Sheriff blasts critics, defends officers as Nancy Guthrie investigation drags into third week

Over two weeks have passed; Nancy Guthrie, an 84-year-old woman, is still missing, and her presumed captor is also at large.

Given the record-high attention to the disappearance case, scrutiny is following law enforcement officials over their investigation into her matter.

For example, Andrew Gould, a former Arizona Supreme Court Justice, slammed Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who is leading Nancy's recovery.

"I think he has made some mistakes in this case that have impeded the investigation," he told Fox News.

Now, the sheriff, under siege from mounting criticism, decided to fire back at his critics, calling them "haters."

He first describes how officers under him are working nearly round-the-clock on Nancy's disappearance. "My officers were there for almost 20 hours, and they processed their scene, got it done, and brought in all the evidence," adding, "Then the FBI came and did their thing."

Then, he responds to his critics, telling the Daily Mail, "People out there can get pretty ugly and mean and nasty and not have the facts." 

Nanos also doubles down on the reporters to report the updates responsibly given the attention the case has. "I tell my journalists, you guys need to be a little more responsible... because that's just really nasty stuff."

In addition, the sheriff shares he is in touch with Nancy's family, who are deeply concerned over her missing. 

"I stay in touch with them, mostly Savannah. I've not been in touch with Tommaso or Annie too much," he shares, noting, "I have talked to them a little bit, but I know the investigators are in touch with them. But I've really told people, this is a lot of stress."

Nancy has been missing since Feb. 1.