Cadaver Dogs Being Pulled Off Nancy Guthrie Case Hints Sheriff Has 'Given Up Searching' for Savannah's Missing Mom, Ex-Cop Claims

The decision to yank cadaver dogs from the search for Nancy Guthrie has left a retired investigator baffled, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Michael Gould, a former K-9 officer, suggested there was only two options for why Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos would have stopped using the dogs as authorities continue to look for Savannah Guthrie's missing mom.

"Cadaver dogs, [or] human remains detection dogs, they are the primary technology available to humans to detect odor of people missing," he told Fox News Digital on Tuesday, March 17. "They're considered in court a scientific instrument."

While the dogs – which were borrowed from a Border Patrol office nearby – were used previously in the search, earlier this month, it was announced that they'd been pulled.

"There's only two assumptions, two implications there," Gould explained. "A, she's still alive, that's one implication, or B, they've given up searching for her."

"I stretch my head to think, without him guiding us, giving us answers to this, I can't think of any other rationale why you would say we're putting cadaver dogs on hold," he continued. "It defies logic."

Nancy, 84, was last seen on January 31 after joining one of her daughters, Annie Guthrie, and her son-in-law Tommaso Cioni at their home for dinner. Later that night, Cioni dropped her off at her own property in Catalina Foothills just before 10 p.m.

She was reported missing the next day after her friends and family were unable to reach her.

Her keys, cell phone and wallet were all found inside of her house, and spatters of blood were discovered on her porch and driveway indicating that she may have been abducted.

Days later, authorities released footage captured by Nancy's doorbell camera of a masked man wearing black gloves, a backpack and a holster that appeared to have a weapon in it.

Despite thousands of tips pouring in over the past six weeks, the suspect has yet to be identified and Nancy is still missing.

Sheriff Nanos has been called out repeatedly for his alleged mishandling of the case.

Lisa Ribacoff-Mooney, a polygraph expert and the owner of Interpoint Investigative Services, exclusively told Radar that the many missteps would be "written into the textbooks being used by many police academies" on "what not to do when it comes to investigative work."

More specifically, she claimed that failing to secure the crime scene for longer before allowing the family back into the home could have contaminated evidence. Not only could this affect the immediate investigation, but it could also be an issue in a future trial as defense attorneys could "challenge" the handling of evidence.

Additionally, Ribacoff-Mooney questioned why it took so long for law enforcement to obtain the Nest camera footage of the potential kidnapper.

"This should have been done right away due to device settings and data being overwritten," she added.

She further suggested that if she had been leading the case, she would have been "looking at pharmaceutical records" to see if anyone locally had received a new prescription, or multiple, that matched Nancy's prescribed meds.