Sheriff on Nancy Guthrie Case ‘Spends More Time Pumping Iron than Behind his Desk’

The sheriff leading the investigation into missing Arizona grandmother Nancy Guthrie is taking fresh heat — not for a new break in the case, but for what critics say is a very different kind of daily grind.

Chris Nanos, the Pima County sheriff at the center of the search, has been accused of spending more time working out than working the case, after being spotted on multiple gym visits while the investigation appears to be losing momentum.

Nancy, 84, has not been seen since January 31, and authorities say she was taken from her Catalina Foothills home in the early hours of February 1. She is also the mother of Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie, a detail that initially pushed the case into the national spotlight.

Now, with the case stretching deeper into the seventh week, frustration around the sheriff’s handling of the investigation is boiling over.

According to reports cited by critics, Nanos was seen at his office only twice over a recent multi-day stretch, while he allegedly hit the gym four times in a five-day period. He was also described as leaving his gated-community home in a Corvette Stingray for roughly 90-minute workouts.

The optics have become explosive in Pima County, where a growing number of residents and critics have branded Nanos’ leadership “an embarrassment” — and a recall effort is reportedly gaining steam.

The heat isn’t only about appearances.

Nanos has been accused of early missteps in the investigation, including criticism that Nancy’s home was released as a crime scene too quickly. He’s also faced blowback over public messaging about the case, and questions about why certain resources weren’t deployed more aggressively — including cadaver dogs and a search plane.

There’s also criticism that investigators have leaned on a private DNA analysis company instead of coordinating more closely with the FBI, although federal agents have remained involved.

Nanos, for his part, has pushed back on the “cold case” talk. He told NBC that investigators are “definitely closer” to identifying who abducted Nancy.

Still, signs of urgency have been fading, at least publicly. While the sheriff has been criticized for being less visible at work, the FBI has reportedly been re-canvassing Nancy’s neighborhood and searching for additional surveillance footage — focusing on two specific dates prior to her disappearance.

And then there’s the detail that has reignited fear about what happened inside that home.

A forensic scientist, Amy Santoro, discussed the evidence on Megyn Kelly’s SiriusXM show and said blood spatter from the scene indicates Nancy may have been “bleeding pretty badly” when she was taken.

“What I can tell is that the blood is falling from a height, probably more than two feet,” Santoro said, explaining that while the exact source of the blood can’t be confirmed from that alone, the pattern suggests a fast and significant bleed rather than something minor or slow.

With no public arrest, no confirmed sightings, and mounting anger over leadership, the case is now stuck in a brutal place: a missing grandmother, a family still waiting, and a community watching every move — including the ones made on a treadmill.