Administration

Patel: FBI ‘kept out’ of early days of Nancy Guthrie investigation

Comments:

by Max Rego - 05/06/26 9:14 AM ET

Comments:

Link copied

by Max Rego - 05/06/26 9:14 AM ET

Comments:

Link copied

NOW PLAYING

FBI Director Kash Patel said in an interview released Tuesday that his bureau was “kept out” in the first four days of the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.

“The first 48 hours of anyone’s disappearance are the most critical,” Patel told Sean Hannity on his “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast. “And here’s how these cases work. 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,” he added.

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on Jan. 31 at her home outside of Tucson, Ariz. Investigators believe she was taken from her house late that night or early the next morning against her will.

During the interview, Patel touted the FBI’s work on the probe. He said that he called leaders at Google to access surveillance footage captured by Nancy Guthrie’s Ring doorbell camera.

Patel released photos and video captured by the doorbell camera on Feb. 10, which showed a masked person, wearing gloves and carrying a backpack, approaching Nancy Guthrie’s front door.

At the time, Patel said that the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department “have been working closely with our private sector partners to continue to recover any images or video footage” from Nancy Guthrie’s home.

But to Hannity, Patel credited the FBI alone for the release of the footage.

“That’s why you have that image, because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out,” he said.

When Hannity asked Patel why the Pima County Sheriff’s Department sent DNA collected from the home to a private lab in Florida instead of the FBI’s own lab in Quantico, Va., he noted that it was a “state and local matter, so it’s their call.”

Hannity later said that was a “bad call,” to which Patel replied, “Well, that’s for the American public” to decide.

“And what we can do is continue to offer support. We would’ve analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information,” the FBI director added, referring to the DNA.

“Our lab’s just better than any other private lab out there, and we didn’t get the chance to do that. So I understand everybody’s frustrations.”

Responding to Patel’s remarks, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos defended his work on the investigation.

In a Tuesday statement, Nanos wrote that he responded to the scene on the night after the incident and also notified a member of the FBI Task Force.

“The FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family,” Nanos continued. “While the FBI Director was not on scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay.”

As for the decision to send the DNA to the private lab in Florida, Nanos said it was made “based on operational needs.” He also said that the private lab and the bureau’s lab “have worked in close partnership from the outset and continue to collaborate” in analyzing evidence.

“We remain committed to a thorough, coordinated and fact-based investigation and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward,” Nanos concluded.

Add as preferred source on Google