Director of the FBI Kash Patel talks about reports that local authorities have tried to prevent federal agents from fully investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
“They did,” Patel, 46, said on the Tuesday, May 5, episode of Fox News Media “Stay With Sean Hannity” podcast. “It's a national issue. It is a matter of state and local law enforcement. What we're doing, the FBI, is, 'Hey, we're here to help. What do you need? What can we do?' And for four days we were closed without investigation.”
According to Patel, when FBI agents were brought in to help investigate, much was accomplished.
“We went in and got the doorbell. We said, 'Hey. Is anyone talking to Google?'” Patel said. “I called the leadership at Google, and I said, 'Look, we know they weren't there [a] the subscription service captures all the data that would be captured if there was a subscription service. But can we enter the vault? 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 get that image out.”
On February 10, Patel New photos are shared with X showing an armed man appearing to tamper with a camera at Nancy's front door on the morning of her February 1st disappearance.
“We could have found it days ago,” said Patel. “It's also possible that we'll get more data.”
Podcast host Sean Hannity also asked why police sent DNA related to the case to a lab in Florida instead of the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.
“We said, 'We're going to take DNA.' And again, it's a regional and local issue. So it's their call where to send the DNA,” said Patel. “We have Quantico, the best lab in the world. I had a fixed-wing plane on the ground, ready to move it quickly into the night. And they said, 'We ship it to Florida.' … They have the power to control so it's their call.”
The Pima County Sheriff's Department responded to Patel's requests in a shared written statement Us on tuesday.
“Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is aware of the recent interview and statement by FBI Director Kash Patel. Sheriff Nanos responded to the scene the night of the incident, providing local leadership and oversight,” the statement began. “A member of the FBI Task Force was also notified and was on the scene working with our staff. The FBI was immediately notified by both our department and the Guthrie family. While the FBI Director was away, coordination with the Bureau began without delay.”
The statement continued. “Decisions regarding the processing of evidence are made at the scene based on operational needs. The laboratory operated by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI Laboratory in Quantico have worked together from the beginning and continue to work together in the analysis of evidence.”
The Sheriff's Department reiterated that they “remain committed to a thorough, systematic, and fact-based investigation and will continue to work closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward.”
Before Patel's latest interview, local authorities released a statement about the ongoing investigation Savannah Guthriemother. (Nancy was reported missing on February 1 after she did not show up for church service. Police have not identified a suspect in the case.)
“The Pima County Sheriff's Department remains fully committed to the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie,” County Sheriff's Office. said the 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 is ongoing, supported by laboratories across the country. Advances in technology are helping investigative efforts, and tips continue to be received and reviewed.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is responding to allegations that he is preventing the FBI from accessing key evidence in the search for Savannah Guthrie's missing mother, Nancy Guthrie. In an interview with NBC Tucson affiliate KVOA on Thursday, February 12, Nanos said the allegations are “not even close to the truth.” Earlier on Thursday, […]
Authorities continue to urge anyone with credible information about the case to contact 88-CRIME or the FBI's tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI. “Even small details can be seen as important,” 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 said. “And what we can do is continue to support.”
