The FBI has been blocked from key evidence in the ongoing search for Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy, according to Reuters.
An unnamed law enforcement official told the outlet Thursday that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department sent physical evidence in the high-profile investigation to a private DNA laboratory in Florida instead of the FBI’s national crime lab in Quantico.
The evidence being analyzed reportedly includes a black glove found near Nancy’s Tucson, Ariz. home and DNA recovered from her house.
“It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute,” the official told Reuters. “It’s clear the fastest path to answers is leveraging federal resources and technology.”
“Anything less only prolongs the Guthrie family’s grief and the community’s wait for justice,” the official added.
The individual also claimed the county has spent about $200,000 to send evidence in the case to the Florida lab.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos denied the claims that he’s withholding evidence from the FBI.
“Not even close to the truth,” Nanos told NBC Tucson affiliate KVOA on Thursday.
The sheriff insisted that he’s been cooperating with the FBI throughout the investigation.
“Actually, the FBI just wanted to send the one or two they found by the crime scene, closest to it — mile, mile and a half … I said ‘No, why do that? Let’s just send them all to where all the DNA exist, all the profiles and the markers exist.’ They agreed, makes sense,” Nanos said.
Naos added that officials “don’t even know the true value of these gloves,” noting there were “quite a number of them.”
Nancy was last seen the night of Jan. 31 and was declared missing the next day.
Her residence was treated as a crime scene after a trail of blood was found outside her front door, leading the FBI to join investigators in the hunt for the 84-year-old.
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