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FBI Director Kash Patel has openly criticized local authorities over their management of the Nancy Guthrie missing person investigation, expressing frustration that his agency was initially excluded from the case.
Patel shared his concerns on the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast, which aired on Tuesday. He revealed that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department had sidelined the FBI for the crucial first four days following Guthrie’s disappearance, a period he emphasized was critical for gathering evidence.
“The FBI’s approach is straightforward—we offer our assistance and ask what’s needed,” Patel explained to Hannity. “However, for four days, we were not involved in the investigation, despite our readiness to contribute.”
According to Patel, the bureau was ready to act on important evidence promptly but wasn’t given the chance. Instead, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos decided to send DNA evidence to a private lab in Florida, bypassing the FBI’s lab in Quantico.
In his podcast appearance, FBI Director Kash Patel reiterated his criticisms regarding the handling of Nancy Guthrie’s case by local authorities. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
“I had a fixed-wing aircraft on the ground ready to move it immediately through the night,” he said. “And they said, ‘we’re sending it to Florida,’ and then, I don’t know, 60 days. They have jurisdiction, so it’s their call.”
He said the decision to send evidence to a private lab instead of the FBI’s facility delayed the potential for faster analysis.
“We would have analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information. Our lab’s just better than any other private lab out there, and we didn’t get a chance to do that,” Patel said. “So I understand everybody’s frustrations on that.”
Nancy Guthrie is the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)
He added: “The first 48 hours of anyone’s disappearance are the most critical.”
In response, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said that decisions regarding evidence processing were made on-scene based on operational needs.
“The laboratory utilized by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI Laboratory in Quantico have worked in close partnership from the outset and continue to collaborate in the analysis of evidence,” Sheriff Nanos said in a statement following Patel’s podcast interview.
“A member of the FBI Task Force was also notified and present at that scene working alongside our personnel. The FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family,” the statement added. “While the FBI Director was not on scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaks to the media in Catalina, Arizona, on Feb. 3, while answering questions about the search for Nancy Guthrie. ( Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
Once FBI agents were granted access, they worked with Google to pull cached data from a doorbell camera system to recover key footage that might have otherwise been lost.
Guthrie went missing from her Tucson, Arizona, home on Feb. 1. Investigators have followed up on dozens of leads, but she remains missing.
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