Five months after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home, the volunteer organization that deploys K-9 units and drones to disaster zones across the country says Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos refused its help, and never explained why.

Brian Trascher, vice president of the United Cajun Navy, told NewsNation's Katie Pavlich Tonight on Monday that his organization submitted a detailed search plan to the sheriff's office and offered to bring in partner groups already positioned in the Southwest. The answer, he said, was a flat no.

The rejection fits a pattern that has dogged the Guthrie investigation from its earliest days: a local sheriff's department that, by multiple accounts, has walled off outside assistance while an elderly woman remains missing and her family pleads publicly for answers. As Entertainment Weekly reported, the United Cajun Navy's offer included K-9 teams, drone teams, and coordination with partner organizations, resources the nonprofit has deployed in hurricanes, floods, and missing-persons operations across the Gulf South and beyond.

A 'blanket declaration' against outside help

Trascher described the sheriff's response as a "blanket declaration" that the department would not accept outside operational support. He told NewsNation the refusal was especially frustrating because the United Cajun Navy believed the search should extend toward the border region south of Tucson.

"We really felt strongly that there was a good chance that she could have ended up somewhere along the border."

The Pima County Sheriff's Department confirmed the rejection in its own terms. A spokesperson told the New York Post that the department "notified" the group "that at this time, the Pima County Sheriff's Department will not be utilizing external operational support," adding that officials were "grateful for their offer to assist."

Gratitude, however, is not the same as cooperation. And the sheriff's office offered no public explanation for why it declined experienced search-and-rescue volunteers while the case remained unsolved.

Trascher did not hold back about what the delay may cost. He told NewsNation that early intervention would have given the best chance of finding Nancy alive.

"I think early on when we were closer to the abduction date, it would have been a lot more beneficial. At this point, I hate to say it, but you'd just be looking for remains, which would be valuable for the family, to be able to have that closure. But for some reason, they just decided they were not going to take the outside help. So we just kind of went back to what we're doing."

The word "abduction" is Trascher's characterization. Authorities have declared Nancy's Tucson home a crime scene, but no arrest has been made, and the sheriff's department has not publicly confirmed the circumstances of her disappearance.

The FBI kept at arm's length

The United Cajun Navy is not the only organization that says it was shut out. FBI Director Kash Patel has stated publicly that his agency was kept away from the crime scene until four days after Nancy was reported missing in early February. He told NewsNation in June that the FBI "showed up immediately" but was not initially able to offer assistance.

Patel said he personally visited the FBI's Tucson field office, where 150 agents and analysts were working the case. He also noted that the sheriff's department chose a private laboratory for DNA testing rather than accept FBI resources.

"And that's their choice. We continue to offer assistance. I even visited our Tucson office where we had 150 agents and analysts working on the Nancy Guthrie case to provide intelligence... Same thing with the DNA. We offered our assistance to go test the DNA. And it's up to them. They chose to use a private laboratory."

The sheriff's department pushed back on Patel's account in a May 5 statement, saying that Sheriff Nanos "responded to the scene the night of the incident, providing immediate local leadership and oversight" and that a member of the FBI Task Force "was also notified and present at that scene working alongside our personnel." The department said the FBI was informed "promptly" and that "coordination with the Bureau began without delay."

Those two accounts, the FBI director's and the sheriff's, have never been reconciled. The public dispute between Nanos and Patel over the FBI's role has become one of the most visible fault lines in a case already defined by unanswered questions.

A pattern of resistance

The refusal to accept help from the United Cajun Navy did not occur in isolation. The New York Post noted that the sheriff's office also relinquished the Guthrie home as a crime scene only days after Nancy's disappearance, a decision that raised questions about evidence preservation.

Earlier reporting revealed that a Pima County assessor said the sheriff scolded her for sharing a tip about Nancy Guthrie directly with the FBI, suggesting the department was actively discouraging others from coordinating with federal investigators.

The accumulation of these decisions, declining volunteer searchers, choosing a private lab over the FBI, allegedly blocking tip-sharing, has fueled growing pressure on Nanos. Pima County supervisors considered removing the sheriff but ultimately forwarded perjury allegations to the Arizona attorney general instead.

Nanos has maintained that his department's handling of the case has been appropriate. But the sheriff's office did not immediately respond when Entertainment Weekly requested comment on the United Cajun Navy's claims.

A family's anguish

Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31 after being dropped off at her Tucson home that evening. She failed to appear at a friend's house for a remote church service the following day. Her home was declared a crime scene in early February.

Her daughter, NBC Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, has made repeated public appeals for information. On a June 23 broadcast, she addressed viewers directly.

"We are in agony, and we cannot be at peace. No matter how much I try to come out here every day and smile and find that joy, and I will, I promise I will, this is a moment to tell you that we need your help. We're begging for help, and I'm not going to miss that opportunity."

The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to Nancy's recovery. The FBI has separately posted a $100,000 reward.

Josh Gill, an incident commander with the United Cajun Navy, captured the frustration felt by those watching from the outside. He told Fox News, "To see Savannah Guthrie in tears, breaking down, I can only imagine if that was my family member."

Fox News also reported that the Pima County Sheriff's Office initially claimed it was unaware of the United Cajun Navy's offer to assist, a statement that sits uncomfortably alongside the department's later acknowledgment that it had formally declined the group's help.

Five months and counting

The search for Nancy Guthrie has now stretched into its fifth month. No arrests have been made. No suspect has been publicly identified. The key facts still don't add up, and the sheriff's office has offered no detailed accounting of why it has repeatedly turned away organizations with the expertise and willingness to help.

Brian Trascher said the United Cajun Navy eventually moved on after being rebuffed. His organization has search-and-rescue operations across the country. They offered what they had. The sheriff said no.

The question that hangs over Pima County is not whether Sheriff Nanos had the legal authority to decline outside help. He did. The question is whether an 84-year-old woman's best chance at being found was sacrificed on the altar of jurisdictional pride, and whether anyone in a position of power will ever be held to account for that choice.