Arizona County Assessor Scolded by Sheriff for Sending Nancy Guthrie Tip to FBI

An Arizona county assessor says the sheriff leading the search for Nancy Guthrie scolded her after her office sent a tip about the case to the FBI.

Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to have been abducted from her home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood on Feb. 1.

Suzanne Droubie, the Pima County assessor responsible for property records, told the Arizona Republic that the sheriff took her to task after her tech staff provided data to the FBI.

"It was inferred that we were creating a lot of additional work for the sheriff's department, due to us providing this information to the FBI, and then them having the responsibility to follow up on all of those leads that were provided," she told the paper.

Droubie was out of office Tuesday and could not be reached by Fox News Digital. She did not detail the tip but said the FBI requested the information, which her staff supplied. She then had a tense talk with the sheriff.

"It seemed like he was very stressed, very frustrated," Droubie told the paper. "I wouldn't categorize it as yelling, per se, as much as kind of scolding and expressing frustration with all of the leads he was receiving, their obligation to follow up on them, and that my office was actually being more harm than good by providing more leads that they just had to follow up with."

A Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesperson said she could not comment. "We are not authorized to provide any information or comment regarding these claims," she wrote in an email.

Last week, Sheriff Chris Nanos and FBI Director Kash Patel exchanged criticisms over their handling of the case. Tension arose early when the FBI wanted to send DNA evidence to its Quantico lab, but the sheriff chose a contracted lab in Florida. Eleven weeks later, that lab forwarded the sample to the FBI for advanced testing.

More than 14 weeks have passed since Guthrie's suspected abduction. Separately, the Pima County Board of Supervisors plans to address unrelated perjury allegations against Nanos at Tuesday night's meeting. Supervisors Dr. Matt Heinz and Steve Christy told Fox News Digital last week they intend to move to vacate the sheriff's office under a rarely used state law.

"I will make, second and/or support any motion or efforts to vacate," Christy said Tuesday morning, 100 days after Guthrie's disappearance.