FBI director Kash Patel is addressing reports that local authorities tried to keep federal agents away from fully investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
“They did,” Patel, 46, claimed on the Tuesday, May 5, episode of Fox News Media’s “Hang Out With Sean Hannity” podcast. “It is a state matter. It’s a state and local law enforcement matter. What we, the FBI, do is say, ‘Hey, we’re here to help. What do you need? What can we do?’ And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation.”
According to Patel, when FBI agents were let in to help investigate, a lot was accomplished.
“We went in and got the Ring doorbell. And we said, ‘Hey. Is anyone talking to Google?’” Patel claimed. “I called the leadership at Google, and I said, ‘Look, we know that there was not [a] subscription service to capture all of the data that would have been captured had there been a subscription service. But can we go into the cache? Can we go into the data before it’s deleted and see what we can find?’ That’s why you have that image, because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out.”
On February 10, Patel shared new images via X showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy’s front door the morning of her disappearance on February 1.
“We could have gotten it days before,” Patel claimed. “We could have also maybe gotten more data.”
Podcast host Sean Hannity also questioned why police sent DNA related to the case to a lab in Florida instead of the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.
“We said, ‘We will take the DNA.’ And again, it’s a state and local matter. So it’s their call on where to send the DNA,” Patel claimed. “We have Quantico, best lab in the world. I had a fixed-wing aircraft on the ground, ready to move it immediately through the night. And they said, ‘We’re sending it to Florida.’ … They have jurisdiction so it’s their call.”
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department responded to Patel’s claims in a written statement shared with Us on Tuesday.
“Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is aware of FBI Director Kash Patel’s recent interview and statement. Sheriff Nanos responded to the scene the night of the incident, providing immediate local leadership and oversight,” the statement began. “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. While the FBI Director was not on scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay.”
The statement continued. “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.”
The Sheriff’s Department reiterated that they “remain committed to a thorough, coordinated, and fact-based investigation and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward.”
Before Patel’s latest interview, local authorities released a statement regarding the ongoing investigation into Savannah Guthrie’s mom. (Nancy was reported missing on February 1 after she didn’t show up for a virtual church service. Police have yet to identify a suspect in the case.)
“The Pima County Sheriff’s Department remains fully committed to the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to Us on Monday, May 4. “This is an active and ongoing investigation, and we continue to work closely with our partners at the FBI. DNA and video analysis are underway, supported by laboratories across the country. Advances in technology are aiding investigative efforts, and tips continue to be received and reviewed.”
Authorities continue to urge anyone with credible information about the case to contact 88-CRIME or the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI. “Even small details may be significant,” the statement concluded.
When Hannity, 64, suggested that local authorities made a “bad call” with some of their decisions, Patel stayed mum.
“Well, that’s for the American public to decide,” Patel shared. “And what we can do is continue to offer support.”
