Former Pima County SWAT commander Bob Krygier weighs in on why the vehicle belonging to Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni may still be in the possession of investigators.

Nancy Guthrie smiling.

 

Former Pima County SWAT commander Bob Krygier explains the possible hold up in returning Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni’s vehicle.

NBC/TODAY

 

Well over one week ago, the watching world learned a new development in the Nancy Guthrie case: The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it was in the process of returning Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni’s car, a blue Honda CR-V, that was previously impounded.

However, when Parade reached out to the sheriff’s department on Wednesday, March 11, a spokesperson said the car had not yet been returned and that the process was still ongoing, with no exact timeline for when that might happen.

In an exclusive interview with Parade, Bob Krygier, a former commander with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team, explained the reasons why the car has yet to be returned.

“It probably boils down to something as simple as they gave the original scene back too soon so investigators want to make sure they cover every possibility. Investigators need to maintain the integrity of any evidence that might be on the car or in the car,” Krygier says.

What Would Authorities Want With Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni’s Car?

One question some people have been wondering is why the blue Honda CR-V was taken into police custody.

According to the Pima County Sheriff Department’s timeline of events, Nancy, 84, took an Uber to her daughter’s home on Saturday, Jan. 31 for dinner. Afterwards, around 9:45 p.m. local time, Cioni drove Nancy home, and made sure she was “safely inside” before leaving. What happened in the hours that followed is still unclear. Authorities believe that at least one person entered Nancy’s home and abducted her.

Since the blue Honda CR-V was one of the last places that Nancy was seen, it makes sense that is was taken in for processing.

“I am sure they are collecting all sorts of scientific evidence like fingerprints and swabbing areas for DNA. There’s also electronic evidence that can be collected via all of the sensors and computers on modern vehicles. Things from location, to speed, to time of day can all be cross-referenced based on the data recovered from the vehicle,” Krygier says.

He went on to explain that there’s a lot of evidence that’s collected on the “electronic side” which could “cause problems with the vehicle,” which could be another hold up.

“It’s reasonable that if the sheriffs department and FBI took the car and did things to it that might’ve caused unnecessary damage and/or wear and tear, those things need to be fixed prior to returning. There is a reasonableness standard in law-enforcement that has to be maintained, and it’s also the right thing to do,” he adds.

Krygier points out that a car that’s impounded in connection to an open investigation could also be held “until the case has some closure.” However, PCSD has openly said that the car will be returned, so that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

 

“There are just a lot of questions as to why it may have stayed in custody of the investigators for so long,” he admits. “Many of those answers are very reasonable in an investigation like this. The investigator’s job is to create a case that is as rock solid as possible and leaves as little doubt in a jury’s mind at the end of the day. Maintaining chain of custody on important items is part of that.”

On the March 10 episode of Nancy Grace’s Crime Stories podcast, investigative reporter Dave Mack said that the vehicle was at a mechanic shop in Tucson.