A retired Pima County sheriff’s deputy has said that he believes investigators in the Nancy Guthrie case already have suspects’ names. Robbie Mayer, a former detective with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department who solved Tucson’s infamous ‘Prime Time Rapist’ case in 1986, opened up about the Guthrie case, as reported by News 4 Tucson.
The Prime Time Rapist was a man named Brian Larriva, who was presumed responsible for breaking into Tucson homes to burglarize them. He was accused of sexually assaulting female residents from 1983 to 1986.
When police surrounded Larriva’s house, he took his own life. Much like in the Larriva case, investigators reportedly have tens of thousands of leads in Nancy’s case.
“We ended up with more than 4,000 leads,” Mayer recalled of the Prime Time Rapist. “One of the detectives had Larriva’s name as a lead, but he hadn’t gotten to it yet because he had so many leads in front of that.”
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He said of Nancy’s case, “I believe the suspect’s names are in those 50,000. The question is if they can recognize it when they see it. Being in a case like this is like being in a field with rocks and what you’re looking for is under one rock. You just have to keep turning.”
Mayer theorized that more than one person was involved in Nancy’s case, as part of a theft group that was active in Phoenix two years ago and targeted elderly people with money. However, he also acknowledged that a lot remains unknown.
“This case is so unique. Most of the time we try and find patterns. We can’t in this case,” he said. “These guys came prepared not to leave hair or DNA. Look at how that guy was clothed. They turned off their cell phones.”
“This is a very high-caliber investigation, and I think the FBI is gonna crack the case,” he added.
Latest on the Nancy Guthrie case
No suspects have been identified even months after Nancy’s disappearance. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has reportedly said while providing a DNA analysis on the case that information on whose blood was found on the missing woman’s property could soon be revealed. Nanos told People that the Forensics Department, particularly those working on the DNA analysis, are getting closer to identifying whose blood was found.
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“I know we have DNA that is unknown, who the contributor or depositor is, but I think they’re getting closer to finding out who that was,” he said.
Nanos also pushed back on claims that the Guthrie case has become a “cold case.” He suggested that it could only become a cold case after the labs tell them that they could not ID the blood evidence.
