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FBI vs. Sheriff
FBI Director Kash Patel criticized the Pima County, Arizona, Sheriff’s Department’s handling of the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, saying the sheriff’s office tried to keep the FBI out of the investigation for four days. Patel told Sean Hannity on Tuesday that “for four days, we were kept out of the investigation,” and he said the FBI’s involvement produced its first big break after it obtained security camera footage. The dispute centers on evidence processing, including Patel’s claim that the sheriff’s department sent DNA evidence found outside Guthrie’s home to a lab in Florida rather than to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. Patel also said investigators continue to search for answers after Guthrie vanished on Jan. 31, and he said the video showed a masked person approaching the front door of her home.
“for four days, we were kept out of the investigation”
Nanos pushes back
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos pushed back against Patel’s claims, saying in a statement that when he responded to the scene the night Guthrie disappeared, “a member of the FBI Task Force was also notified and present at that scene working alongside our personnel.” Nanos’s office said the FBI was promptly notified by both the department and the Guthrie family, adding that “coordination with the Bureau began without delay.” Patel, speaking on the May 5 episode of Sean Hannity’s “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast, argued that once the FBI was finally let in, it obtained footage from Nancy Guthrie’s front doorbell camera and that the FBI worked with Google to put the image out. The USA TODAY account also reported that Patel said the FBI offered to send DNA evidence to Quantico, but the sheriff’s department sent it to a private lab in Florida, while the sheriff’s department said evidence decisions were made “based on operational needs.”
What’s at stake next
The ongoing dispute is tied to what investigators can still analyze in the Nancy Guthrie case, including DNA and video evidence that has not produced publicly identified suspects or persons of interest. Patel said the FBI had a plane on the ground ready to transport evidence to Quantico, and he argued that “We would have analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information.” The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, meanwhile, said it remains committed to a “thorough, coordinated and fact-based investigation” and will continue working closely with federal partners as the process moves forward. The sources also say Guthrie has not been seen since Jan. 31, and they report that authorities have not confirmed whether they believe more than one person was involved or whether the person in the video is alive. In the meantime, the case continues to rely on tips and investigative leads, with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department urging people with credible information to contact 88-CRIME or the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
“We would have analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information”
