Former West Fargo police chief has high profile role in Guthrie investigation in Arizona

Heith Janke

TUCSON, Ariz. (KFGO/KVRR) — There is a familiar name and face involved in investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie in Tucson, Arizona, the mother of NBC Today co-anchor Savanna Guthrie.

Heith Janke is the FBI Special Agent In Charge of the investigation. Janke is the former police chief in West Fargo.

He applied for the job in 2017 when he was an FBI supervisory agent in Kansas City and got hired. He resigned in 2020 after accepting an offer to be reinstated as an FBI agent.

Janke earned his undergraduate degree from NDSU and then earned a law degree from UND.

The Madison, South Dakota native has worked for the FBI on and off since 2005. He supervised more than 400 cases in the FBI’s Kansas City office.

Janke also worked for the FBI in San Antonio and Washington, D.C.

Guthrie was last seen on Sunday and Janke says a ransom note includes a demand for money with a deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday.

A $50,000 reward is now being offered for information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie and or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.