Betsy Brantner Smith said Saturday that investigators appear to be "back to square one" in the disappearance case of Nancy Guthrie after a chaotic night of law enforcement activity in Tucson ended with no one in custody.
Appearing on Newsmax’s "Saturday Report," the National Police Association spokesperson and former hostage negotiator said authorities executed a search warrant at a home and removed three individuals, "two males and an older female," but acknowledged the sheriff later confirmed "no one is in custody after last night’s activity."
"So we’ve had a search warrant served on that house.
They walked, we were told, three people out," Smith said.
"And so that’s progress because they did serve a search warrant."
However, she cautioned that the investigation has not yielded a confirmed suspect.
"We’re making progress, Rita, but again, we’re sort of back to square one," Smith said.
"We can speculate all we want, this is what Randy and I have been doing for days, but we can’t create the narrative ourselves."
Smith stressed that clearer communication from authorities is urgently needed.
"That’s why some sort of press conference needs to happen," she said, noting fear in the community.
"I live here, I have a lot of older friends, and they’re really horrified by this because all they can see is that masked guy coming to their front doorstep."
Randy Sutton, founder of The Wounded Blue and a 34-year law enforcement veteran, described the scene overnight as "mass confusion."
"Last night was mass confusion," Sutton said. "We really hoped that this was going to be the big break.
"We saw all this incredible activity at the residence, people taken out and detained, vehicle stop."
Instead, he said, rumors quickly spread amid limited official updates.
"Literally we heard the most bizarre things taking place, including people being shot, people committing suicide," Sutton said, attributing the chaos to "a lack of communication from the sheriff to the people."
While acknowledging the need for tactical discretion, Sutton said authorities must balance that with transparency.
"You have to temper that with good communications to the media and the people," he said.
"Right now, literally, we have not one idea of where they are in progress with this investigation."
Despite what appeared to be a major development late into the night, officials later confirmed no arrests had been made, leaving unanswered questions and a community still searching for clarity.
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