FBI Director Kash Patel has expressed disapproval of how local authorities managed the case of missing person Nancy Guthrie, highlighting that the FBI was initially excluded from the investigation.
During an episode of the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast released on Tuesday, Patel pointed out that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department sidelined the FBI for crucial early days, even though swift action is vital in missing persons cases.
“Our approach at the FBI is to offer assistance by asking, ‘How can we help? What do you need from us?’” Patel explained to Hannity. “Yet, we were not involved in the investigation for a full four days.”
Moreover, instead of sending DNA samples to the FBI’s renowned lab in Quantico, Virginia, the local authorities opted to send them to a private facility in Florida for testing.
“The initial 48 hours following a disappearance are absolutely crucial,” Patel emphasized, acknowledging that while local authorities had control, the delay might have hindered potential breakthroughs. “Had we been involved sooner, we might have extracted more information and acted faster.”
“The first 48 hours of anyone’s disappearance are the most critical,” Patel said, noting that while local authorities had jurisdiction, the delay was costly. “We would have analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information — more information.”
“Our lab is just better than any other private lab out there, and we didn’t get a chance to do that,” he added.
In response, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said that decisions regarding evidence processing were made on-scene based on operational needs.
Nancy Guthrie is the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)
“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,” Sheriff Chris Nanos said in a statement following Patel’s podcast interview.
“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,” the statement added. “While the FBI Director was not on scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaks to the media in Catalina, Arizona, on Feb. 3, while answering questions about the search for Nancy Guthrie. ( Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
Once FBI agents were granted access, they worked with Google to pull cached data from a doorbell camera system to recover key footage that might have otherwise been lost.
Guthrie went missing from her Tucson, Arizona, home on Feb. 1. Investigators have followed up on dozens of leads, but she remains missing.
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