SouthernWorldwide.com – FBI Director Kash Patel has publicly voiced criticism regarding the Pima County Sheriff’s Department’s handling of the Nancy Guthrie disappearance investigation, a stance that Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has refuted, stating some of Patel’s claims are inaccurate.
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her Tucson, Arizona, residence over three months ago. She was last seen on January 31 and was reported missing on February 1 after a friend alerted the family to her absence from church.
During a podcast interview with Sean Hannity on Tuesday, Patel asserted that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department delayed involving the FBI. He claimed that the FBI was kept out of the investigation for four days.
However, Sheriff Nanos has contested Patel’s account. In a statement posted on X, the sheriff’s department shared Nanos’s perspective, indicating that an FBI task force member was present at the scene on the night Guthrie was initially reported missing.
“While the FBI director was not on scene, coordination with the bureau began without delay,” the statement from Nanos read. It was also noted that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department held a joint news conference with the FBI just two days later.
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Patel further elaborated on the podcast, stating that once the FBI was involved, they quickly obtained doorbell camera footage and inquired about accessing Google data. He mentioned speaking with Google leadership, which resulted in the acquisition of images showing a suspect outside Guthrie’s home within days.
The FBI described the individual in the images as a man of average build, approximately 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-10. The suspect was seen wearing a face mask, gloves, and a black Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack in the footage from Guthrie’s doorbell camera, taken on February 1, the night of her suspected abduction.
Patel also expressed his disapproval of local officials not utilizing the FBI’s lab in Quantico for DNA evidence analysis. He stated that a private aircraft was on standby, ready to transport evidence immediately, but claimed the evidence was instead sent to Florida.
In response, Sheriff Nanos stated on X that the department’s decisions regarding evidence processing were made “on scene based on operational needs.” He also emphasized that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI Laboratory in Quantico have maintained close collaboration throughout the investigation and continue to work together on evidence analysis.
As the search for Nancy Guthrie continues, investigators have confirmed that her family has been cleared of any involvement in her disappearance.
