The sheriff leading the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s mysterious disappearance has acknowledged the interest in her son-in-law Tommaso Cioni as a potential suspect.
However, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos also said that he and his team don’t want to put a “mark on somebody who could be completely innocent.”
“If he is guilty, if he’s the one who did it, and we’re able to prove that, then at that time jump on it, but don’t come out of nowhere with this,” Nanos told the DailyMail on Sunday regarding Annie Guthrie’s husband.
“I understand the pundits are out there. They’re gonna say, well, he’s the last one to see her alive. We understand that stuff,” Nanos continued. “But, my goodness, you’re putting a mark on somebody who could be completely innocent. And more important than that, he’s family.”
Cioni was the subject of early speculation connected to the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mom’s, largely because he was the last known person to see the 84-year-old before she was reported missing on Feb. 1.
Nancy had met Annie and Cioni for dinner and games on the night of Jan. 31, and the latter reportedly dropped her off at her Tucson, Ariz., home around 9:48 p.m. that Saturday night.
Although Nanos reiterated that “nobody” has been ruled out as a potential suspect, he was bothered by “nasty stuff” being speculated about Cioni.
“People out there can get pretty ugly and mean and nasty and not have the facts,” the sheriff said. “I tell my journalists, you guys need to be a little more responsible … because that’s just really nasty stuff.”
As the hunt for Nancy enters its third week, no suspects or persons of interest have been identified in connection with the mystifying case.
Savannah, who is off the “Today” show for the “foreseeable future” amid the desperate hunt for her mother, released a new plea to her mom’s suspected kidnappers on Sunday.
“I wanted to say to whoever has her, or who knows where she is, that, it’s never too late,” the “Today” anchor, 54, said in the Instagram video. “And you’re not lost, or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing.”
“And we are here, and we believe,” she continued two weeks after her mom was first reported missing. “And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being. And it’s never too late.”
Sunday also saw a major breakthrough in the ongoing case when an FBI spokesperson confirmed that a glove found during the search for Nancy matched one worn by a suspect in surveillance footage recovered and released last week.
Investigators, however, are still waiting for final lab results before uploading the DNA profile to a national database to identify the individual, Fox News reported.
FBI Phoenix has also determined that the suspect is an approximately 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10 male with an average build, and the bureau has since doubled the reward for information leading to Nancy’s return from $50,000 to $100,000.
Most recently, the investigators searching for Nancy revealed that they believe the clothing and face mask worn by the suspect were purchased at Walmart, per CBS News.
Walmart reportedly provided authorities with records of all purchases for the backpack the suspect wore in the surveillance footage, and pulled data on purchases over the past several months from both in and beyond the Tucson area.
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