TUCSON, Ariz. — A high-profile forensic genealogy company slammed the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for sending critical evidence in the Nancy Guthrie case to a private lab in Florida instead of directly to the FBI.

“This is so devastating,” said Othram co-founder Kristen Mittelman. “DNA Labs International is a traditional forensic lab that consumes evidence to make an STR [short tandem repeat] profile, so I don’t understand why it didn’t go to Quantico, since they can do this better and faster than anyone, and they have a pipeline to flip it immediately to inferring identity with us.”

Othram is a Texas-based forensic genetic genealogy lab that was instrumental in helping authorities identify infamous murderer Bryan Kohberger, among other high-profile criminals.

According to a report by KOLD, DNA Labs International, located in Deerfield Beach, Florida, is where Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has sent key evidence to be examined. State records confirm that Arizona has a contract with the company for “biological laboratory services” that began in 2022 and runs through March.

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Mittelman stressed that time is “critical” in every case, especially Guthrie’s.

She also said that Othram worked the case of formerly unidentified murder victim Evelyn Colon after DNA Labs International couldn’t crack the case. Colon, previously known as Beth Doe, was murdered in New Jersey in 1976. She was identified in 2021.

A federal law enforcement source told Fox News Digital that the evidence will need to be retested by the FBI anyway.

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“It’s just the FBI developed this method and can do it so much better without destroying the evidence,” the source said. “I’ve seen so many cases go to Florida and be consumed. Also, they are not as fast, and in this case, time matters.”

On Thursday, a federal law enforcement source accused Nanos of blocking the FBI from obtaining the evidence, first reported by Reuters and confirmed by Fox News Digital.

“It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute,” the official told Reuters, citing unspecified “earlier setbacks” in the investigation. The official also criticized Nanos for not requesting help from the FBI earlier in the case.

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Nanos denied those allegations, telling KOLD that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department simply wants all evidence to be examined at the same lab.

The sheriff reiterated that message in an interview with Fox News’ Matt Finn on Friday. He told Finn that investigators have been using the Florida lab from the start of the investigation and that Guthrie family DNA, as well as other DNA, had already been sent there. 

“Why split your evidence to two different labs that could create a conflict, but more importantly, it adds that additional step,” he said. “This lab has this piece, this lab has that piece. Now they’ve got to converge those two pieces to make an elimination or identification. No, just send it to one lab, let’s go. They’re both great labs. They both have great equipment and smart people.”

“We trust the FBI’s crime lab, we’ve used them before, but in this case we started with that lab,” he said. It’s just that simple.”

Nanos also denied the claim that his office delayed contacting the FBI for assistance in the case, saying he has no reason not to partner with the federal law enforcement agency, that it would be “absolutely crazy” not to do so, and that his department and the FBI are working well together. He said he called the FBI on Monday, Feb.2, the first business day after the investigation began. 

He also denied releasing the crime scene at Guthrie’s home too soon. 

Earlier this week, the FBI released doorbell camera footage of a suspect, recorded at Guthrie’s home shortly before authorities believe she was abducted or kidnapped.

The suspect is described as a male between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-10, with an average build. He was wearing an Ozark Trail Hiker Pack.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office did not return a comment request.

DNA Labs International declined to comment.

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Nancy Guthrie disappearance timeline: 
Jan. 31, 2026
• Between 9:30–9:45 p.m. – Family drops Nancy off at home
• 9:50 p.m. – Garage door closes (per authorities)
Feb. 1, 2026
• 1:47 a.m. – Doorbell camera disconnects
• 2:12 a.m. – Security camera detects motion
• 2:28 a.m. – Pacemaker disconnects from phone application
• 11:56 a.m. – Family checks on Nancy after she misses weekly church livestream gathering
• 12:03 p.m. — 911 called
• 12:15 p.m. — Sheriff’s deputies arrive at home

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

The Travis County Medical Examiner has determined Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera died by suicide after falling from an Austin high-rise in November, a ruling that aligns with police findings but is being forcefully challenged by the teen’s family, whose attorney called the conclusion “flawed.”

Aguilera, 19, died after falling from a high-rise apartment after a Texas A&M vs. University of Texas football tailgate at about 1 a.m. Nov. 29, according to police.

“Austin Police (APD) is aware that the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office has concluded its final autopsy report regarding the death of Brianna Aguilera and ruled it a suicide,” authorities wrote in a statement to affiliate FOX 7 Austin. “The investigation remains open, and until it is closed, Austin Police will not be providing any additional information.”

Attorneys representing Aguilera’s family previously claimed she was killed despite the discovery of an alleged suicide note and suicidal texts to her friends on the night of her death.

