Authorities issued a silver alert, describing Guthrie as a vulnerable adult whose life depends on prescription medication and who has mobility issues that could have prevented her from traveling far on foot.
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WATCH: Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell cam records masked suspect
Her Nest doorbell camera was missing, but the FBI and Google were able to recover video of a masked suspect at her doorstep. He visited her home at least once prior, according to federal law enforcement sources — on Jan. 11.
He is described as standing around 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall with a medium build. He remained unidentified as of Tuesday morning.
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Two men were briefly detained as separate warrants were being served in connection with the case. Both were released without charges. The most recent was on Feb. 13 after the FBI towed his Range Rover from a Culver’s parking lot and raided his mother’s home, which is about 2 miles from Guthrie’s.
“It was considered a kidnapping so they were investigating as a life and death situation — that’s why they executed a lot of search warrants that people questioned the legitimacy of the search warrant,” Gould said. “But if you’re thinking of the fact that somebody might still be alive and being held hostage, it’s different than a homicide investigation.”
Since then, updates have slowed to a trickle. But a task force of Pima County homicide detectives and FBI agents remains on the investigation.
“If there’s tips coming in, it’s not a cold case,” Gould said. “I feel confident that this is gonna be a solve, but not on our timeline.”
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Tips could come in from someone in jail, from a relative of the suspect, a romantic partner or even an accomplice, he said.
“Very rarely is there only one person that knows what happened,” he told Fox News Digital.
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And although a mixed DNA sample is still undergoing analysis in a private lab in Florida, he predicts that genetics will play a key role in cracking the case.
“It’s gonna be resolved,” he said. “And people are going to be surprised by the outcome of it.”
There is a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information that leads to Guthrie’s recovery.
The family is asking anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.
