• #36,581
From what my friend from Tucson told me, the Sheriff did not have overwhelming public support, even from his own deputies. She said that there was a big exodus of officers when Nanos took over because many lacked confidence in his abilities to run the department. And she told me that a lot of deputies were demoted or laid off by the Sheriff, and young inexperienced new hires took over those jobs.

So some of the departments had a lack of experienced staff and it affected the ability to handle big cases, apparently. She said the public was frustrated because things like helicopter patrols and such were lacking and not always in operation.


  • No Confidence Vote: The Pima County Deputy's Organization (representing deputies) issued a "no confidence" vote in early 2024, citing, among other issues, low employee retention and poor morale.

  • Loss of Veteran Staff and Experience: A deputy recently claimed that the most experienced investigator in the homicide unit had only three years of experience, alleging that Nanos' leadership has pushed veteran staff out. Another report noted the transfer of the department's most experienced Search and Rescue deputy to patrol, leaving a critical unit understaffed.

It's an elected, political office. The sheriffs position was achieved through public vote.

Do they not understand that it is the Sheriff’s prerogative to assemble a supportive team which those are obviously not.

Many in LE are entrenched I get it they need a job but to criticize other sworn officers on the job because they have less time is hollow.

These young folks can be brilliant computer whizzes, newly trained in the newest technology and procedures and in my community at least are recently out of active service with an energy and focus beyond the old guys.

More than anything it’s not the time to be back biting the Sheriff, imo.


All imo
 
  • #36,582
I have posted this before, but I can't work out why Nancy's front door mat hasn't been picked up and bagged

It seems the Sheriff, FBI, and Forensics have forgotten about her outdoor mat, and they have all walked on it and probably wiped their shoes on it before they entered inside.

A front door mat is a critical "trap" for evidence, often serving as the primary site for trace evidence transfer between a suspect and a crime scene

The mat can contain DNA from saliva, blood, or sweat, especially if the suspect was injured or left behind biological material.

Finding specific, unusual fibers or soil on the mat that match a suspect's shoes or clothing can place them at the scene.

There might have been another offender standing on there as well, plus possibly more of Nancy's blood.




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Thanks for the great photos. What I find interesting about them is that it can be determined exactly where the offender stood on that welcome mat, based on the small B/W image. Would there be anything to find there? I have no idea, but to leave the mat and not even keep the crime scene tape up just shows carelessness on the part of PCSD.

Unfortunately, with all of their internal conflicts, they are the lead in this investigation.
 
  • #36,583
I have posted this before, but I can't work out why Nancy's front door mat hasn't been picked up and bagged

It seems the Sheriff, FBI, and Forensics have forgotten about her outdoor mat, and they have all walked on it and probably wiped their shoes on it before they entered inside.

A front door mat is a critical "trap" for evidence, often serving as the primary site for trace evidence transfer between a suspect and a crime scene

The mat can contain DNA from saliva, blood, or sweat, especially if the suspect was injured or left behind biological material.

Finding specific, unusual fibers or soil on the mat that match a suspect's shoes or clothing can place them at the scene.

There might have been another offender standing on there as well, plus possibly more of Nancy's blood.




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I totally agree. That mat should have been collected. IMO, it appears to me like the perp took an injured NG out the front door, but stopped for a time period to remove the doorbell, thus the heavy concentration of blood drops around the doorway. That indicates to me 1 perpetrator who maintained control of NG the entire time, even while removing the doorbell and an alive and mobile NG at the time as well. In terms of evidence. If he smashed the doorbell off with his hands or even if he was using a tool to pry it off, there is room for an injury and blood evidence from the perp on or near that mat. Additionally, there could have been a imprint of his shoe on the mat that could tell us his shoe size or type.
 
  • #36,584
Thanks for the great photos. What I find interesting about them is that it can be determined exactly where the offender stood on that welcome mat, based on the small B/W image. Would there be anything to find there? I have no idea, but to leave the mat and not even keep the crime scene tape up just shows carelessness on the part of PCSD.

Unfortunately, with all of their internal conflicts, they are the lead in this investigation.

I think we have to be a bit realistic here. In most cases, police run forensics, then hand the property back. In all the murder and missing persons cases I have followed, crime scenes are not maintained as sealed off crime scenes for any length of time. It's simply not practical, and often people live in those places.

