The homicide unit chief was replaced before Savannah Guthrie’s mother disappeared
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FIRST ON FOX: The Pima County Sheriff’s Department worked closely with a reality TV crew to provide footage and access to deputies — including video of arrests and use-of-force incidents that raised internal concerns — according to emails obtained by Fox News Digital.
The emails also reveal that the head of the homicide and cold case division was changed a year before the alleged abduction of Nancy Guthrie from her home in Catalina Foothills, Tucson. Guthrie, 84, the mother of Savannah Guthrie, a “Today” producer, is believed to have been kidnapped months after the show finished filming.
A June 18, 2025 email from show producer Amanda Riley indicates she requested contact with sergeants who operate several units. In a reply two days later, Captain Robert Koumal informed him that “the department has experienced a reshuffle of assignments since last year,” and pointed out that the leader of every team he had asked about had changed.
PROCESSING THE PUZZLE IN NANCY GUTHRIE’S CASE COULD TAKE MONTHS BUT COULD BE SOON, EXPERT SAYS.
Pima County deputies check a flyer taped to a mailbox outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 23, 2026. Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of fellow “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to have been abducted from her home in the early hours of Feb. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
More than 220 pages of emails between PCSD officials and the show’s producers show exchanges behind the scenes in the creation of the reality show featuring the sheriff’s department that would become a household name as Guthrie’s case played out. His whereabouts were unknown as of Friday.
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Other incidents involve the use of force and other ethical concerns, including discussions of whether to provide a body camera when deputies are swearing in the game. In one incident, authorities appeared concerned about an altercation when the deputy involved did not begin filming until the fight with the suspect was over.
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The emails were shared between members of the PCSD, its public information office, and producers from Twenty Twenty Productions, who worked on the A&E show, “Desert Law.” The series focuses on law enforcement in Pima County’s Sonoran Desert.
Pima County Sheriff’s deputies stand outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson, Ariz., after the 84-year-old woman went missing on Feb. 12, 2026. Nancy Guthrie is the mother of journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie. (Rebecca Noble/Reuters)
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While the TV team continued the series of PCSD patrols and surveillance, the producers of the show were generally interested in the bodycam and other videos obtained by the police. They asked for a public information officer to drive the marked SUV to take behind-the-scenes footage, known as “B-roll.” Koumal agreed in a July 1 email, suggesting the deputy “take our new Tahoe.”
The producers also requested information from the infamous local case, the 1996 murder of Gary Triano.
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Pima County sheriff and FBI agents check a gray Range Rover in a Culver’s parking lot in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 14, 2026, as part of the investigation into the Nancy Guthrie case. (Ty ONeil/AP)
Triano died in the Catalina Foothills bombing after his wife, Pamela Phillips, hired a car bomb to plant a bomb in her Lincoln Town Car. It exploded while he was driving back from the golf course. Friends and family were waiting to surprise him with a birthday party.
He was convicted in 2014 and is serving a life sentence, as was the bomber, Ron Young, who was arrested after a 2005 episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”
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Koumal, the captain who oversees the sheriff’s public services and records management division, also sent a note urging deputies to immediately reach out to the program’s coordinators “in case of any incidents.”
A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department stands next to his truck overlooking the home of Nancy Guthrie in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 9, 2026. (Ty ONeil/AP)
Producer Tom Olney praised the partnership, writing, “thank you as always for all of your continued support, which is amazing and the best I’ve ever received from any legal department!”
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He also repeatedly expressed concern about the wait time for body camera footage and promised to discuss ways to expedite and prioritize videos to meet exhibition deadlines. In some cases, he requested that his new applications be changed before the old ones, a request that the officials accepted at least once.
Savannah Guthrie smiles with her mother Nancy Guthrie in the TODAY studio on June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC)
It is not clear from the emails provided whether any of the television crew’s requests took precedence over those from the public.
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It would be unusual for record keepers to allow certain applicants to skip the line. Typically, agencies process public records requests on a first-come, first-served basis.
Emails sent between July and December 2025, before the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, who disappeared on February 1 from her home in the Catalina Foothills, remain unsolved. PCSD is a leading institution in that regard.
