A headline about Nancy Guthrie blew Ashleigh Banfield away. Banfield hadn’t talked about that case in a while. Day 130 came and went. Things were quiet. But the headline gave the well-known investigative journalist a wake-up call.
A Tip Arrived
On Drop Dead Serious, late Friday night, she spoke about a tip. It had specifics. Real details. And a group in Mexico acted on it right away.
That group is called “Buscando Corazones Nogales.” They’re mothers who search for missing people. They reportedly found 25 unmarked graves in one area before. So they know what they’re doing.
Ashleigh explained that they got a tip on a Wednesday. It suggested that Nancy Guthrie was buried in an unmarked grave near the border. The Mariposa area, west of Nogales.
An Organized Search
They went looking. But interestingly, they didn’t sally forth on a lone mission. Instead, the Sonora State Commission for the Search of Missing Persons helped them.
So did local Mexican officials. They provided security. “Muscle,” basically.
Unfortunately, they didn’t find Nancy Guthrie. At least, not yet. But they said they would keep searching.
Noting The Absurdity
Now here is where it gets absurd. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department are the ones leading the case in Arizona. They found out from the news like everyone else.
On Thursday, they put out a statement via X. NewsNation reported on it.
The department said:
We are aware of reports regarding an anonymous tip related to the Nancy Guthrie investigation that was provided to a group in Mexico. At this time, we have not been contacted by Mexican authorities.
Banfield read that line on her podcast. She pointed out what was missing. No “but we reached out.” Just “they didn’t call us.”
The statement went on: “The investigation remains active and ongoing, and we will continue to follow up on any credible information.”
A Disconnect?
Banfield asked a simple question. A tip that gets Mexican officials and security personnel into the field would seem, at the very least, worthy of investigation. So why wasn’t it treated as a credible lead?
She called the disconnect “bizarre.” Mexico treated it like a real lead. Meanwhile, Pima County seemingly acted like it didn’t exist.
Banfield contrasted the responses, noting that one side sent search teams into the field while the other issued a statement on X.
Little Cooperation
Banfield reminded true crimeviewers that American authorities “never seemed too hot” on searching south of the border.
They allegedly never sent a contingent. And they seldom seem to be allied with Mexican officials. Until this week, anyway.
And even now, they’re apparently not sending anyone down there. No “representative.” No “cadaver dogs.” Nothing.
She said, and this is a paraphrase, that “someone does not call you, you call them.” Especially “if it’s important” to them. “You got nothing else going on.”
Frustration Rises
Notably, what got Banfield steaming about the Nancy Guthrie tip is that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department didn’t say they reached out. They just said they hadn’t been contacted.
Banfield argued that it appeared a group of mothers in Mexico were doing the legwork on the tip while American authorities remained on the sidelines.
The Mexican government backed them up. And the American task force? The FBI? The 150 agents FBI Director Kash Patel told NewsNation were on the case?
They waited by the phone.
Previous Mexico News
It’s also not the first time news about Mexico turned up in the headlines. Within three weeks of Nancy’s disappearance from her Tucson home, we covered the story about retired FBI agent, Jeff Cortez.
At the time, he weighed in on the possibility Nancy Guthrie ended up across the border. He told Brian Entin that the FBI were in direct communication with Mexican authorities.
Border crossing would not have been very difficult. But that theory didn’t seem to go anywhere.
Then in May, we took another look at it. Retired lieutenant Dave Smith suggested that professional competition between the FBI and Sheriff Nanos might have seen the Mexico possibilities shuffled to one side.
What Is Known
The only positives that true crime followers and reporters do know, is that Nancy went missing from her Arizona home on February 1.
Authorities believe someone abducted her in the early morning hours. An armed, masked suspect showed up on a home camera. No suspect has been named.
No significant breakthroughs have happened in weeks.
Physical evidence, including DNA, is still being examined. But down in Mexico, they’re digging. Up in Arizona, they are posting statements.
Perhaps Pima County will send someone now. Maybe they will send dogs. Banfield said she thought “it’d be a good idea.” But she wasn’t holding her breath.
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