Frustration is mounting about the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance after police admitted they still don’t have any leads eight days after she went missing. 

The 84-year-old mother of TV anchor Savannah Guthrie vanished from her home on February 1, and detectives believe she was abducted from the $1 million property. 

Officials were seen scouring manholes beside the house in Tucson, Arizona on Sunday morning, and police issued a statement around midday saying they still had no idea who kidnapped the elderly woman – prompting a fresh flood of fury. 

‘The Nancy Guthrie investigation is ongoing,’ the Pima County Sheriff’s Office wrote on X.

‘Follow-up continues at multiple locations. No suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles have been identified. No scheduled press briefings. 

‘If any significant developments occur in the case, a press conference will be called.’ 

‘This “investigation” is a joke,’ one X user wrote in response to the statement. ‘If we can’t solve a crime like this within days why have any hope in LE (law enforcement)’. 

Another person described the statement as ‘lots of words for “we know absolutely nothing”‘, while a third quipped: ‘You really know how to instill confidence’. 

‘At this point the Paw Patrol is probably more efficient,’ a fourth X user jibed, referencing an animated children’s movie about a police force comprised of dogs. 

‘Why even bother to issue this statement?’ another person said. ‘That poor woman’. 

Pima County Sheriff’s Office issued another statement later on Sunday saying they would ‘maintain a presence’ at Nancy Guthrie’s home for ‘security’ reasons.   

The office has also come under fire after the lead sheriff, Chris Nanos, was spotted at a college basketball game on Saturday afternoon. 

Nanos, whose face had been plastered across national media for the past six days, was seen in a khaki hoody top amid spectators watching number one ranked Arizona Wildcats defeat Oklahoma State 47-84 at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson.

But the decision to take time out for the game has not gone down well with deputies swamped with chasing leads as the clock ticks unmercifully for the mother of NBC Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie.

‘It’s tone deaf while Nancy is still out there’, one senior source inside the sheriff’s department told the Daily Mail.

‘Everybody deserves, of course, their time off. It’s been a very stressful, hard, long week.

‘But given how hard detectives and search and rescue are working, including all the overtime they’re doing, it’s a poor decision and it doesn’t look good for the agency.

‘It just seems very odd given how emotional he was throughout the week during interviews, saying he believes she’s still alive and how desperate he is to find her.’

The FBI is assisting the sheriff’s office in the investigation. So far, bloodstains found at the crime scene have been determined to be Guthrie’s. 

Police said the elderly woman has limited mobility and requires daily medication. 

Several ransom notes are being investigated by police, each demanding payment in cryptocurrency. 

Savannah Guthrie said she has agreed to pay ransom in exchange for her mother’s safe return in a heart-wrenching video message shared Saturday night. 

The TV host held hands with her sister Annie and brother Camron, saying that they had received communications from her mother’s abductors. 

‘We received your message, and we understand,’ Savannah said. ‘We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. 

‘This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.’

Savannah did not offer details over the communication her family received nor the demands that she agreed to pay.

Authorities have not verified the legitimacy of the ransom notes, however Savannah’s latest video appears to indicate her family had been contacted directly by those claiming to be holding Nancy for ransom.

The ‘ransom letters’ demanded millions in Bitcoin in exchange for Nancy’s return, and set a final deadline of Monday for payment to be made ‘or else’, TMZ said.

Savannah and her siblings previously shared a video demanding ‘proof of life’ of their mother after news broke that ransom demands had been made to TMZ and KOLD.

It is unclear if any proof of life has been made, but Savannah’s latest video appears to indicate her family believe they have been contacted by her legitimate abductors.

The release of the video comes as the search for Nancy escalated on Friday night, with forensics teams returning to her home for a third time to seize new evidence – including a car from her garage and a camera from her roof.