EXCLUSIVE-FBI blocked from key access to evidence in Nancy Guthrie abduction case, source says

Outsourcing forensic ‌analysis to a Florida contractor, effectively denying the access of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to crucial evidence in the case, is delaying the FBI ability to assist in the case, according to the official. A spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff ⁠did not immediately ​respond to Reuters’ request ⁠by email seeking comment.

An Arizona sheriff is blocking FBI access ​to key evidence in the investigation ​into the abduction of U.S. television journalist ‌Savannah ​Guthrie's mother, impairing its ability to assist in the probe, a U.S. law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told Reuters on Thursday.

The FBI ‌asked Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for physical evidence in the case, including a glove and DNA from the home of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, to be processed at the FBI's national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, ‌but Nanos has insisted instead on using a private lab in Florida, the official said. Outsourcing forensic ‌analysis to a Florida contractor, effectively denying the access of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to crucial evidence in the case, is delaying the FBI ability to assist in the case, according to the official.

A spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff ⁠did not immediately ​respond to Reuters' request ⁠by email seeking comment. The Pima County sheriff has primary jurisdiction over the case, and FBI assistance must be officially requested by ⁠the county, otherwise the FBI is legally precluded from taking part in the investigation. The official said the county has ​spent some $200,000 so far to send evidence in the Guthrie case to the Florida lab the ⁠county contracts with.

"It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute," the official told Reuters, citing unspecified "earlier ⁠setbacks" ​in the investigation. The official also criticized the sheriff for not seeking FBI assistance in the investigation sooner.

"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 said. Signs of friction between the ⁠FBI and sheriff's department emerged ⁠as the search for Nancy Guthrie stretched into its 12th day, as investigators intensified their search for clues in the presumed kidnapping for ransom.

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