Plea from 911 official in Nancy Guthrie disappearance: Don't call with thoughts and opinions

The 911 communications center fielding tips in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance has been swamped by calls

The 911 communications center fielding tips in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance has been swamped by calls.

But many of those calls are not from people seeking to provide potentially actionable leads, said Cecila Ochoa, dispatch manager for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. They’re from people who want to share theories, premonitions and opinions, she said.

“If you’re thinking about calling in a tip or a lead or if you have specific information regarding the case, I ask that you take a moment and think — is this tip viable, is it credible?” she said. “What we don’t want are the opinions and the thoughts and kind of wondering, are investigators doing a, b, c and d.”

In an update Wednesday, the department said that it does not track how many Guthrie-related calls the center has received since her family reported her missing Feb. 1. But its overall call volume has soared.

In the first 18 days of February 2025, the department said, there were 20,808 calls. In the same time period this year, there were 31,608. More than 23,000 of those calls were administrative, including calls to the non-emergency line, the department said. The rest were 911 calls.