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Nancy Guthrie: Why Annie Guthrie, Tommaso Cioni were cleared before case was closed; ex-FBI agent explains
Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer explained how cops managed to clear the names of Annie and Tommaso Cioni before the Nancy Guthrie case got closed.
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie, remains missing. Her family reported the case on February 1 and authorities believe Guthrie was taken from her home near Tucson, Arizona, the night before.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI are on the case, but while law enforcement officials have not yet named a suspect, sheriff Chris Nanos cleared the name of the Guthrie family members. In a statement he noted that none of them were suspects in the case. This took the spotlight off Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni, who had been subject to immense speculation since news of the octogenarian's disappearance broke.
Guthrie had had dinner with her daughter, Annie, the night before. Cioni, her son-in-law, and Annie's husband reportedly dropped Guthrie home after, and was one of the last people to see her before she was taken. They reportedly live close to Guthrie's Catalina Foothills house. Former NewsNation journalist Ashleigh Banfield had reported that Cioni might be a suspect, which had triggered an interest in the couple. However, it has become amply clear since then that law enforcement is not treating them as suspects, but interest in the duo has still continued.
Now, former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer explained how cops managed to clear the names of Annie and Tommaso Cioni before the Nancy Guthrie case got closed. The video was originally posted on her YouTube channel on March 1, and shared on X on her profile amid growing interest.
“Many have been asking: ‘How can LE clear someone before the case has been concluded?’ Below is how we do it,” she wrote, sharing the link to her video.
How did cops clear Tommaso Cioni, Annie Guthrie?
Coffindaffer, in her video, explained that firstly Cioni did not look anything like the masked suspect seen in the doorbell video footage at Guthrie's house. This was to address the many speculations from unverified profiles online that had sought to highlight similarities between Cioni's physical appearance and what little could be seen of the masked suspect.
Later in the video, the former FBI special agent explained that authorities would have definitely matched digital evidence related to Cioni and Annie to ensure that what they were saying lined up. Coffindaffer added that it was highly likely that both had been subjected to polygraph tests as well before they were cleared.
She explained that only because their evidence tracked, law enforcement would have taken the call to announce that they were cleared as suspects, even before the close of the case. Annie and Cioni's car was seized by law enforcement as well, but this was then returned to the couple. They were also seen in public for the first time since Guthrie's disappearance, as they visited a memorial for the missing family member.
At the same time, Coffindaffer noted that while such cases reach their conclusions more quickly, the Guthrie case is taking longer.
However, the ex-law enforcement official noted that this might be due to the massive number of leads both the sheriff's department and FBI have to track down, and added that most of law enforcement involved ‘hard work’, a little ‘luck’, and ‘common sense’.
