In the midst of a heated investigation, Arizona Sheriff Chris Nanos has expressed strong disapproval of the FBI’s involvement critiques, following accusations from FBI Director Kash Patel regarding the agency being sidelined. Patel asserted that the police hindered the FBI’s entry into the initial investigative process concerning the Nancy Guthrie case.
Sheriff Nanos defended his department on Tuesday during an appearance on “The Sharpe Exchange,” confronting the claims made by Patel. He emphasized that the criticisms were unfounded and labeled the director as “misinformed” about the sequence of events.
Previously, in May, Patel had alleged that the FBI was excluded from participating in the investigation’s first four days—an assertion that Nanos strongly disputed.
“The FBI was present right from day one, alongside my deputies,” Nanos stated emphatically while speaking with Gen-Z commentator Wyatt Sharpe, targeting the FBI director’s claims.
Nanos further clarified, “It seems he’s not fully informed. Once our search and rescue team identified the situation, they immediately reached out to our detectives to begin the investigative process,” reinforcing the coordinated efforts of his officers.
“They immediately contacted the Violent Crime Task Force and their representatives were there,” he continued.
“They processed that scene early the next day. The concept or the representation that the FBI was held off and boy, we wish we’d have been there early on, that’s not just even accurate. They were there [on] day one just as my team was.”
Nanos — who has come under fire for his handling of the high-profile case — went on to speculate that Patel may have been given outdated or filtered information about the case.
“He certainly doesn’t owe me an explanation or a question or anything. He’s the director of the FBI,” he said. “But when the information is put out there that’s not accurate, I think it hurts the case.”
Patel had berated local law enforcement over the processing of evidence discovered early in the case.
“What we, the FBI, do is say, ‘Hey, we’re here to help. What do you need?” Patel told Fox News star Sean Hannity on the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast.
“What can we do? And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation.”
For instance, evidence was sent to a private lab in Florida rather than the FBI’s facility in Quantico, Virginia– a move Patel believes cost investigators time.
“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.
“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.
“The first 48 hours of anyone’s disappearance are the most critical.”
At the time, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department insisted to The Post that Nanos began working with the FBI “without delay.”
It has been almost six months since Guthrie, 84, vanished, but Nanos revealed the case isn’t cold.
“We have a lot of evidence that our scientific labs are working,” he said.
“There’s video evidence that we continue to work with, not just labs, but also some private corporations who have graciously given their time to help look at some of the video evidence and see if we can’t piece things together.
“And of course, there are literally thousands of tips that come in.”
Nanos also vowed to support Guthrie’s family and said if they believe the matriarch is still alive, he would also hold the same view.
But he revealed he would “absolutely” reveal if investigators stumbled upon a burial site.
“That’s critical [to the investigation],” he said.