A volunteer search organization says it offered to help find Nancy Guthrie months ago - and was turned down.
United Cajun Navy Vice President Brian Trascher revealed this week that his organization compiled search information for the Nancy Guthrie case but never released a report because the group was "turned down" by the Pima County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating her disappearance. Trascher said there was a blanket decision by the sheriff's office not to accept any outside help, despite the organization having significant search and rescue resources and partner groups in the area willing to assist. "We have a lot of good resources we could have brought to the area," Trascher said. "But for some reason, they just decided they were not going to take the outside help."
The revelation comes as United Cajun Navy has drawn renewed attention for its role in another high-profile case - the group recently released a 20-plus-page report compiling information gathered in the search for 18-year-old Nolan Wells, who died after disappearing during a Fourth of July boating trip off Horn Island, Mississippi.
Not everyone believes more outside involvement is the answer. Crime scene investigator Sheryl McCollum, founder of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, cautioned that public speculation can cloud active investigations, saying she disagreed with the Cajun Navy's decision to release its Wells report publicly.
This isn't the first time law enforcement's approach to outside help in the Guthrie case has been questioned. Retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer raised similar concerns earlier this year, asking on social media why Sheriff Chris Nanos "keeps turning away proven very capable civilian search experts like EquuSearch and the real Cajun Navy," while also noting the decision could mean investigators are closer to an arrest than the public realizes.
More than six months into the search, the Guthrie family continues to lean on faith and community support as they await answers - while questions about how the search itself has been conducted continue to surface alongside them.
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