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After the release of the medical examiner’s findings, Tony Buzbee, the attorney for Aguilera’s family, issued a statement criticizing the investigation.

“Since Brianna Aguilera tragically lost her life, there has been an overwhelming amount of love and support for Brianna and her family. There has also been an overwhelming amount of criticism concerning the authorities for their handling of the investigation surrounding her death,” Buzbee wrote in the statement, obtained by FOX 7. 

“Specifically, the Austin Police Department, without a legitimate investigation, quickly concluded that Brianna’s death was a suicide. This effort was far from what’s expected of law enforcement.

“As an example, the Austin Police Department and those involved in the investigation failed to review phone records of Brianna and those immediately connected to her or those at the scene,” he continued. 

“They failed to interview all witnesses, failed to take statements under oath, failed to put together an accurate timeline, failed to secure video footage, and, most importantly, failed to follow through and interview witnesses, even the ones that we identified for them.”

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Buzbee described the medical examiner’s ruling as “expected,” alleging the finding was “made in large part based on the shoddy work of the Austin Police Department.”

“To be clear. The Austin Police Department’s ‘investigation’ fell woefully short,” he wrote. “Brianna deserved better. Her family deserves better.”

The Buzbee Law Firm filed a lawsuit Jan. 5 related to Aguilera’s death.

Attorneys said the legal action will allow the family to put witnesses under oath, subpoena records and compel cooperation of potential witnesses. 

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“We will do what the police and other authorities have failed to do,” Buzbee wrote. “We will perform a complete and thorough investigation and get the answers that Brianna and her family deserves. The medical examiner’s flawed conclusion changes nothing.”

An Arizona family is calling for change and demanding answers after a 27-year-old man died hours after he was wrongfully discharged from a hospital and dumped on a sidewalk during a hot summer day, according to a wrongful death lawsuit. 

Seth and Gayle Lachica, the parents of Kaelen Lachica, allege staffers at Abrazo Health Arrowhead put their son in an Uber and had him dropped off outside a local homeless shelter in Phoenix despite his deteriorating condition. 

“What they did is abandonment. I mean, they absolutely killed my son,” Seth Lachica told Fox News Digital. 

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Kaelan Lachica suffered from anorexia for nearly a decade but his condition had improved in the year proceeding his hospitalization in August 2025, his father said. 

Lachica was hospitalized at one center before being transferred to Abrazo Health Arrowhead after having a possible stroke and losing weight. 

Days prior to his discharge, his health declined to the point he was “delusional” and “immobile,” the lawsuit states. On Aug. 13, 2025, Kaelan lashed out and struck a nurse and asked to leave the hospital “against medical advice,” the family’s attorney, Richard Lyons, told Fox News Digital. 

The lawsuit alleges that Kaelan was put in a wheelchair and into an Uber, which the hospital paid for, and was taken to a homeless shelter in downtown Phoenix. He couldn’t remember his address, Lyons said. 

However, Kaelan’s address was on his medical records and was easily accessible to hospital staff prior to his discharge, the complaint states. 

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“I mean they literally got him in a wheelchair and pushed him outside and discharged him,” Lyons said. “And I don’t mean medically discharged, I mean they evicted him from the hospital because they did not want him as a patient anymore.”

Kaelen was spotted collapsed on a sidewalk by a police officer, his family said. Temperatures reportedly reached triple digits that day. 

“How in the world are you gonna discharge a man who is very ill and just dump him on a sidewalk in the middle of August?” Lyons said. “If he, you know, whether he can make medical decisions for himself or not, people die out here in the heat all the time.”

The hospital called Seth Lachica in the early morning hours while he was asleep to notify him that his son was being discharged. After circling the area where Kaelan was dropped off, he found emergency responders performing CPR on his son in the street. 

“I told them not to release him. They f—— Ubered him here,” Lachica told responding officers. “They Ubered him here this morning and just f—— dropped him off to die.”

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Kaelan was transported to another hospital, where he died. The lawsuit alleges that Abrazo staff displayed a conscious disregard for Kaelen’s physical safety and well-being.

“One would not expect a bouncer at a bar to dump an incapacitated patron onto a hot Phoenix sidewalk in the middle of August — let alone the staff at a hospital,” the lawsuit states. 

“Yet that is exactly what the Abrazo staff did to Kaelen. This conduct goes beyond mere negligence, or medical malpractice — their decision to have their very sick young patient dumped onto the sidewalk — in Phoenix, in August — directly caused Kaelen’s death.”

Abrazo Health declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached by Fox News Digital.