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TUCSON, Ariz. — Shortly before a man once detained in the Nancy Guthrie investigation submitted a $3.25 million notice of claim against authorities, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos defended the evidence that led investigators to him, saying a judge signed off on the probable cause supporting the warrant and that investigators haven’t definitively ruled anyone out.
“From what we have in front of us, the evidence, the DNA, the whatever, the videos. Yeah, I think you can eliminate them,” Nanos told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview Thursday. “And so that elimination happens. But it’s like any [criminal case], because you’re eliminated doesn’t mean you didn’t do it. It doesn’t mean that we can’t get more information.”
Speaking before news of the looming lawsuit became public, he defended the search warrants served earlier in the case, even though they didn’t lead to arrests.
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“We had information that made us believe that there’s a potential that Nancy’s there, or there’s a potential the bad guy’s there,” he explained. “That evidence is presented to the judge that says, ‘Yep, go get him.’”
Guthrie is the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie and is dependent on heart medication, putting pressure on law enforcement early in the investigation to try and find her as quickly as possible.
“We go in, oh, now we look at it and go, ‘all right, she’s not here.’ That was evident,” the sheriff added. “That was No. 1. And we’ve talked to these individuals, and they’ve given us an alibi, if you will, or whatever, to say, ‘Hey. We feel comfortable in letting them go and not charging them.’”
The first publicly identified person detained was Rio Rico delivery driver Carlos Palazuelos, 60 miles south of Tucson. He has not been charged with a crime. Days later, police also detained and released a man named Luke Daly, a felon who was facing unrelated drug charges at the time. Neither has been arrested or charged in connection with Guthrie’s abduction.
“They’re ruled for now, but what if somebody comes up and says, ‘Hey, this guy said such and such, such and so that he did that — and it’s one of the guys we looked [at] back in the past?” Nanos said.
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And that doesn’t just apply to the men who were detained and released. New evidence could put anyone back in the investigation’s focus, Nanos said.
“I think I early on said, ‘Look, there is no suspects. The family is not suspects. They’re not,” he told Fox News Digital. “Now, does that mean that ends it forever? No. What happens if next week somebody calls and says, ‘Hey, a family member did this, and here’s how I know it’? You know that always opens a door.”
Palazuelos recently served a notice of claim against the sheriff’s department seeking $3.25 million over his ordeal.
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In the filing, a precursor to a lawsuit, he and his in-laws allege that he was targeted without probable cause, arrested without being given a reason and held for hours before police released him without charges while damaging the home where they all live during a search warrant execution.
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The filing, first reported by the local ABC 15 Arizona, alleges that the warrant that named Palazuelos was obtained with “false or baseless evidence.” It also points to a tweet from the sheriff’s department that stated a “suspect” had been detained.
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The warrant itself has not been made public, and Palazuelos is not currently considered a suspect in the case.
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Daly is not involved in Palazuelos’ legal action.
No suspect has been publicly identified in connection with Guthrie’s Feb. 1 abduction, but the sheriff said investigators are still sorting through piles of evidence.
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“We’re not even close to these leads being dried up,” he said. “We’ll continue to work them.”
And while Nanos said he’s optimistic that the case will be resolved as analysis of DNA and video evidence continues, the sheriff is still urging anyone with information to come forward.
“We believe, just as the family does, just as Savannah does, somebody knows something,” he said. “We need that person to call us.”
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The family is urging anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.
An anonymous reward can be claimed by calling 520-88-CRIME with information that leads to an arrest.
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