Kash Patel said the FBI was “kept out” of the Nancy Guthrie case early on, adding he had a fixed-wing aircraft ready to fly DNA evidence to Quantico but was turned down by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
The FBI director shared these bombshells during a Tuesday appearance on Sean Hannity’s podcast, “Hang Out,” where he admitted that he understood “everybody’s frustrations” surrounding the case.
“The first 48 hours of anyone’s disappearance are the most critical,” Patel told Hannity. “And here’s how these cases works … 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 continued: “And when we were finally let in … look what we did. We went in and got the Ring doorbell. We said, ‘Hey, is anyone talking to Google?’ 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.”
As Patel went on, he lamented that the FBI could’ve gotten the image, as well as other data, “days before” had they not been iced out early on.
Regarding the DNA recovered at the scene, Patel shared that the FBI offered to process it, defending their lab in Quantico was the best in the world.
“Again, we were saying we’ll process it,” Patel recalled. “I launched hundreds of agents and intel staff to Phoenix and Tucson just for this case, just to be on standby, just to do the canvasing. And we said we’ll take the DNA. And again, it’s a state and local matter, so it’s their call on where to send the DNA. 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.”
Patel indicated that he did not agree with the sheriff’s decision, noting, “We would have analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information. Our lab’s just better than any other private lab out there, and we didn’t get a chance to do that. So, I understand everybody’s frustrations.”
Watch Patel’s comments below.
In response to Patel’s interview, a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department told TheWrap, “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. 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.”
“Decisions regarding evidence processing were made on scene based on operational needs,” the statement continued. “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. 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.”
The mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie was last seen on the evening of Jan. 31, when family dropped her off at her Tucson, Ariz. home following a dinner and a game night. However, by late-midday on Feb. 1, Nancy was reported missing after she didn’t show up at a friend’s place to watch a virtual church service. Pima County investigators later shared that they believed Nancy was taken against her will.
In fact, early on in the investigation, Nancy’s security camera, which had been disabled, revealed images of a man in a ski mask, jacket, gloves and a backpack outside her property. FBI Phoenix later described the suspect “as a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build.”
Savannah, along with her siblings, have made several public pleas for their mother’s safe return. In March, Nancy’s children renewed their calls for information regarding the kidnapping, asking residents of Tucson to revisit memories and observations from around the time of the disappearance.
“We are deeply grateful for the outpouring from neighbors, friends and the people of Tucson. We are all family now,” the statement, released as part of a special report by KVOA – News 4 Tucson, began.
“We continue to believe it is Tucsonans, and the greater southern Arizona community, that hold the key to finding resolution in this case,” it continued. “Someone knows something. It’s possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant. We hope people search their memories, especially around the key timelines of January 31 and the early morning hours of February 1, as well as the late evening of January 11.”
As the Guthrie family encouraged their mother’s neighbors to “consult camera footage, journal notes, text messages, observations [and] conversations,” they assured that “no detail is too small.”
No one has been arrested or named a suspect in connection with Nancy’s disappearance, despite multiple searches, analyzed DNA, alleged ransom notes and more.