Nancy Guthrie Search Hits Day 60 As Police Finally Vet Contractors

The investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie hit a sad 60-day milestone. The true crime case still hasn’t been solved, but apparently, the task force takes a new direction. Read on to find out more.

An Update By Banfield

On Wednesday this week, Ashleigh Banfield returned to her Drop Dead Serious podcast. During it, she revealed that investigators work on “running down contractors and subcontractors and doing the interviews.” Obviously, that makes sense because they had access to Nancy Guthrie’s home.  

According to Banfield’s insiders, the process of vetting everyone who stepped foot on the property seems like a logistical nightmare. While Nancy’s home might have been clean and tidy, the paperwork trail by various home service workers seems messy.

And that’s the word of a source, who said to Banfield that the current state of the search for contractors is “a mess.” Actually, the idea of contractors getting involved in crimes isn’t anything new. So, it seems a bit irritating that the task force only now checks out the possibilities.

Retired Detective Weighs In

During her podcast, Ashleigh brought in retired Detective Clint Cole. As she explained, he knows this “rodeo” all too well. Very well qualified to talk about the Nancy Guthrie case, Ashleigh reminded her true crime followers that he co-led the Nancy Woodrum case.

Notably, as Banfield explained, the two cases seem remarkably “similar.” Cole explained that in the Nancy Woodrum case, the suspect was “a painter” who seemed like a “quiet little passive” guy that everyone liked.

However, problems come with contractors and subcontractors because sometimes the operations seem “unorganized.” Plus, often, they work on a cash basis. So, there’s not always a full paper trail to identify folks who might have been working on the property.

Interviewing Plenty of People

For now, allegedly, the investigation involves police officers looking at plumbers, electricians, and even pool cleaners. Or, as Banfield mentioned, possibly “TV repair” people. There’s a wide range of services that Nancy might have used given her apparent infirmities.

Casting as wide a net as possible, the police now work on vetting anyone who worked in neighboring homes in the Catalina Hills neighborhood. However, it’s not easy, as a cash-based payment might not involve a person giving out their full name or any form of identification.

@true.crime.examined

One alleged theory in the Nancy Guthrie case is that her abductor used her flower pots to aid in the exit. #TrueCrimeExamined #TrueCrime #NancyGuthrie #SavannahGuthrie #PimaCounty

♬ Grim – Perfect, so dystopian

Crossing Paths With The Suspect

During the update, Cole mentioned something that seems very possible. With so much canvassing of the area, it’s quite possible that a police officer already spoke with a suspect and didn’t know it.

Actually, that idea also plays out on social media where true crime followers love to discuss cases. Notably, Cole explained that when he worked on the Woodrum case, he interviewed the killer months before he was caught. At the time, the murderer simply acted like a “helpful witness.”

Viewers React

In the comments section, many people who follow the case of Nancy Guthrie can easily imagine the big effort of trying to go through every interview of everyone ever spoken to. However, many folks seemed shocked. After all, judging by the update, the task force only now decided to follow up on contractors.

One person wrote, “60 days later and the sheriff department in that county of Tucson is now focusing on contractors? This is a travesty.”

Here are a few more responses from the discussion:

• I believe this is the direction the investigation should have taken over a month ago. But it won’t be easy to locate all of them now.
• Crews on contracting jobs change at the drop of a hat. They could be long gone by now.
• Excuse me??? They are JUST starting to do this??? OMG!!! WTF???
• My contractor right now says he has done work at Nancy’s house before. She had work done all the time, and always paid cash. As of last week, he said no one has contacted him. We shall see.
• It’s appalling they are just now getting to contractors who worked around Nancy’s house. That should’ve been done much earlier around the same time they were investigating family. Just shameful the appalling way this case has been handled.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree that interviewing contractors should have been done long ago? Let us know in the comments below, and remember to come back here often for all your true crime news and updates. Plus, remember to follow our crime channel on TikTok.