Also, I've seen in multiple cases that forensics have returned to a scene and recovered evidence. It happens. But I don't think we can blame LE for this. Mostly scenes are photographed and sampled. They don't usually take away the contents unless it's something quite specific.

IMO
 
  • #36,585
Thanks for the great photos. What I find interesting about them is that it can be determined exactly where the offender stood on that welcome mat, based on the small B/W image. Would there be anything to find there? I have no idea, but to leave the mat and not even keep the crime scene tape up just shows carelessness on the part of PCSD.

Unfortunately, with all of their internal conflicts, they are the lead in this investigation.

Having a bite light in your mouth could also produce some saliva drops from the offender while he's standing there on the mat,

as well as picking up fauna, dirt, and maybe a type of shoe print

Which could help to learn if he were walking cross-country or a nicely clean sole getting out of a vehicle
 
  • #36,586
I think we have to be a bit realistic here. In most cases, police run forensics, then hand the property back. In all the murder and missing persons cases I have followed, crime scenes are not maintained as sealed off crime scenes for any length of time. It's simply not practical, and often people live in those places.

Also, I've seen in multiple cases that forensics have returned to a scene and recovered evidence. It happens. But I don't think we can blame LE for this. Mostly scenes are photographed and sampled. They don't usually take away the contents unless it's something quite specific.

IMO
One of the key issues in this case, as another poster pointed out is the fact that the sheriff demoted or transferred all the experienced investigators in his department to other jobs, such as patrol. I don't recall the reason but there was conflict. These investigators were replaced with newer less experienced investigators.

The crime scene tape came down the next day if I recall, and the media were allowed to walk all over the scene unabated. Even up to the front door.
That contaminated the blood spatter, the door mat and the entire area with their own cast off DNA. Consequently, there was no going back for more samples, analysis or evidence seeking.

I think this is a common problem in departments that do not see a lot of high profile crime and investigation and they get in over their head very quickly.

Edited to add: As someone pointed out earlier, it appears the offender may have come from the right side...toward the driveway, but there is dirt, and gravel there as far as I can tell...which tells me there was likely footprints. I do not recall reading anything about searching for footprints in that area, and with the rapid release of the crime scene...surely they would have been walked over in short order.
 
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  • #36,587
The problem,as I see it, is he is doing a sloppy job bordering on incompetence.

I am not looking at it politically---I have no idea what his politics are. I'm looking solely at his actions.

I liked him at first for giving lots of pressers with lots of info. But we soon learned that much of the timeline he was detailing was just off the cuff, not accurate at all...and later when people began asking about it, he was complaining that people were 'hanging on his every word' and holding him accountable for those details. It annoyed him apparently. :rolleyes:

Then he released the crime scene to the family unusually fast. It surprised people. But it wasn't that surprising when the yellow tape went up a couple of more times for retesting and further investigation. Problem is, any further evidence from tests done at that time would likely be rejected by the court because the scene was not secured. Sloppy decision making, imo

I haven't seen any criticism of the hard working officers or deputies. Maybe I've missed it?

The public criticism seems to be focused upon the inconsistencies in Sheriff Nano's statements---i.e.-- 'no one has been cleared'---'the family has been cooperative and been now been cleared'--- to 'the family was cleared within the first days of the investigation...'

He trips over his own conflicting statements and it is frustrating ....imo



I haven't seen a lot of successes so far.

Just now he is saying that he and only he is making any decisions at all in this investigation. He is not that experienced with these kinds of high profile cases. I would think he would be happy to have help from other agencies.

I appreciate your time responding.

The negative appraisals of leadership encompasses his staff as they work at his behalf as his employees.

Further the comments quoted in articles on this thread are of those who say directly he has assembled a staff not of their liking.

The Sheriff has denied, in quoted words in linked articles on this thread, that he is not working with the FBI; he says they are working together.

Disgruntled unknown sources aren’t anything but gossip meant to undermine the SO.

All imo
 
  • #36,588
One of the key issues in this case, as another poster pointed out is the fact that the sheriff demoted or transferred all the experienced investigators in his department to other jobs, such as patrol. I don't recall the reason but there was conflict. These investigators were replaced with newer less experienced investigators.

The crime scene tape came down the next day if I recall, and the media were allowed to walk all over the scene unabated. Even up to the front door.
That contaminated the blood spatter, the door mat and the entire area with their own cast off DNA. Consequently, there was no going back for more samples, analysis or evidence seeking.

I think this is a common problem in departments that do not see a lot of high profile crime and investigation and they get in over their head very quickly.

Reminiscent of the "Jon Benet Ramsey" case?
 
  • #36,589
  • #36,590
Reminiscent of the "Jon Benet Ramsey" case?
Yep, Steve Thomas quit in disgust and Lou Smit brought in out of retirement and created the whole basement window narrative.
 
  • #36,591
DNA tests for ancestry or genealogy are actually banned in France.
Yes I don't see matches from people living in France.
 
  • #36,592
I haven't lost interest, there's just not much more to say at this point.

I am still holding out my sincerest hope that somehow Nancy is okay and will be reunited with her loved ones. Please let this be the case for this dear woman.
 
  • #36,593
  • #36,594
Respectfully, 40,000 to 50,000 leads have come in as of 3 days ago. We don't know what they are and how many are credible. But there are leads. Let's hope one or more pans out soon.

I'll say it again: This case is far from cold.

No match in database for DNA evidence on gloves found 2 miles from home

What is a cold case? What Is a Cold Case and How Are They Solved?
As I have seen in lots of cold cases, years later, it is seen in a file that someone DID call in a name or substantial tip that wasnt followed. 40 to 50 thousand tips called in as stated above. Which ones were followed? Which ones were just entered in some data dump sheet somewhere? What's the criteria for following one tip vs another? Tired of the NANOS bashing. He might not be the most articulate, movie star face of Pima county sheriff, people want but he isnt working in a vacuum. Reams of pages criticizing him is not productive, IMO.

They cant follow 1000s of leads akin to saying HEY, Lantana man looks like my brother in law's neighbor Joe in Idaho. Who decides? Who rejects? IMO, the clue has already been called in and brushed aside . JMO
 
  • #36,595
3 weeks in and LE appear to be no nearer to finding NG or who took her, there has been very little actual factual evidence released, all we know is a masked intruder is seen on a camera at her front door, he is dressed in a way to conceal his identity, at some point another camera or sensor is triggered, we do not know whether it is inside or outside, or where it is situated on her property, we do not know which door he went in, or how he got in, we do know at some point NG was moved away from her phone so that her pacemaker was not sending signals to the monitor, we do know according to LE the scene caused enough concern that it was considered a crime scene and homicide was called in, at some point NG was outside her front door on her porch bleeding, at some point she moved/was moved down her front path to the steps where the black railing is, the blood does not continue to the road, the trail stops halfway down front path from what I see, there had to have been some type of vehicle to transport her away, we have zero information about vehicle, there is DNA from somebody unknown to NG in the home, how important/relevant that is we do not know until LE tell us,

I only hope LE have more evidence than they have released,
 
  • #36,596
Sorry to ask again, but I didn't see a response with a yes or no...

Are we allowed to discuss NG's (public) property records and has that already been brought up here? TIA
 
  • #36,597
Sorry to ask again, but I didn't see a response with a yes or no...

Are we allowed to discuss NG's (public) property records and has that already been brought up here? TIA
i don't see why not if its in the public domain
 
  • #36,598
It's an elected, political office. The sheriffs position was achieved through public vote.

Do they not understand that it is the Sheriff’s prerogative to assemble a supportive team which those are obviously not.

Many in LE are entrenched I get it they need a job but to criticize other sworn officers on the job because they have less time is hollow.

These young folks can be brilliant computer whizzes, newly trained in the newest technology and procedures and in my community at least are recently out of active service with an energy and focus beyond the old guys.

More than anything it’s not the time to be back biting the Sheriff, imo.


All imo
As long as he gets the job done. He has made many mistakes, said things, then walked back. He is not experienced in these kind of cases, and I wish he would welcome assistance. Politics should be put aside, and focus put on solving this crime. People who live live there are going to be frustrated, and want to blame 'someone', so those at the top will take the heat. Normal behavior under stress.
 
  • #36,599
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  • #36,600
Sorry to ask again, but I didn't see a response with a yes or no...

Are we allowed to discuss NG's (public) property records and has that already been brought up here? TIA
The public PIMA county GIS property data has been posted here, so I would think discussion of that is allowed.
 

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